Wu-Tang Clan Recall Performing For Ol' Dirty Bastard In Rikers Island

RZA and Cappadonna recount drinking 40s and eating burgers inside of Rikers Island.

BYAron A.May 14, 20194.2K Views

Wu-Tang Clan is currently on a promotional run for their new docu-series, Of Mics & Men which debuted its first part last Friday. The crew's touched down at MSNBC, Desus & Mero, and more as they promote the Showtime documentary as well as the 25th anniversary of their debut album. In a recent interview with The Face, Wu-Tang Clan responded to a few myths pertaining to the crew including the story about ODB breaking out of jail to perform with the crew.

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RZA and Cappadonna recounted the time they performed at Rikers Island for Ol Dirty Bastard when he was locked up for the first time before speaking on the myth of Ol Dirty breaking out of jail to perform.

"We did a show in Rikers Island for Ol’ Dirty," Cappadonna said.

"We all went to the jail, and performed for Dirty in the jail," RZA added before Cap remembered drinking 40 oz. in prison. "We had 40oz, Dirty’s eating mad burgers in there too, fuck all that vegetarian shit," RZA added. "The inmates was in the yard with us. They wasn’t locked up, they was standing right there!" Cap continued.

RZA and Cappadonna then went into detail about the story about ODB breaking out of jail to perform. Technically, he didn't break out of prison, as RZA recalled. It was a halfway house, but the Wu-Tang Clan members did confirm that he did break out to perform with them.

"But as far as ODB breaking out of jail [to play a show] – in America, they’ve got jails where like, you’re in jail but they want to put you in for like evaluation, or a drug evaluation. But you can’t leave there. You’re locked up there, but it ain’t like there’s bars. You can sneak out of there," RZA said. "But Dirty did it... He showed up to a Wu-Tang show in disguise... He was disguised. He was like ‘yo, I got to go’ and I was like ‘one more song!’"

"What happened was after the show, he went to Philly. Because a lot of his Brooklyn Zu crew dudes was in Philadelphia. At a McDonalds, he signed an autograph for some lady cops. And everyone was like ‘yo that’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard, he’s a fugitive’. You know what I mean? Then he’s back up in the box and shit. Lady cops call for backup," RZA said. "They didn’t set him up, it was just like ‘we got him, he’s right here!’"

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Aron A.

Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.