Ol' Dirty Bastard

Who was Ol' Dirty Bastard?

Russell Tyrone Jones, best known by his stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard, was an American rapper and occasional producer. He was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, a rap group primarily from Staten Island, New York that first rose to mainstream prominence with their 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang.

After establishing the Wu-Tang Clan, Ol' Dirty Bastard went on to pursue a successful solo career and contributed as a rapper/producer for the Fugees. However, his professional success was hampered by frequent legal troubles, including incarceration. He died on November 13, 2004 of a drug overdose, two days before his 36th birthday. Prior to his death, Jones managed to record his third solo album, which has been repeatedly delayed and as of 2013 has not been released.

Jones was often noted for his trademark microphone techniques and his "outrageously profane, free-associative rhymes delivered in a distinctive half-rapped, half-sung style". His stage named was derived from the 1980 martial arts film "Ol' Dirty and the Bastard", the relevance of which was articulated by Method Man's statement that there was "no father to his style".