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Bed-Stuy Claims ODB: Street Renamed for Wu-Tang Legend

Ol' Dirty Bastard got his own block in Brooklyn—and his grandmother's living right there.

Brooklyn finally made it official. A stretch in Bed-Stuy now carries the name of Russell Jones—better known as Ol' Dirty Bastard, the wild-eyed, unpredictable voice of Wu-Tang Clan who changed how hip-hop could sound when you stopped caring about the rules.

It's fitting that the honor landed in Bed-Stuy, where ODB's roots ran deep. His grandmother still lives on the block bearing his name, a real anchor to the neighborhood that shaped him. The man who showed up to the Grammys in a bathrobe, who rapped about everything from kung-fu movies to domestic life with that untamed energy, deserves to be remembered where it all started.

ODB never sought respectability—he sought truth, chaos, and the next wild idea. So there's something poetic about a street sign with his name, not in some sanitized memorial way, but as a living part of Bed-Stuy. It's recognition without trying to clean him up or make him palatable.


Read the full story at Pitchfork → https://pitchfork.com/story/ol-dirty-bastard-has-his-own-new-york-city-street-now/

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