Stitched Portraits: Ol' Dirty Bastard

(b. Nov. 15, 1968) Russell Tyrone Jones went by the name Ol' Dirty Bastard - a moniker given to him by his fellow Wu-Tang member, Method Man (he said there was "no father to his style"). And if he wasn't part of such a prominent rap group, ODB would have been an obscure outsider artist. Listening to him is a test of earful patience and this has always been the reason why he is my favorite Wu.

There is also his blatant disregard for authority, characterized most egregiously in the MTV profile where he picks up his welfare check with his family, in a limo (you know, at the same time he had a platinum album out). The absurdity of an act like this is one that polarized him, but it spoke to some deep issues that we continue to discuss today. Because really, we talk about welfare as free money gifts from the government. "THEY didn't EARN that!" is a common epithet (That, and "I'M a HARD worker"). To this I say: Let people do whatever they want with their welfare checks - it's only going to have the same effect that wasting money has on anyone. And the lives we lead based on our actions - We all earn that.

Ol' Dirty (Grill, prominently displayed):