Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004),
known professionally as Ol' Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated as ODB), was an American rapper. He was one of the founding members of the New York rap group
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...
, which formed in 1992.
Jones also released music as a solo artist beginning with ''
Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version'' (1995). He was noted for his "outrageously profane,
free-associative rhymes delivered in a distinctive half-rapped, half-sung style".
His professional success was hampered by frequent legal troubles, including
incarceration.
He died on November 13, 2004, of an accidental drug overdose, at age 35.
He is the father of rapper
Young Dirty Bastard.
Biography
Early life, formation of the Wu-Tang Clan
Russell Tyrone Jones was born on November 15, 1968, in the
Fort Greene section of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York City.
On the 1997 released Wu-Tang track "Reunited", Jones claimed his ancestors sold Manhattan to Europeans. Later in an interview on the Howard Stern show on the 26th of February 1998, Jones detailed his Shinnecock indigenous heritage publicly. He and his cousins
Robert Diggs and
Gary Grice shared a taste for rap music and martial arts-style movies.
Jones, Diggs, and Grice (later known as Ol' Dirty Bastard, RZA, and GZA respectively) formed the group Force of the Imperial Master, which became known as All in Together Now after their successful underground single of the same name. They eventually added six more members to their group, calling it the Wu-Tang Clan. The group released their debut album ''
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)'' in 1993, receiving notable commercial and critical success.
His stage name was derived from the 1980 Chinese martial arts film ''Ol' Dirty and the Bastard'' (also called ''An Old Kung Fu Master'', starring
Yuen Siu-tien). According to fellow Wu-Tang Clan member
Method Man
Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...
, Ol' Dirty Bastard's name was also a reference to the unique nature of his rapping and, specifically, the fact "there ain't no father to his style."
Music career
Ol' Dirty Bastard's solo career began in 1995. His first solo album, ''
Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version'', spawned the hit singles "
Brooklyn Zoo" and "
Shimmy Shimmy Ya", which helped propel the album to
platinum status. The album's sound was noted by several music writers as being as "raw and gritty" as ''36 Chambers'', with RZA and
4th Disciple producing beats of an even more minimalist and stripped-down style than on the group's debut album. In this same year, Ol' Dirty Bastard collaborated with
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...
for the remix version of her single "
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures.
The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
".
It was around this time that Ol' Dirty Bastard gained notoriety when, as he was being profiled for an
MTV biography, he took two of his three children by
limousine
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...
to a New York State welfare office to cash a $375 welfare check and receive
food stamps[Ol Dirty Bastard Pickin Up Food Stamps In A Limo](_blank)
YouTube. Retrieved November 23, 2014. while his latest album was still in the top 10 of the U.S. charts. The entire incident was filmed by an MTV camera crew and was broadcast nationwide. Although he had recently received a $45,000 cash advance for his first solo album and was earning a cut of the profits from the Wu-Tang Clan's debut album, Ol' Dirty Bastard was still listed as eligible for welfare and food stamps due to the fact that he had not yet filed his taxes for the current year. His caseworker revoked his eligibility after seeing the MTV segment, and the incident was presented by critics of
welfare as representative of the allegedly widespread
abuse and fraud that led to the significant
welfare reforms enacted in 1996.
In 1997, Ol' Dirty Bastard appeared on the Wu-Tang Clan's second and most commercially successful work, the double album ''
Wu-Tang Forever''. He had fewer appearances on this album than the group's debut, contributing to one solo track ("Dog Shit"), three verses ("Maria", "Reunited", "Heaterz"), one hook ("As High as Wu-Tang Get"), and a spoken introduction/refrain ("
Triumph").
In February 1998, Ol' Dirty Bastard witnessed a car accident from the window of his
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
recording studio. He and a friend ran to the accident scene and organized about a dozen onlookers, who assisted in lifting the 1996
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a series of American Car, automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its Ford Mustang (seventh ...
—rescuing a 4-year-old girl from the wreckage. She was taken to a hospital with first and second-degree
burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...
s. Using a
false name, Ol' Dirty Bastard visited the girl in the hospital frequently until he was spotted by members of the media.
The evening following the traffic accident, Ol' Dirty Bastard rushed on-stage unexpectedly as
Shawn Colvin took the stage to give her acceptance speech for
Song of the Year at the
1998 Grammy Awards, and he announced he had recently purchased expensive clothes in anticipation of winning the
Grammy Award for Best Rap Album that he lost to
Puff Daddy. As Ol' Dirty Bastard took the stage to a round of applause, he asked the audience, "Please calm down, the music and everything. It's nice that I went and bought me an outfit today that costed a lot of money today, you know what I mean? 'Cause I figured that Wu-Tang was gonna win. I don't know how you all see it, but when it comes to the children, Wu-Tang is for the children. We teach the children. You know what I mean? Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best. Okay? I want you all to know that this is ODB, and I love you all. Peace!" The incident was widely covered in the media.
The morning after the Grammy Awards, he appeared on ''
The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...
'', to discuss the incident.
In 1999, Ol' Dirty Bastard wrote and recorded his second studio album, ''
Nigga Please'', between jail sentences. The album received notable commercial success, although it failed to parallel the critical praise of his debut. This release included the single "
Got Your Money", which garnered worldwide chart success. The song was produced by
The Neptunes
The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while H ...
and featured chorus vocals by
R&B singer
Kelis.
In 1999, Ol' Dirty Bastard was paid $30,000 to appear on
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo. Formed in Detroit in 1989, ICP's best-known lineup consists of rappers Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (originally 2 Dope; Joseph Utsler). Insan ...
's fifth studio album, ''
The Amazing Jeckel Brothers''. Completing his track in two days, his recording consisted of his "rambling about bitches". Insane Clown Posse re-recorded the track and re-edited Ol' Dirty Bastard's vocals in order to form four rhymes out of his rambling, titling the song "Bitches".
In 2001, with Ol' Dirty Bastard again in jail for
crack cocaine possession, his record label
Elektra Records
Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...
made the decision to release a greatest hits album (despite there being only two albums in his back catalog) in order to both end their contract with the artist (
see below section), and to profit from the publicity generated by his legal troubles. After the contract with Elektra was terminated, the label D-3 Records released the album ''
The Trials and Tribulations of Russell Jones'' in 2002, composed of tracks compiled without Ol' Dirty Bastard's input.
In 2003, the day he was released from prison, Ol' Dirty Bastard signed a contract with
Roc-A-Fella Records. Living at his mother's home under
house arrest
House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
and with a court-ordered
probation
Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...
, he used his criminal record to title his
VH1 special, ''Inside Out: Ol' Dirty Bastard on Parole''. He also managed to record his third album ''
A Son Unique'', which was originally scheduled to be released through
Dame Dash Music Group in 2004; as of 2020, however, the album has never been released in physical form. In October 2004, one month before his death, his last collaboration was with
Jon B. on the track "Everytime" from the album, ''
Stronger Everyday''. In 2005, five months after his death, he appeared posthumously on the song "Blah-Blah-Blah" by
Brooke Valentine on her debut and only album, ''
Chain Letter''.
On July 17, 2004, Ol' Dirty Bastard had his second to last live performance at the
Rock the Bells hip-hop festival in
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...
, with the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan.
On July 18, 2004, his final live performance was at the
Gathering of the Juggalos in
Garrettsville, Ohio.
In August 2017 in an interview on
Hot 97,
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...
member
RZA confirmed that a new Wu-Tang album, ''
The Saga Continues'', would contain unreleased vocals by Ol' Dirty Bastard.
To celebrate Ol' Dirty Bastard's 50th birthday, "Intoxicated" from the unreleased album ''A Son Unique'' was released as a single on November 15, 2018.
Legal issues
In 1993, Ol' Dirty Bastard was convicted of second-degree
assault
In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...
for an attempted
robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...
and in 1994, he was shot in the abdomen following an argument with another rapper.
In 1997, he was arrested for failure to pay
child support
Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (state or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is ...
for three of his children. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to attempted assault on his wife and was the victim of a
home invasion robbery at his girlfriend's house. He was shot in the back and arm but the wounds were superficial.
In July 1998, only days after being shot in a push-in robbery at his girlfriend's house in Brooklyn, he was arrested for
shoplifting a pair of $50 shoes from a Sneaker Stadium store in
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...
, although he was carrying close to $500 in cash at the time. He was issued
bench warrants by the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Department to stand trial after he failed to appear in court numerous times. He was arrested for
criminal threatening after a series of confrontations in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
a few weeks later, and was then re-arrested for similar charges not long after that. During a traffic stop, the details of which remain clouded in multiple versions of events, he was arrested for
attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions.
Canada
Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...
and
criminal weapon possession.
The case was later dismissed.
On January 14, 1999,
two officers from the Street Crimes Unit fired eight shots at Ol' Dirty Bastard and accused him of firing at them after they stopped his car in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Ol' Dirty Bastard was cleared by a grand jury and insisted that the officers had been scared by his cellular phone. No weapons or shell casings (besides those of the officers) were found in the vehicle or near the scene.
In February 1999, he was arrested for
driving without a license and for being a
convicted felon wearing a
bulletproof vest
A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or bullet-resistant vest, is a type of body armor designed to absorb impact and prevent the penetration of firearm projectiles and explosion fragments to the torso. The vest can be either soft ...
. At the time, it was illegal for felons to own body armor.
Back in New York weeks later, he was arrested for
drug possession of
crack cocaine and for traffic offenses. With multiple cases in the past and present, he was arrested with
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
and 20 vials of crack.
In October 2000, he escaped from his court-mandated
drug treatment facility and spent one month as a fugitive. During his time on the run, he met with RZA and spent some time in their recording studio. He then appeared onstage at the
Hammerstein Ballroom in New York drinking from a bottle at the record release party for ''
The W'', the third Wu-Tang Clan album. In late November 2000, while still a fugitive, he was arrested outside a
South Philadelphia McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
(at 29th and Gray's Ferry Ave.), after he drew a crowd while signing autographs. He spent several days in a
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
jail and was later extradited to New York City. A
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
court sentenced him to two to four years incarceration. He was released on parole on May 1, 2003.
In 2012, his
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
file was released to the public after a
Freedom of Information Act request. It contains details of numerous crimes, such as alleged connections to three murders, a
shootout with the
New York City Police Department
The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
, and a
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
RICO was e ...
investigation against the Wu-Tang Clan.
Death

Leading up to his death, Jones' legal troubles and eccentric behavior made him "something of a folk hero", according to ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' writer Michael Agger. Music writer Steve Huey wrote: "it was difficult for observers to tell whether Ol' Dirty Bastard's wildly erratic behavior was the result of serious drug problems or genuine
mental instability."
[ According to '']The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 185 ...
'' contributing editor and music biographer James Parker, Jones had been diagnosed with schizophrenia
Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
around 2003.
Jones collapsed at approximately 4:35p.m. (EST) on November13, 2004, just two days before his 36th birthday, at RZA's recording studio in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The official cause of death was a drug overdose
A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. Retrieved on September 20, 2014. ; an autopsy found a lethal mixture of cocaine
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
and the prescription opioid tramadol. The overdose was ruled accidental and witnesses said Jones reportedly complained of chest pain before collapsing.
Mourning the decline of Jones' mental and physical health, RZA wrote in his 2009 book '' The Tao of Wu'':Trust me, the man who became ODB, Ason Unique, my cousin, he was a scientist and a minor prophet... People may not know this from the outrageous character he played, but ODB was a visionary. But he decayed, he lost that vision... From the time they put him in jail to all the drugs he was doing to all the stress he went through with his family, it took away his ability to see. And this night, he sat there and looked me in the eye and said, "RZA, I don't understand." ... Now, I know that right there, right when he said that—we lost him. Eight hours later, ODB was gone.[RZA, ''The Tao of Wu''. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009. .]
Discography
Studio albums
* '' Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version'' (1995)
* '' Nigga Please'' (1999)
* '' A Son Unique'' (2005)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
References
External links
*
*
Ol' Dirty Bastard Tells Why He Stormed Grammy Stage
The Economist – Obituary in brief Ol' Dirty Bastard
FBI Records: The Vault – Russell Tyrone Jones
at vault.fbi.gov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ol Dirty Bastard
1968 births
2004 deaths
Accidental deaths in New York (state)
African-American male rappers
20th-century American male rappers
American people convicted of assault
American people convicted of drug offenses
American prisoners and detainees
American robbers
American shooting survivors
Cocaine-related deaths in New York (state)
Elektra Records artists
Roc-A-Fella Records artists
Drug-related deaths in New York City
East Coast hip-hop musicians
Rappers from Brooklyn
Wu-Tang Clan members
People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn
20th-century American male musicians
Hardcore hip-hop artists