A Year Before He Died, Ol' Dirty Bastard Didn't Remember the Making of "Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)"

"All I remember was waking up and having a hangover."

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Almost one week ago, Wu-Tang Clan fans across the world celebrated the 20 year anniversary of Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Remembering the historic date, Michael Gonzales wrote about the album and its depiction of life in the ghetto. Addressing the influence the album's content had, Gonzales wrote, "Seemingly overnight, with the intensity of crack, lots of boys to men started acting like the ghetto was Mecca and Malcolm X had died for their right to sling rock, blast guns and talk about prison as though it were a vacation home."

While the album drew fans, even those who didn't necessarily come from this environment, into the violent, gritty land of Shaolin, that same universe took its toll on some of the individuals who hailed from there. Gonzales wrote about the undoing of Clan member Ol' Dirty Bastard, whose crazy life eventually took a turn for the worst when he died of a cocaine overdose in 2004.

Having interviewed ODB the year before, Gonzales asked about his recollection of the group's debut album. “I don’t even remember making that record," ODB said. "When I was drunk, I was in another world. All I remember was waking up and having a hangover.”

The full piece is available here. It includes portions of an interview Gonzales did with RZA in 2006.

[via Ebony]

RELATED: The 20 Best Wu-Tang Clan Albums
RELATED: "A Real Breath of Fresh Air": Wu-Tang Clan's "Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers" Turns 20

Latest in Music