Now Press Play 2025 Early-bird

The mad, true story of the mad, brilliant rapper who was the heart and soul of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan, who left the world too soon after being swallowed up by the music industry.

The names Russell Jones or even Ason Unique most likely mean nothing to folk, but it’s a safe bet that ODB – or Ol’ Dirty Bastard – probably does. These are all aliases of the American rapper from the most important rap group of the 1990s.

Ol’ Dirty Bastard was a wild spirit and totally unpredictable bundle of energy. But he was also father and husband Russell Jones. And he was the religious Black man Ason Unique, born during the race riots of the 1960s when the country’s Black population had to fight and die for even the smallest rights.

ODB was a multicoloured Hulk who changed colour depending on who was looking at him. But as his stardom grew, things span out of control. Unique private and archival footage tells the remarkable, brutal story of his upbringing, through his Wu-Tang Clan heyday, to his untimely death on a dark night in 2004.

Now Press Play is supported with funding from Film Hub NI.