New York City’s Chung King Studios has been a staple recording to facility to many genres of music, especially Hip Hop. The 37th Street facility was the early recording home to Run-DMC, The Notorious B.I.G. and Nas, among legions of others. In a new interview with Frank 151 magazine, the studio’s founder and owner of over 35 years, John King, recalled a special moment from his memories.
“One of my favorite stories was when [Ol’ Dirty Bastard] and I were sitting in the office. We might’ve been snorting something, I don’t know, and we were drinking champagne and celebrating,” said a laughing King. “O.D.B. had just done really well on his [Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version]; his hair was doing the full O.D.B. [signature look] and stuff. And LL [Cool J] was supposed to come in and be on the session that day. And he didn’t come in.” It is believed, based on a similar 2009 account by then-Elektra Records A&R Dante Ross, that LL Cool J had asked Ol’ Dirty to appear on an upcoming album. King explains that the Wu-Tang Clan member reacted poorly to LL’s last-minute cancellation. “O.D.B. just got up at one point—stopped, got up and walked over and pulled LL’s record off the wall and pissed on it.” It is unclear which album Ol’ Dirty urinated on, as Cool J had recorded at Chung King dating back to his 1985 debut, Radio. King adds, “I still have the record with the piss all over it. It’s at my house. I haven’t done the montage yet.”
In the 2009 interview, Dante Ross had recalled that O.D.B. was upset at the beat selected for the collaboration. LL Cool J has never spoken publicly on the incident.
Ol’ Dirty Bastard died in late 2004, after complications from a drug overdose. An original digital likeness has been slated to appear at this year’s Rock The Bells tour. Initially, O.D.B.’s widow cease-and-desisted the order, despite blessings from the late emcee’s mother.
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The full Frank 151 profile and interview by Wax Poetics Editor-in-Chief Andre Torres is below:
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