Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004) was an American
rapper and occasional
producer, who went by the
stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard (often shortened to
ODB). He was one of the founding members of the
hip hop group
Wu-Tang Clan.
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
microphone technique (critic Steve Huey writes of Jones' "outrageously
profane,
free-associative rhymes" delivered "in a distinctive half-rapped, half-sung style"
[Description at AllMusic]), Jones' stage name came from a 1980
kung fu film entitled
Ol' Dirty & The Bastard[1], the relevance of which was articulated by
Method Man's assertion that there was "no father" to Jones' style.
[as related on track 5 of Enter the Wu-Tang]