Ol' Dirty Bastard

Had the RZA completed the collaborative album he'd intended to record with ODB while he was on the lam, you can guarantee it wouldn't have sounded anything like this. Patched together from half-finished vocal tracks and previous recorded appearances, this record is from top to bottom an absolute disaster. The gaps in Ol' Dirty's songs are filled by appearances by Too Short, E-40, Mack 10 and, inexplicably, the Insane Clown Posse. The production on this record is a far cry from anything done by RZA, or anyone else ODB worked with when he had a major label contract, and Tytanic, who produced much of the album, relies on a high-rollin' West Coast sound too heavily, with watery-thin keyboard stabs and anaemically brittle drum patterns. As for ODB himself, it's been clear for a long time that the man needs serious medical attention and the peddling of his spontaneous acts to serve as comic relief is wearing thin. Presumably a skit featuring ODB taking a dump is supposed to induce fits of belly-splitting laughter but instead his barely coherent and confused mumbling should invoke serious concern for his well-being. The line between art and life was crossed a long time ago and frankly it's not funny anymore.