Ol' Dirty Bastard simultaneously brought a measure of humor and a touch of the absurd to the Wu-Tang Clan. Often noted for his unusual mic technique (critic Steve Huey writes of Jones's "outrageously profane, free-associative rhymes" delivered "in a distinctive half-rapped, half-sung style"), Jones's stage name came from a 1980 kung fu film entitled Ol' Dirty & The Bastard, the relevance of which was articulated by Method Man's assertion that there was "no father" to Jones's style.
After establishing the Wu-Tang Clan, Ol' Dirty Bastard went on to a successful solo career. However, his professional success was hampered by his erratic personal behavior and frequent legal troubles, including incarceration. He died in late 2004 of a drug overdose in a recording studio.
Life and Career
Ol' Dirty Bastard was born Russell Jones in Brooklyn in 1968, and grew up in the neighborhood of Fort Greene. As he got older, he started hanging out more and more with his cousins Robert Diggs and Gary Grice; they all shared a taste for rap music and kung-fu movies. Diggs, later to be known as the RZA, Grice, later the GZA, and Jones formed Force Of The Imperial Master, which subsequently became known as the All in Together Now Crew after they had a successful underground single of that name.
Wu-Tang Clan
The cousins soon added six more friends and associates to the Clan, and released their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in 1993 (1993 in music). 36 Chambers received enormous critical praise, and is now widely regarded as one of the best and most influential albums of any genre to be released in the 1990s, as well as one of the best hip hop albums of all time.
While most of the group's members received individual praise from critics and fans, Jones became perhaps the best-known member of the group. Armed with a seemingly crazed, slurred, often off-beat, half-sung half-rapped delivery, bizarre lyrics and humorous antics that were unlike anything ever heard before in rap, he seemed to encapsulate and personify the raw, unadulterated and innovative style of the group.
Ol' Dirty Bastard takes his name from the 1980 film by Meng-Hwa Ho called An Old Kung Fu Master, known also as Mad Mad Kung Fu and Ol' Dirty & The Bastard. The movie features Yuen Siu Tien aka Simon Yuen who can also be found in other classics such as Drunken Master. Yuen Siu Tien often played a character of an old drunkard who had mastered the martial art of Drunken Boxing.
Solo career
ODB's solo career began in 1995, the second member of the Wu-Tang Clan to release a solo album, following Method Man's 1994 effort, Tical. Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, released on March 28, 1995, spawned the hit singles Brooklyn Zoo and Shimmy Shimmy Ya, and powered the album to gold status. The album's sound was as raw and gritty as 36 Chambers, producer RZA creating beats even more minimalist and stripped-down than on the group's debut.
That same year, he was featured on the remix of Mariah Carey's "Fantasy". What might have seemed like an unlikely pairing spawned a major hit song. "Fantasy" was among the first popular pop, R&B, and hip hop collaborations.
Around this time, Jones gained notoriety when, as he was being profiled for an MTV biography, he took two of his thirteen children by limousine to a New York State welfare office to pick up his welfare check while his latest album was still in the top ten of the US charts. The entire incident was filmed by an MTV camera crew and was broadcast nationwide.
In 1997, ODB appeared on the Wu-Tang Clan's second and most commercially successful album, Wu-Tang Forever. However, Jones appeared less often on the Clan's sophomore than on the debut; he contributed a solo track titled "Dog Shit" as well as hooks ("As High As Wu-Tang Get") and spoken introductions ("Triumph"), but other than these appearances and featuring prominently on the songs "Maria" and "Reunited," as well as delivering a very short verse on "Heaterz", he was absent.
In February 1998, Jones witnessed a car accident from the window of his Brooklyn 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—rescuing a 4-year-old girl from the wreckage. She was taken to a hospital with second and third degree burns. Using a false name, Jones visited the girl in the hospital frequently until he was spotted by members of the media.
The evening following the traffic accident, Jones rushed onstage unexpectedly during Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech for "Song of the Year" at the Grammy Awards, and began complaining that he had recently purchased expensive clothes in anticipation of winning the "Best Rap Album" award that he lost to Puff Daddy. Before being escorted off-stage, he implored the audience, "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. Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best. I want you all to know that this is ODB, and I love you all. Peace!" (He evidently was confused between Shawn Colvin and Sean Combs, Puff Daddy's real name). His bizarre onstage antics were widely reported in the mainstream media.
In April 1998, he announced his new stage name, Big Baby Jesus (the first of many alternate stage names; see the list below), but was never able to give a coherent explanation for the very brief switch.
In 1999, he found time to release Nigga Please between jail sentences, which received much success and was even more bizarrely warped than his debut. This release included the single "Got Your Money" which became extremely successful in the US and elsewhere; it was produced by The Neptunes, and its success would serve as one of the production group's main stepping stones to the superstardom they would later achieve. As well as the Neptunes, the single also put singer Kelis, who sang the chorus, on the map; she went on to have a successful solo career.
In 2001, with Jones again in jail for crack cocaine possession, his record company Elektra Records made the decision to release a greatest hits album (despite there being only two albums in ODB's back catalogue) in order to both end their contract with the unreliable, troubled artist as well as make some money off 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, comprised of tracks put together without Jones's input, using the vocals he had recorded prior to his capture by authorities. The label recruited many guests including several Wu-Tang Clan affiliates, No Limit Records artist C-Murder, and the Insane Clown Posse. However, the album was critically panned and sales were poor.
The year 2003 brought a change in the life of Ol' Dirty Bastard however. The day he was released from prison, with Mariah Carey and Damon Dash by his side, Jones signed a contract with Roc-A-Fella Records, and began a new chapter in his life. Living at his mother's home under house arrest and with a court-ordered probation hanging over his head, he managed to star in a VH1 reality television series. He also managed to record a new album, scheduled to be released in 2006 through Dame Dash Music Group.
He had stated that he also planned on collaborating with artists in the electronic music genre, such as Carnage and The Fiasco, Fischerspooner, and possibly even Massive Attack.
Legal troubles
In 1993, ODB was convicted of second degree assault for an attempted robbery 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 for three of his thirteen children. His wife, Icelene Jones, claimed he had not paid any support in over a year.
In 1998, he pled 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 a cousin's house in Brooklyn, he was arrested for shoplifting a pair of $50 shoes in Virginia Beach, Virginia, although he was carrying close to $500 at the time. He was issued bench warrants by the Virginia Beach Sheriffs Department to stand trial after he failed to appear in court numerous times. He was arrested for criminal threatening after a series of drunken confrontations in Los Angeles a few weeks later, and was then re-arrested for similar charges not long after that.
During a routine traffic stop, the details of which remain clouded in multiple versions of events, he was arrested for attempted murder and criminal weapon possession. The case was later dismissed.
In February 1999, he was arrested for driving without a license and for being a convicted felon wearing a bulletproof vest (the first person arrested for this infraction under a new California law). 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 and 20 vials of crack. After his arrest, ODB reportedly asked the police to "make the rocks disappear". During a court hearing, he once called a female prosecutor a "sperm donor."
This criminal record was commented on by Chris Rock in his 1999 spoken word song, "No Sex (In the Champagne Room)", with Rock asserting that "ODB couldn'tve possibly committed all those crimes. Coolio did some of that shit."
ODB entered rehab while still technically a fugitive from the law, but strange behavior during a subsequent court date sent him to jail for a brief period.
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 hooked up with the RZA and managed to log some time in the recording studio. He then appeared onstage swigging a bottle at a record release party for The W, a Wu-Tang Clan album. He was later arrested in a Philadelphia McDonald's parking lot while signing autographs, and extradited to New York City. A Manhattan court sentenced him to two to four years incarceration. Mental problems resulted in a suicide attempt not long after his sentencing.
In May 2003, Russell Jones was released from prison. It was said that long time friend, Mariah Carey, picked him up after his release.
At first, his legal troubles and odd behavior made Jones "something of a folk hero", according to The New Yorker writer Michael Agger. However, Huey writes that "it was difficult for observers to tell whether ODB's wildly erratic behavior was the result of serious drug problems or genuine mental instability ... the possibility that his continued antics were at least partly the result of conscious image-making disappeared as time wore on."
Russell Jones collapsed at approximately 5:29 p.m. on November 13, 2004 at Wu-Tang's recording studio (36 Records LLC on West 34th Street in New York City). He was pronounced dead less than an hour later. He was buried at Brooklyn's Christian Cultural Center.
A statement was released on Saturday (November 13, 2004) evening by his mother Cherry Jones:
"This evening, I received a phone call that is every mother's worst dream," she said. "My son, Russell Jones, passed away. To the public, he was known as Ol' Dirty Bastard, but to me, he was known as Rusty, the kindest, most generous soul on earth. I appreciate all the support and prayers that I have received. Russell was more than a rapper, he was a loving father, brother, uncle, and most of all, son."
A statement was also released by Damon Dash, who signed ODB to Roc-A-Fella Records in the fall of 2004:
"All of us in the Roc-A-Fella family are shocked and saddened by the sudden and tragic death of our brother and friend. Russell inspired all of us with his spirit, wit and tremendous heart. He will be missed dearly, and our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences go out to his wonderful family. The world has lost a great talent, but we mourn the loss of our friend."
The cause of death remained unknown until December 15, 2004; although he reportedly complained of chest pains prior to collapsing, a heart attack was not listed as the cause of death. During the initial autopsy of the 35-year-old rapper, a doubled plastic bag containing cocaine was discovered in his stomach. Final results from an autopsy show he had a lethal mixture of the prescription painkiller Tramadol and high amounts of cocaine in his system at the time of his death, which was ruled an accidental overdose by the New York Medical Examiner's Office.
Don't Stop Ma
Ol' Dirty Bastard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Def Jam, knowumsayin'?
Niggas like Method Man, Redman
Say all the artists here, knowumsayin'?
Bacon Lot, knowumsayin'?
I don't need no introductions, Cat
Whuuuuut
I'm sippin' off a quart that I just had bought
I'm thinkin' of the moment, things soar in that head
I feel assurin' durin', also glad
Yes, feel assured by knowin' I won
'cause there's no one who can fuck wit A-Sun
I'm not bein' pushy but I'm born to boss
You need A-Sun, oh yes, well of course
Don't see the riot, everyone keeps quiet
If you don't believe nigga, get hyper and try it
Yes it is me, a total fresh MC
Yo, I'm born to be, MC history
Rhyming on time because that's the deal
You're only as fresh as your ass feel
Other MC's, you are bound to fall
'cause your real world is not a world at all
1 - Drunken Master, styles causin' street disaster
Blaze cut faster than a fairy slasher
Tai-chi, Kung Fu fighting, ODB hands quick as lightenin'
Techique too deadly
Iron fist blew the pawn, switch styles like lay long
Let's get it on, heavy chow broke, it's not 'bout
Shadow boxin', better punch, you need oxegen, try again
When you catch the second wind, I'll break you in
Approach the mic slow, it's about to blow
One foot crow crane, anti-chain movement
Restore the ming, some take this thing for joke
Serious men deep in thought, misunderstood, held the fork
He's too defensive, too mean, you didn't, now it's a scene
These cats over here got glock holdin' him down
These niggas scheming, I'm seeing everything
Ten steps ahead, on the wall smokin' my
Agent high told best friend of the wine
Still drunk offa cheap wine
Holdin' front lines, niggas want to front, fine
Fuck wit me and mine, rain on your sunshine
Swine nigga's come as hard as a pork rind
Can you dig it? Only five percent live it
While the rest of you fake niggas try to get it
Now fuck around
Repeat 1
Down wit the all and together down crew
The jizza, the rizza, me of course too
The thing I'm analyzing is strickly Hip Hop
That's what's made, well made is on my workshop
You was unable plus earn advance
Just to touch the untouchable kip hop dance
They're sayin' of the utmost, truly I'm the utmost
Have you ever caught the hip hop holy ghost
Man, I mean really, that shit is mad hype
Especially when you find yourself rhymin' over mics
I became a wrecker through my amplifier
Break it down base, treble through my dancer
That's one new dance, it's to my Black Magic music
It's not classic, arabic, or basic
It's strickly thickly, dirty and districkly
If not don't you pick me and forget me
Repeat 1
The lyrics of Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Don't Stop Ma" focuses heavily on ODB's status and skill as an MC. In the first verse, he speaks about how he doesn't need an introduction because he is confident in his abilities as a rapper. He also talks about how he is born to be a boss, and encourages other MCs to step up and try to compete with him if they don't believe he is the best. The second verse is more focused on ODB's martial arts skills, referencing various styles and techniques such as Tai-chi and Kung Fu. He also goes on to talk about how he is always ten steps ahead of others and how he won't hesitate to rain on someone's sunshine if they try to mess with him or his crew. The third verse is more introspective, as ODB reflects on the nature of Hip Hop, and how he became a wrecking force through his music.
Overall, "Don't Stop Ma" is a boastful track that showcases ODB's skill as a rapper and his love for Hip Hop culture. He constantly reinforces his position as a boss and the top MC, while also referencing his martial arts prowess and his deep understanding of the Hip Hop genre.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah, now we're gonna give a shout out, knowumsayin'?
Starting off with a shoutout, you know what I'm saying?
Def Jam, knowumsayin'?
Speaking of Def Jam, you know what I'm saying?
Niggas like Method Man, Redman
Shoutout to artists like Method Man and Redman
Say all the artists here, knowumsayin'?
Let's give a shoutout to all the artists here, you know what I'm saying?
Bacon Lot, knowumsayin'?
Another shoutout to Bacon Lot, you know what I'm saying?
I don't need no introductions, Cat
I don't need any introductions, Cat
Whuuuuut
What's up
I'm sittin' in my west, I'm analyzin' thoughts
I'm sitting in the West analyzing my thoughts
I'm sippin' off a quart that I just had bought
I'm drinking from a quart that I just bought
I'm thinkin' of the moment, things soar in that head
I'm thinking about the present moment, my mind is racing
I feel assurin' durin', also glad
I feel confident and happy
Yes, feel assured by knowin' I won
I feel confident because I know I won
'cause there's no one who can fuck wit A-Sun
No one can mess with A-Sun
I'm not bein' pushy but I'm born to boss
I'm not trying to be pushy, but I was born to lead
You need A-Sun, oh yes, well of course
Of course you need A-Sun
Don't see the riot, everyone keeps quiet
I don't see any trouble, everyone is quiet
If you don't believe nigga, get hyper and try it
If you don't believe me, get excited and try it
Yes it is me, a total fresh MC
Yes, it's me - a totally fresh MC
Yo, I'm born to be, MC history
I was born to be part of MC history
Rhyming on time because that's the deal
I'm rhyming on time because that's what I do
You're only as fresh as your ass feel
You're only as fresh as you feel
Other MC's, you are bound to fall
Other MCs, you're going to fail
'Cause your real world is not a world at all
Your world isn't even real
Drunken Master, styles causin' street disaster
My style is like a Drunken Master, causing chaos in the streets
Blaze cut faster than a fairy slasher
My rhymes cut faster than a fairy with a sword
Tai-chi, Kung Fu fighting, ODB hands quick as lightenin'
My hands move like lightning in Tai-chi, Kung Fu style
Techique too deadly
My technique is too deadly
Iron fist blew the pawn, switch styles like lay long
My Iron Fist technique is strong, and I can switch styles easily
Let's get it on, heavy chow broke, it's not 'bout
Let's get started, even though there's a heavy environment
Shadow boxin', better punch, you need oxegen, try again
If you're just shadowboxing, you need more practice, try again
When you catch the second wind, I'll break you in
Once you get your breath back, I'll take you down
Approach the mic slow, it's about to blow
Approach the mic slowly because it's about to explode
One foot crow crane, anti-chain movement
I'm doing the One Foot Crow Crane, which goes against the chain movement
Restore the ming, some take this thing for joke
Let's bring back some old school values that some people think are a joke
Serious men deep in thought, misunderstood, held the fork
Serious men are often misunderstood and left holding the weight
He's too defensive, too mean, you didn't, now it's a scene
He's too defensive and mean, you didn't see that this would cause trouble
These cats over here got glock holdin' him down
These guys have guns and are holding him down
These niggas scheming, I'm seeing everything
These guys are up to something, and I can see it
Ten steps ahead, on the wall smokin' my
I'm always thinking ahead, smoking on the wall
Agent high told best friend of the wine
I'm smoking the best stuff, as told to me by my friend Agent High
Still drunk offa cheap wine
I'm still drunk off of cheap wine
Holdin' front lines, niggas want to front, fine
I'm holding down the front lines, and if anyone wants to challenge that, they're welcome to try
Fuck wit me and mine, rain on your sunshine
If you mess with me or my people, I'll ruin your day
Swine nigga's come as hard as a pork rind
These guys aren't tough at all, they're as soft as pork rinds
Can you dig it? Only five percent live it
Can you understand what I'm saying? Only a small percentage of people can really live it
While the rest of you fake niggas try to get it
The rest of you fake guys are just trying to pretend
Down wit the all and together down crew
I'm with the all and together down crew
The jizza, the rizza, me of course too
The GZA, the RZA, and of course, me too
The thing I'm analyzing is strickly Hip Hop
What I'm analyzing is strictly Hip Hop
That's what's made, well made is on my workshop
That's what I make - well-made Hip Hop is what I do
You was unable plus earn advance
You couldn't make it and earn advancement
Just to touch the untouchable kip hop dance
Just to try to do the untouchable Hip Hop dance
They're sayin' of the utmost, truly I'm the utmost
They're saying that I'm at the top, and it's true
Have you ever caught the hip hop holy ghost
Have you ever felt the spirit of Hip Hop?
Man, I mean really, that shit is mad hype
I mean, seriously, that shit is so exciting
Especially when you find yourself rhymin' over mics
Especially when you're rapping over microphones
I became a wrecker through my amplifier
I became great through my amplifier
Break it down base, treble through my dancer
I'm breaking it down with my bass and treble, dancing to the music
That's one new dance, it's to my Black Magic music
I have a new dance, and it's to my Black Magic music
It's not classic, arabic, or basic
It's not a classic dance, Arabic, or basic
It's strickly thickly, dirty and districkly
It's strictly thick, dirty, and districkly
If not don't you pick me and forget me
If you don't like it, don't pick me and forget it
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DAMON BLACKMON, CLIFFORD SMITH, PATRICK CHARLES, CARLTON DOUGLAS, RUSSELL JONES, ELGIN TURNER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind