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Big Baby Jesus: Life and career
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Russell Jones founded the Wu-Tang Clan with his cousin, RZA, and a childhood friend, GZA. Armed with his raw character, grimy, almost slurred and off-beat delivery and humorous antics, he was recognized as a pioneer who provided a breath of fresh air to the increasingly artificial world of rap music. He coupled an authentic ghetto mentality with the street credibility and the musical integrity necessary to be taken seriously in the hip-hop movement.
Ol' Dirty Bastard was first featured on Wu-Tang Clan's massively popular and innovative debut album, ' (1993), considered one of the most influential rap albums of the 1990s and listed as one of Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."
ODB's solo career began in 1995, the second member of the Wu-Tang Clan to release a solo album, following Method Man's 1994 effort, Tical
. , released on March 28, 1995, spawned the hit singles Brooklyn Zoo and Shimmy Shimmy Ya, and powered the album to gold status.
In 1997, the rapper further solidified his place in hip-hop history with the release of Wu-Tang Clan's second and most commercially successful album, Wu-Tang Forever.
In February 1998, after Russell witnessed a car accident from the window of his Brooklyn recording studio, he and a friend ran to the accident scene and organized about a dozen onlookers who assisted in lifting the 1996 Ford Mustang — rescuing a 4-year-old girl from the wreckage. She was taken to a hospital with second and third degree burns. ODB, using a false name, visited the girl in the hospital frequently until he was spotted by members of the media.
The following night at the Grammy Awards, Ol' Dirty Bastard rushed onstage unexpectedly during
Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech for "Song of the Year" and began complaining that he had recently purchased expensive clothes in anticipation of winning the "Best Rap Album" award that he lost to Puff Daddy. Before being escorted off-stage, he implored the audience, "I don't know how you all see it, but when it comes to the children, Wu-Tang is for the children." His bizarre onstage antics were widely reported in the mainstream media.
In April 1998, he announced his new stage name, Big Baby Jesus, but was never able to give a coherent explanation for the very brief switch. Also that year while being taped for an MTV biography, he took two of his thirteen children by limousine to a New York State welfare office to pick up his welfare check.
In 1999, he found time to release Nigga Please between jail sentences, which received much success. This release included the year's college anthem, "Got Your Money". His record company, Elektra Records, released a greatest hits album in 2002 as well as "new" material, but ODB's lack of participation led to critical pans and popular failure.The year 2003 brought a turn in the life of the dirtiest member of the Wu-Tang Clan, however. The day he was released from prison, with
Mariah Carey and Damon Dash by his side, Dirty signed a contract with Roc-a-Fella Records, and began a new chapter in his life. Living at his mother's home under house arrest and with a court-ordered probation hanging over his head, he managed to star in a VH1 reality television series. He also managed to record a new album, (to be) released in 2004.
He had stated that he also planned on collaborating with artists in the electronic music genre, such as Carnage and The Fiasco, Fischerspooner, and possibly even Massive Attack.
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