Ol' Dirty Bastard (1999)
Nigga Please

Why is it always the crazy ones that everyone seems to care about? Take Public Enemy for example. Chuck D. has been lecturing about hip hop and race, all the while Flavor Flav is being dry humped on national television by every club rat and gold digger in the United States - for a second time. How about Outkast? Big Boi's clearly a superior rapper, but everyone seems to like Andre 3000 so much more.

Another seminal rap group, the Wu-Tang Clan, seems to be in just about the same place (well, without the flamboyant film and primetime show with amateur hookers). But this time, replace Chuck D. with eight stoned, kung-fu-worshiping kids and Flavor Flav with a really stoned character obsessed with getting laid, high and drunk: Ol' Dirty Bastard. But where Andre 3000 and Flavor Flav are clearly the lesser of their duo, ODB could contest nearly any of the Wu MCs.

As the Wu-Tang were ahead of their contemporaries lyrically, ODB was ahead of everyone stylistically (absolutely no meter to his lines and exercising the freedom to sing in the middle of his verses even when he certainly shouldn't have). No one, to this day even, has matched ODB's schizophrenic flows and few can contest his vitriol and shamelessly extroverted cries. His throaty screeches are so syncopated and flushed with allusions they would make Ludacris blush.

When ODB finally broke away from the Wu to release his solo material, people could only speculate what this madman might concoct. His first solo effort was Return to the 36 Chambers, which ultimately proved a bit sporadic. But when his second album, Nigga Please, hit stores, his legacy was officially cemented as not only one of the most deranged MCs of all time, but also one of the most innovative of the past decade.

Essentially, this album is as close as music can get to "The Wizard of Oz" (sorry Pink Floyd, you're just not cutting it anymore). Nothing is as it seems and ODB is the Wonderful Wizard running the show. From the intro "Recognize," which features Chris Rock telling you "It ain't the young DB / It's the Ol' DB," you know shit's about to get weird. And with production done by the RZA and a not-yet hipster Neptunes, there was no way Nigga Please was going to sound like anything else.

The disc give us one of our first looks at the "Bossy" Steak & Shake waitress Kelis on "Got Your Money," and a little foreshadowing into the RZA's work for "Kill Bill" on the climaxing production of "I Can't Wait."

And it would be easy to continue track by track, but ODB can't be summed up as that crazy comic relief from the Wu-Tang. Essentially, he's the Charles Bukowski of hip hop: you either love him or you don't, completely ahead of his time, not afraid to say and convince you of anything.

Songs like "Back That Azz Up" are often considered demeaning because they instruct women to pleasure men. ODB, for the most part, stays away from this political pitfall but is equally as shocking and open about what he wants. On "I Want Pussy," ODB repeats: "I want pussy / for free." He says it enough times that you just start to believe him rather than get mad. He really does want pussy for free

He separates himself further from everyone else on "Good Morning Heartache." ODB croons along with Lil' Mo's alto throughout the cut. It's either a fairly comedic and enjoyable track or nails on a chalkboard. There's really no in between. But at least he did it. Few rappers, if any, would have the gall to do what ODB did on Nigga Please.

Ol' Dirty Bastard was unprecedented and remains unmatched. Following his untimely death while working in the studio in 2004, the Wu-Tang have begun a tour and several of the members have continued their own work. But none of them will be able to fill in or emulate ODB. And Nigga Please showed that people care about the crazy ones because they actually are the best out there. Maybe "Flavor of Love" isn't that bad after all.