The Tragedy of Hip Hop part 4

About two years before Eazy-E’s 5′ 3″ corpse was buried wearing his Compton hat in Rose Hills Memorial Park the landscape of hip hop was changed yet again. Finally, we can get the fuck out of Los Angeles, all the way to Staten Island. RZA has to be in the conversation as one of the greatest geniuses in hip hop history as the “abbot” of the Wu-Tang Clan. In a way that’s similar to DJ Screw, RZA’s contribution to the genre is hard to quantify. It’s unclear what’s his and what’s an imitation but it doesn’t really matter because his sound is really a sub genre of hip hop. He’s the architect of a signature sound that works over and over again and refuses to go stale three decades in.

But this is about Dirty. I’m finally going to give up full names. I’m not writing about anything new. I’m writing about something old and dirty.

His food stamp album cover on his debut Return to the 36. That’s my favorite Wu related album. I love the song Brooklyn Zoo II (Tiger Crane)” (Featuring Ghostface Killah). It’s the beautiful surreal collage energy blast fully caught Dirty Dirt McGirt.

One thing that really touches me is how he hated being locked up so bad and how tender he was. He was an artist; not a thug. This varies from artist to artist but it’s a running theme to understanding most rappers. They’re artists not criminals. I mean in their hearts. Some who claim their (not they’re) gangsta are purely personae.

“Everywhere I go, I got my shooters with me
I ain’t goin’ in the club, can’t bring my Ruger in it
Ain’t no cameraman, but I’ll shoot a nigga
Now why they call me Kodak? ‘Cause I’ll shoot a nigga” – Kodak Black

“all this kill this, kill that, kill this
Lemme tell you somethin, [what, what]
The real killers, they’re standin right over there
Waitin for you to act like a killer, so they can kill you” – Wyclef Jean

Anyway, Dirty was broken-hearted that his Wu family took so little interest in his well-being while he was behind bars. Like Drakeo the Ruler, he never recovered from his prison trauma.

He saved that four year old girl that was trapped under a car in Brooklyn. The exact opposite of those useless pigs in Uvalde. Dirty was a hero. Wu-Tang is for the babies.

The following are screenshots of the FBI data base on Dirty and The Wu-Tang Clan:

https://vault.fbi.gov/russell-tyrone-jones/russell-tyrone-jones/view

I remember reading about a huge collection of drugs found in Dirty’s autopsy toxicological report but everything I can find now just mentions tramadol and cocaine. I could’ve sworn there was a bunch of other shit but I’m not seeing that now. He was diagnosed bipolar. I always feel like there’s a bit of suicide in every overdose but his death is universally considered accidental. He left behind at least three children. They’re beautiful.

He was a great artist and had a beautiful heart. His early death was another profound hip hop tragedy.

Part one of series here: https://birdboyblizzard.music.blog/2022/05/28/the-tragedy-of-hip-hop-part-one/

Part five here: https://birdboyblizzard.music.blog/2022/06/17/the-tragedy-of-hip-hip-part-five/