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Digging for Dirt: The Life and Death of ODB
A fan's exploration of the man behind the myth Ol' Dirty Bastard (aka Russell Jones) rose to fame with the Wu-Tang Clan in the early '90s, his unorthodox rap style and reputation for erratic behavior putting him in a media spotlight. As a solo artist, he released two albums that went gold and achieved crossover fame through a duet with Mariah Carey that debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. But for the next decade, his life would be fueled by chaos and excess until it derailed completely, resulting in a fatal drug overdose in 2004 and leaving behind an enigmatic legacy and a remarkably diverse group of fans. In a compelling combination of personal narrative, biography, and cultural criticism, Digging for Dirt explores ODB's life, career, mythology, death, and the troubled trajectory of his public and private worlds. Jaime Lowe met with the people ODB affected and was most affected by―surviving members of the Wu-Tang Clan, his hip-hop contemporaries, his parents, his followers, his managers, his neighbors, and his friends―in an attempt to figure out the man behind the clown-prince persona, and the issues of race, celebrity, mental illness, and exploitation that surrounded his rise and fall.
- GenresMusicBiographyNonfiction
288 pages, Hardcover
First published November 25, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 27, 2013
Sometimes it takes an outsider to understand the inside. And when it comes to East Coast hip-hop, Bay Area–born former Sports Illustrated staffer Jaime Lowe is a relative foreigner — not just to the Wu-Tang Clan but to the culture surrounding New York's premier rap dynasty. Lowe is as passionate about Ol' Dirty Bastard's life and music as most Wu devotees, and more knowledgeable, but she's not hypnotized by the group's brilliance. For this biography, that distance serves her well; few Clan fanatics could have shone such objective light on a life as equally tragic and triumphant as ODB's.
Digging for Dirt is a spinoff of an article that Lowe began for Rolling Stone in late 2003. When Dirty overdosed in November 2004 and the magazine ran a standard obit instead of her long-shelved feature, she brought the profile to the Village Voice, which published it soon after. She was inspired to cover Dirty by a 2003 Knitting Factory show at which he appeared to have been lobotomized, so she never intended to produce a joyous picture. But when he died halfway through her research, she was compelled to address his struggles with addiction and insanity. Like most cats who watched Dirty closely, Lowe was fascinated by his perpetual disruption of both musical and social conventions, and by how those contrarian compulsions landed him in prisons, institutions, and ultimately a graveyard.
When matters stray from Dirty's mental illness, however, Lowe offers anecdotes that show how he was incomparably "willful and spontaneous and gifted" in a society where most of us "sit behind gray cubicle walls, refreshing our computer screens hoping for manufactured excitement." There's the story about his barging on stage at the 1998 Grammy Awards during adult contemporary star Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech, and a gem from Pras about how he jumped on the Billboard topper "Ghetto Superstar" by "accident." The list uncurls: his high-school days with Phife and Q-Tip, his stint working maintenance at Universal Studios in Florida.
Lowe is a crack researcher (especially when you consider how notoriously impossible Wu members are to get in touch with) and a tremendous writer — qualities that distinguish Digging from a field of overwritten, over-analytic, under-thought hip-hop books. Whereas many of her contemporaries — out of arrogance or to pacify rap-ignorant editors — assume a posture of omniscience, she acknowledges that hers should be merely one of many Dirty tributes.
"I'm not a huge, huge hip-hop head," she tells me over lunch in Manhattan. "I'm a white, Jewish girl from California who spent three years writing about ODB because I thought my perspective was important. The story that I told is really different than what RZA would write — and he should write a book too. But as it stood, there was nothing. The obits were all just headlines: he had a lot of babies, he was arrested a lot of times, and then he died. That's why after sitting for two years I finally did this."
You would think that Dirty's closest acquaintances would know that there's no stopping people who really want to say something, but since the December publication of Digging, his mom and Jarred Weisfeld (his former manager) and others have leveled public allegations at Lowe. Mostly they're arguing that she shouldn't profit off Dirty's life, but they also claim that she's disgracing his legend by discussing his schizophrenia. In attacking Lowe, his friends, family, and associates have proved her point: the people around ODB were (and still are) unwilling to confront the sickness that caused his untimely and unglamorous passing.
From my Boston Phoenix review: http://thephoenix.com/boston/arts/746...
Digging for Dirt is a spinoff of an article that Lowe began for Rolling Stone in late 2003. When Dirty overdosed in November 2004 and the magazine ran a standard obit instead of her long-shelved feature, she brought the profile to the Village Voice, which published it soon after. She was inspired to cover Dirty by a 2003 Knitting Factory show at which he appeared to have been lobotomized, so she never intended to produce a joyous picture. But when he died halfway through her research, she was compelled to address his struggles with addiction and insanity. Like most cats who watched Dirty closely, Lowe was fascinated by his perpetual disruption of both musical and social conventions, and by how those contrarian compulsions landed him in prisons, institutions, and ultimately a graveyard.
When matters stray from Dirty's mental illness, however, Lowe offers anecdotes that show how he was incomparably "willful and spontaneous and gifted" in a society where most of us "sit behind gray cubicle walls, refreshing our computer screens hoping for manufactured excitement." There's the story about his barging on stage at the 1998 Grammy Awards during adult contemporary star Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech, and a gem from Pras about how he jumped on the Billboard topper "Ghetto Superstar" by "accident." The list uncurls: his high-school days with Phife and Q-Tip, his stint working maintenance at Universal Studios in Florida.
Lowe is a crack researcher (especially when you consider how notoriously impossible Wu members are to get in touch with) and a tremendous writer — qualities that distinguish Digging from a field of overwritten, over-analytic, under-thought hip-hop books. Whereas many of her contemporaries — out of arrogance or to pacify rap-ignorant editors — assume a posture of omniscience, she acknowledges that hers should be merely one of many Dirty tributes.
"I'm not a huge, huge hip-hop head," she tells me over lunch in Manhattan. "I'm a white, Jewish girl from California who spent three years writing about ODB because I thought my perspective was important. The story that I told is really different than what RZA would write — and he should write a book too. But as it stood, there was nothing. The obits were all just headlines: he had a lot of babies, he was arrested a lot of times, and then he died. That's why after sitting for two years I finally did this."
You would think that Dirty's closest acquaintances would know that there's no stopping people who really want to say something, but since the December publication of Digging, his mom and Jarred Weisfeld (his former manager) and others have leveled public allegations at Lowe. Mostly they're arguing that she shouldn't profit off Dirty's life, but they also claim that she's disgracing his legend by discussing his schizophrenia. In attacking Lowe, his friends, family, and associates have proved her point: the people around ODB were (and still are) unwilling to confront the sickness that caused his untimely and unglamorous passing.
From my Boston Phoenix review: http://thephoenix.com/boston/arts/746...
April 1, 2009
Jaime Lowe wants you to know that she's not like all the other upper-middle-class white hipster kids who think ODB is a genius. She is the REAL THING and she will keep explaining this to you, page after page, until you get it. Any insights into ODB's life and career seem to be an afterthought.
The most infuriating thing about this book is that it assumes its audience is already familiar with late 90s hip-hop in general and the Wu-Tang Clan in particular. Therefore, it leaves out some very basic information that would be helpful to readers who can't tell their RZA from their GZA or their Ghostfaces from their Masta Killas. The flip side of this is that readers who posesses this level of familiarity are much, much less likely to care about Jaime Lowe and her oh-so-interesting (and sophisticated and bohemian) life.
The most infuriating thing about this book is that it assumes its audience is already familiar with late 90s hip-hop in general and the Wu-Tang Clan in particular. Therefore, it leaves out some very basic information that would be helpful to readers who can't tell their RZA from their GZA or their Ghostfaces from their Masta Killas. The flip side of this is that readers who posesses this level of familiarity are much, much less likely to care about Jaime Lowe and her oh-so-interesting (and sophisticated and bohemian) life.
September 9, 2011
Definitely out lined the life and legend of ODB, although the clan members and some of his fam see this not quite accurate, as well as myself, I noticed that there were errors due to my extensive knowledge of the accounts of clan members and credits on the albums who produced what and so on... but above that it is truly a great book to read and it is one you just cant put down so I suggest it to anyone who ever had love for the Wu-Tang Clan. Peace and Rest In Spirit ODB!
July 23, 2008
Library Journal Review:
Interweaving biography, cultural criticism, and personal narrative, Lowe uses her skills as a journalist and hip-hop enthusiast to probe the depth of Ol' Dirty Bastard (ODB; né Russell Jones; d. 2004). ODB rose to prominence in the 1990s as one of the most enigmatic and outlandish members of the Wu-Tang Clan, but his style pays homage to Dolemite and Blowfly. Playing with the same stereotypes of black maleness as his predecessors, ODB's persona, lyrics, and lifestyle all function as a cultural and social commentary on race in Lowe's assessment. At the same time, she is careful to parallel ODB's celebrity with his devolving state of mental health, his numerous legal issues, and his drug addictions. These moments of tragedy and heartache, according to Lowe, create the authenticity in ODB's gravelly voice. Lowe's portrait reveals ODB as a far more complex character than what the headlines would lead people to believe. His life, like his style, is a compilation of contradictions, parody, and tragedy. Recommended for all public libraries.—Joshua Finnell, McNeese State Univ. Lib., Lake Charles, LA
Interweaving biography, cultural criticism, and personal narrative, Lowe uses her skills as a journalist and hip-hop enthusiast to probe the depth of Ol' Dirty Bastard (ODB; né Russell Jones; d. 2004). ODB rose to prominence in the 1990s as one of the most enigmatic and outlandish members of the Wu-Tang Clan, but his style pays homage to Dolemite and Blowfly. Playing with the same stereotypes of black maleness as his predecessors, ODB's persona, lyrics, and lifestyle all function as a cultural and social commentary on race in Lowe's assessment. At the same time, she is careful to parallel ODB's celebrity with his devolving state of mental health, his numerous legal issues, and his drug addictions. These moments of tragedy and heartache, according to Lowe, create the authenticity in ODB's gravelly voice. Lowe's portrait reveals ODB as a far more complex character than what the headlines would lead people to believe. His life, like his style, is a compilation of contradictions, parody, and tragedy. Recommended for all public libraries.—Joshua Finnell, McNeese State Univ. Lib., Lake Charles, LA
September 15, 2009
There have been a lot of reviews that complain that the bio is too much about the broad who wrote it and not enough about ODB. I agree, there is a lot about her but I don't think it takes away from the story.
Every biography is colored by the person who writes it. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of biographies about Ben Franklin and most of them disagree on key facts ("facts", then, maybe?)
Also, this is about Ol' Dirty Bastard, for crying out loud. Were you going to write some non-biased A-plus worthy paper on him for your AP American History course? Probably not. I feel like it is honest, fun, respectful and personal and those are pretty descent things to be.
Every biography is colored by the person who writes it. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of biographies about Ben Franklin and most of them disagree on key facts ("facts", then, maybe?)
Also, this is about Ol' Dirty Bastard, for crying out loud. Were you going to write some non-biased A-plus worthy paper on him for your AP American History course? Probably not. I feel like it is honest, fun, respectful and personal and those are pretty descent things to be.
January 25, 2009
"The job of the clown, after all, is to disguise tragedy with a real good juggling trick" writes the author, who has evidently never been exposed to Shakespeare. Would a Smokey Robinson "Tears of a Clown" metaphor have worked better? I'm afraid it's all like this, lots of ill-considered subjectivity and very little grounded research, as the author feels the need to ponder every Nexis and Google search she comes up with. Half the sentences begin with "I", even as she's also partial to the suffix "-ass" (as in weak-ass, stupid-ass, etc).
November 27, 2009
I don't like it when white people explain to me about black people, especially when the explaining is mostly sweeping, unfounded generalizations. I also don't like it when the only technique music journalists have to say that somebody does a good job at music is to talk shit about other people working in a similar paradigm to the one of the person they're trying to extol. I do, however, think that Ol Dirty was a compelling and hilarious musician. So two stars.
Edited to add: Oh, never mind. This:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Edited to add: Oh, never mind. This:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
January 17, 2009
would have made a better magazine article. lowe makes an indictment of everyone for being entertained by dirty's crazy behavior when he was really spiraling deeper into crack and mental illness, but half her book is a celebration of that craziness as an expression of him being a "free spirit". kind of trying to have it both ways.
March 2, 2009
An incredibly interesting book that is simultaneously a celebration of a talented--though often forgotten--artist and an introspective into his mental illness. Lowe's style is engaging and she offers an alternative perspective on the life of ODB.
October 28, 2015
Was not interested in ODB or the Wu Tang Clan before this. I understand more about hip-hop, the styles, Wu Tang Clan, and especially ODB now.
Very well researched. Reading something like this by someone who loves her subject is great.
#GoodRead, indeed.
Very well researched. Reading something like this by someone who loves her subject is great.
#GoodRead, indeed.
Want to read
December 23, 2008I can't wait to read this
January 14, 2009
I was shocked that this book was so good. Really.
Read
February 2, 2009This one is great. Combines author's introspection with searing analysis of ODB, Hip Hop, corrosive corporate culture, and identity.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews