Ol' Dirty Bastard, was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan along with his cousins RZA and GZA. He was known for combining slick Wu-Tang lyricism with his own original, half-sung, often-bizarre delivery and one of the most eccentric personalities in hip-hop. He died in New York, November 13th, 2004. He would have turned 51 this Friday.
The rapper, whose real name was Russell Tyrone Jones, was having difficulty breathing and complained of chest pains. Dirty was at Wu-Tang's studio, 36 Records LLC on West 34th Street, when he collapsed in the lounge. EMS workers rushed to the scene but were unable to resuscitate him and he was pronounced dead.
In rap music, insanity sells. A legion of today's rappers — Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Young Thug, Travis Scott and many more — have incorporated, on purpose or not, their "craziness" into their total artistic package. Everyone wants to be like the King of Insanity, the drug-fueled madman that was the Ol' Dirty Bastard.
As Method Man said, he was the Ol' Dirty Bastard because:
"There was no father to his style. There was nothing like it at the time, and there's nothing like it today, but there are certainly imitators."
You could even say that he, as one of the first to incorporate the whole "rapping and singing" thing in America, paved the way for superstars like Drake.
Even after Big L, Slim Shady, Tyler the Creator, and all the other rappers who used rape-and-murder shock value in their work.
His unique crazy rap style helped Mariah Carey to achieve her fifth biggest single ever with “Fantasy Remix”.
Ol' Dirty Bastard's solo career began March 28, 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.
His stage name was derived from the 1980 martial arts film Ol' Dirty and the Bastard (also called An Old Kung Fu Master, starring Yuen Siu-tien)
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya
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