Ol' Dirty Bastard

In the wake of ODB’s recent passing this mixtape has emerged as the prelude to what will presumably be his final album later in the year. The thought of such an unpredictably wild figure such as ODB doing a mixtape, a form that pays little attention to sequencing and concept doesn’t harbour well, but truth be told, it’s not that bad of an affair. Kicking off with the DJ Premier helmed "Pop Shots” and the delightfully quirky "Dirty Dirty,” ODB appeared to be in rare form, sporting a more disciplined and topically focused flow, saving his trademark maniacal caterwauling for the choruses as opposed to the completely random style of the past. However this approach backfires when the soundscapes shift from East Coast grittiness to the Southern bounce beats that ill-advisedly dominate the mixtape’s second half. He may have just been dabbling in different sounds, but ODB comes off as being constrained and as a strangely subdued presence. Consequently this posthumous release doesn’t quite bottle the unique essence that was ODB. Maybe the final album will prove to be a more fitting swansong.