On the tenth anniversary of his death, The Dirty Version is the first
biography of hip hop superstar and founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan,
Ol' Dirty Bastard, to be written by someone from his inner circle: his
right-hand man and best friend, Buddha Monk.
Ol' Dirty Bastard rocketed to fame with the Wu-Tang Clan, the raucous
and renegade group that altered the world of hip hop forever. ODB was
one of the Clan's wildest icons and most inventive performers, and when
he died of an overdose in 2004 at the age of thirty-five, millions of
fans mourned the loss. ODB lives on in epic proportions and his antics
are legend: he once picked up his welfare check in a limousine; lifted a
burning car off a four-year-old girl in Brooklyn; stole a fifty-dollar
pair of sneakers on tour at the peak of his success. Many have
questioned whether his stunts were carefully calculated or the result of
paranoia and mental instability.
Now, Dirty's friend since childhood, Buddha Monk, a Wu-Tang collaborator
on stage and in the studio, reveals the truth about the complex and
talented performer. From their days together on the streets of Brooklyn
to the meteoric rise of Wu-Tang's star, from bouts in prison to
court-mandated rehab, from Dirty's favorite kind of pizza to his
struggles with fame and success, Buddha tells the real story--The Dirty
Version--of the legendary rapper.