LL Cool J just dropped a wild memory on SiriusXM’s Rock The Bells Radio that’s got Hip-Hop heads talking about one of the most unhinged moments in Wu-Tang history.
The legendary rapper recalled the time Ol’ Dirty Bastard literally broke into his studio, destroyed his plaques, and urinated all over them. According to LL, his manager, Chris Lighty, called him up in a panic, saying, “Yo, you got to come down here.”
He couldn’t even understand why ODB was coming at him like that, but somehow it cemented their bond forever. Ol’ Dirty Bastard was the kind of artist who made his own rules and didn’t care who was watching. As a founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan, he brought a chaotic energy that nobody else could replicate, with his half-rapped, half-sung delivery and completely unpredictable behaviour.
ODB’s life was marked by constant legal troubles and battles with addiction that made it hard to separate the real person from the character he played. He faced multiple arrests for drug possession, assault, and other charges throughout the ’90s and 2000s. His second album Nigga Please, dropped in 1999 while he was in and out of jail, and it still managed to produce the hit “Got Your Money” with Kelis.
On November 13, 2004, just two days before his 36th birthday, ODB collapsed at RZA’s recording studio in New York City. An autopsy revealed he’d died from an accidental drug overdose, a lethal combination of cocaine and the prescription opioid tramadol. Witnesses said he’d complained of chest pain before collapsing.