Rapper O.D.B. Collapses, Dies in Studio

[johnfunk]

Irony of ironies, on the very day that BTD (Dick Cheney, who also performs under tha stage name of Big Time Dick) is rushed to the hospital for chest pains...

Sat, Nov. 13, 2004
Rapper O.D.B. Collapses, Dies in Studio
Associated Press

NEW YORK - The rap artist O.D.B., who lived a life as wild as his lyrics, collapsed and died inside a recording studio Saturday, his record label said. He was 35.

O.D.B. had complained of chest pains before collapsing at the Manhattan studio, according to a statement from Roc-a-Fella records.

O.D.B., also known as Ol' Dirty Bastard, Dirt McGirt or his legal name of Russell Jones, was a founding member of the hit rap group the Wu-Tang Clan in the early 1990s. With his offbeat, unorthodox delivery, he segued into a successful solo career and released several hit singles.

Memo to thirtysomething guys, especially if your family has a history of heart disease -- get a checkup!

[Zynx]

1. Also don't use large amounts of drugs for a couple decades.

Contributing factor, me thinks.

[Renew Deal]

4. Joey Ramone made it to his 50's.

Maybe they used different drugs.

[flamingyouth]

6. I don't think Joey was much of a drug user

DeeDee, on the other hand, certainly was.

[Renew Deal]

8. I thought Joey smoked a ton of weed?

No?

[freeplessinseattle]

26. yep, got to watch out for those weed OD's, those pizza binges can be

deadly (especially if it's domino's)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

20. Joey Ramone? He was messed up constantly... there was

not a drug within arms reach of Joey he did not toss down his throat. Believe me, I know.

[flamingyouth]

23. I have a friend who was his girlfriend in the mid-'80s

He must have cleaned up somewhat by then.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

52. Mid-80's... yeah he was practically a christian fundie by then

that was after the day.

[Beetwasher]

30. Errrr, Ummm, Joey Used To Shit in His Pants Because He Was Too Doped Up To

Make it to the bathroom...

[devilgrrl]

11. Big deal! Papa John Phillips made it to 64!

That guy did more drugs than Joey Ramone and Old Dirty Bastard combined... at 33!

[girl gone mad]

44. This might have something to do with it..

Wu-Tang Clan rapper 'ODB' leaves hospital after shooting
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Rapper ODB, founder and member of the popular rap group Wu-Tang Clan, reportedly ignored medical advice on Wednesday and walked out of a hospital that was treating him for a gunshot wound he suffered the day before.

The rapper, whose real name is Russell Jones, was shot and wounded by armed intruders during a robbery at his Brooklyn apartment on Tuesday night, police reported. He suffered a superficial wound, according to hospital officials, and doctors wanted him to stay for examination. But Jones left the hospital after the overnight stay.

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9807/01/odb.shot/

That story is from 2000.

Didn't Andy Warhol die from complications of his gunshot injury?

One has to wonder if ODB ever got proper treatment for his wound.

[DS1]

2. Not Big Baby Jesus! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[henslee]

3. Sad. He was authentic. A self styled clown prince of rap, member of..

Wu Tang Clan, always getting in trouble with the law. He was one of my fave, sort of like Flavor-flav reloaded. Totally surreal, original guy. One of MTV's hundred greatest moments in rap was him actually cashing his welfare check. BABY I LIKE IT RAW is an awesome cut. (Shimmy, shimmy ya!). So is BABY I GOT YOUR MONEY. His ballad with Mariah Carey is WEIRDLY COOL. The man was so out there, he changed his name to Sweet Baby Jesus and Dirt McGirk in the span of two years. While a fugitive of the law, (not sure of crime.. posession?) he was seen in another state, appearing onstage and then leaving before the cops came. That's about all I can remember. Love to his family and friends.

[Hotdiggitydog]

9. I wouldn't know his rapping from all the rest....

To me, its all the same. Perhaps I need one good rap album to help me appreciate it, But for now, I don't have any and don't even understand it.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

10. Please take your criticism to a post that isn't about someone's death

Have some respect

[Hotdiggitydog]

12. Not intended as criticism....

Just pointing out that some of us haven't even ever heard of ODB.
And if you read my post, I expressed some interest in owning a RAP cd of my very own....in an effort to understand it. '

Believe me, I understand what it is like to lose a music Idol, for I suffered the loss of Jerry Garcia just over 9 years ago.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

14. Man - I cried for 2 hours that day - I was working for a glassblower who

loved to listen to Rush Limbaugh. Rush said it was one less junklie and my boss called him a scumbag - I walked out. It was a BLACK day.

Dead Head solidarity my friend - sorry if I was harsh.

[Demonaut]

29. R.I.P. OBD, you were a class act

[BiggJawn]

32. Man, even *I* heard of ODB...

And you can't get much Uncooler than BiggJawn...

[babylonsister]

13. Hot diggity, I agree.

I don't applaud his death, I just don't listen to rap, so am not familiar with him. I'm living in the time tunnel... it's still rock and roll to me.

[psychopomp]

15. Hip hop took the crown of thorns from rock in the eighties

Not a dis on rock, but it had lost its ability to be a voice of rebellion after the end of the post-punk hardcore period in the early eighties.

Why do you think that white, middle-class kids took to rap like they did (and still do, even though rap today is about where rock was with Whitesnake et al in the eighties)?

All that being said, like I said on the other thread, I couldn't help but love him! He was the most original force in hip-hop in decade when he stepped to the scene.

RIP ODB

[henslee]

18. Here's a good joke about this topic. Two really old guys were sitting

on a park bench. Some young kids come by with a boombox that's blasting rap music. "Oy-vay', says the first old guy, holding his ears, wincing. "I know what you mean", saysthe second one, "I've always hated the beatles". (on edit) RIM SHOT.

[babylonsister]

25. Gotcha!

My parents hated rock and roll. Go figure. But I also like old standards; go figure.

[Voltaire99]

40. Don't understand rap? Try these...

Perhaps I need one good rap album to help me appreciate it, But for now, I don't have any and don't even understand it.

Anyone (like yourself) who appreciates the rebel spirit of Jerry Garcia probably won't suffer if he exposes himself to these important raps:

"The Message" - Grandmaster Flash
"Fight the Power" - Public Enemy
"We Had To Tear This Shit Up" - Ice Cube

This is a crash course in the social history of urban America for the past twenty-five years. :-)

[short bus president]

54. I think his fugitive status came from a weapons charge

I don't remember it real clearly, but I was living in Brooklyn at the time, and was almost certain he and a few other people were in some weird gun-running thing out of Staten Island.

:shrug:

[flamingyouth]

5. He certainly lived quite the life

I have a friend in a band who met him once playing the Roskilde festival in Denmark. Too young to die, that's for sure.

[seriousstan]

27. Live fast, die young. I hate to see examples that prove this because...

I still have the pedal to the metal at well over 40. :headbang:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

7. FUCK!!! That really blows

:cry:

Man he was my favorite member of Wu Tang

[Freddie Stubbs]

16. He was only 35?

Wow. Hard living can certaily age you.

[Jack_DeLeon]

17. I still remember that one time MTV filmed him...

going to get food stamps for him and his horde of children.

[bicentennial_baby]

22. In a limo!

That was the best!!

[Blue_Tires]

19. damn

doesn't seem that long ago that i was listening to him in senior year of high school (95)...i loved all of wu-tang

[MnFats]

21. i heard his cut on the first 'South Park' record with Ozzie Osbourne...

...it was filled with hate, rage and slurs and tons of lines about, ahem, receiving oral sex.


hearing that was enough. after that whenever i heard anything by ODB on the radio i couldn't hit the button fast enough.

i'd put it more strongly but i realize some fans are grieving here. Sorry but....

[henslee]

24. We got a big tent here. IMO, ODB kept it real. That's saying plenty in

this prgrammed, madison ave. spun world. He reflected exactly who he was and never tried to be anybody else. And he obviously had an ear.

[Deja Q]

28. 35, eh? If ODB's dad had heart probs at ~45 and grandpa at ~55...

My condolances to his family, both nuclear and extended.

[lynx rufus]

31. this no talent creep absolutely sucked

he did not suck as bad as poop doggy dog, but he
sucked pretty damn bad

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sandnsea]

35. A Kucinich avatar?

I will never understand people. People for peace. Acting like jerks in a thread about the dead.

[Califooyah Operative]

43. hes not dead, hes ODB!

[mark414]

53. shut your mouth

don't criticize shit you don't understand

don't disrespect the dead in a shameful manner

go fuck yourself

[Ann Arbor Dem]

34. RIP...he was great

It's a shame. ;(

[Chimpanzee]

36. I admit a bit sheepishly that I'd never heard of him

Actually I guess I must be way too old because I've never heard of WU TANG either. I guess I'll be forever stuck in the rock zone. My dad never got past polka music, so that gives me some consolation.

Nevertheless, my condolences to his family, firends, and fans.

[Buddyblazon]

37. Wu Tang Clan...

They are a group of individual east coast rappers (all have solo careers) that put out albums as a group. The name is based on old Kung Fu movies. Don't know exactly...but I know the series of movies the name Wu-Tang came from involved the Shaolin monks. Their songs as a group talk a lot about martial arts...and they use many sound bites from these movies.

The group includes Method Man, RedMan, Ghostface Killa, Rza, Gza, Rakeem, Raekwon, U-God, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, and Old Dirty Bastard (aka Dirt McGirt, aka Big Baby Jesus).

The idea was a marketing scheme...but it really launched their careers. They produce an album, then all go do solo albums, coming together as a group every once and awhile and do another album.

He was definitely the oddest one. You know your one friend that is just "weird"...but you love 'em to death? That is the best way to describe ODB. The oddball...but lovable.



Notice the row of gold teeth. He was out there alright...but had some great hits.

If your not into rap...Wu-Tang wouldn't be a bad SECOND hiphop album to buy. They're east coast...so you don't get a lot of "bitch's and ho's". I'd start with De La Soul's greatest hits (their east coast, laid back, good vibe, good message rap)...THEN move on to Wu-Tang.

[Chimpanzee]

51. Thank you, Buddy!

[Guaranteed]

38. I thought he changed his name to "Old Dirty Chinese Restaurant." nt

[KeepItReal]

39. Only on the Chapelle Show...But I like how you're thinkin...

R.I.P. O.D.B.

Ko Ni Chi Wa - B*thches!

[tishaLA]

41. Hey! Dirty! Baby I got Some Memories doncha worry!

I don't have the money Dirty, but you gave me lots of great hiphop memories, baby. One love Pops.

[donheld]

42. R.I.P.

[Khephra]

45. I guess I'm now officially "out-of-it" when it comes to modern music news

I thought ODB was still in jail.

RIP

[6th Borough]

46. When Big Baby Jesus dies, Little Baby Jesus cries. /EOM

[kispoko]

47. "wu-tang is for the children"

when they said "founder" in the link i first saw just a bit ago, i wondered what the hell happened to rza..... can't they get anything right? fuckin' aol....

odb wasn't the "founder," but wu-tang isn't really the clan without him.....


think i'll drown myself in some "return to the 36 chambers," which i still keep handy after 10 years, and almost always bring on long trips..... some of that shit is funnier than george carlin. but sad at the same time to hear a man battling his demons on disc and losing.....


thanks odb. hope you found the measure of peace that was unattainable in this life.

[colonel odis]

48. so it wasn't cheney? i heard "old dirty bastard" and, you know, assumed

it was the "vice" president.

oh well.

[Window]

49. LOL!

.

[Komrade _azul]

50. Hey, hey-ey, Baby I got your money.....

[Huckebein the Raven]

55. Gonna miss the guy. Loved his music. RIP. n/t