Ol' Dirty Bastard
Osirus (The Official Mixtape)

Russel Tyrone Jones was one of the most influential figures in hip-hop: cousin to the genius RZA and together with him, the founder of the seminal collective Wu-Tang Clan, an innovative and unconventional MC, a disorderly and rebellious personality. Throughout his career, Russel signed under a thousand different nicknames, the main and most famous of which is Ol' Dirty Bastard.

Unfortunately, this Old Dirty Bastard passed away suddenly on November 13, 2004, at the young age of thirty-six after a life of excess and abuse of all kinds (his prison stints for possession of various drugs and weapons and the related adventurous escapes are almost proverbial by now).

Osirus (The Official Mixtape) is his last album, posthumously released in 2005 thanks to the efforts of Prince RZA and containing the tracks he was working on before his untimely demise. It is a solid and well-structured album, with undeniable artistic value, to which is also added historical and sentimental importance: Osirus is ODB's swan song, the last testimony of a talent without rules and without limitations, just like his lifestyle.

The peculiarity of Dirty has always been his rapping: endowed with an impressive metric cadence and a hoarse voice, he often alternates the recitation of rhymes with shouted choruses like a drunk. Any description does not do justice, ODB's style is either loved or hated, it certainly cannot leave anyone indifferent.

The album is divided between very dark and aggressive tracks, that would fit perfectly in the soundtrack of a thriller, and more playful pieces that hint at quality r'n'b. It starts with Pop Shots which sits perfectly halfway between the two concepts just mentioned: an opening track that bodes well for the rest of the work. In fact, Dirty Dirty (produced by Mick Ronson’s talented son, Mark, a leading figure in a certain polished yet high-quality r'n'b: for example, he was behind the mixer for Amy Winehouse's big hit, Rehab) is immediately extravagant and fun, frantic and awkward. On the same frequencies, we find Go Go Go, the amazing High In The Clouds with an irresistible funk rhythm and enriched by a truly over-the-top interpretation by our Dirty Guy, and also Dirty Run with a wonderfully swinging gait. Among the more tense tracks, Who Can Make It Happen Like Dirt? (dark and pressing) and the defiant Stand Up (complete with background police sirens) are highly appreciated.

Also remarkable are Razhel's skits placed between the tracks, which only confirm the talent of the most famous human beatboxer and the respect that every artist in the circuit had for the late ODB. Perhaps the album declines a bit during the unresolved If Ya'll Want War (despite the presence of Clan fellow Ghostface Killah), but it immediately redeems itself thanks to the lyrical and soulful Pussy Keep Calling (which seems like it just came out freshly from the masterpiece that is the debut of the Wu-Tang Clan).

Osirus may not be a masterpiece (for those, one must look among the '90s works of the Clan and its affiliates), but it is certainly a valid work to which is added the regret of a life faded like this and a career that was rising to very high standards (if the previous tracks weren't enough for you, give Fuck Y'All a listen) after some uncertainty. For all these reasons, I cannot refrain from assigning the highest marks: with Russel Jones have also gone traits perhaps unrepeatable in rap, madness and originality at all costs...

ODB rest in peace.