Barsun Unique Jones (born April 9, 1989), better known by his stage names Boy Jones and Young Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated YDB), is an American rapper. He is the son of rapper

Ol' Dirty Bastard Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004), known professionally as Ol' Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated as ODB), was an American rapper. He was one of the founding members of the New York rap group Wu-Tang Clan, which forme ...

and the cousin of rappers RZA and GZA.

Early life

Barsun Unique Jones was born on April 9, 1989, to Russell Tyrone Jones (better known as

) and Icelene Jones, making him a cousin of rappers

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( ) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the '' de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having pro ...

and

GZA Gary Eldridge Grice (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage names GZA ( ) and the Genius, is an American rapper. A founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both the first member in ...

. He is the eldest of his father's 13 children. Young Dirty Bastard grew up in Brooklyn. He was often suspended from grade school. He grew up in a violent neighbourhood; armed family members serving as security were a constant presence in his life and his father was shot at twice during his (Young Dirty Bastard's) childhood. Despite his father's fame, his family struggled to bring in money when he (Ol' Dirty Bastard) was incarcerated. His father accompanied him to a show at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

when he was nine, inspiring him to become a rapper. Soon after that, he compiled a notebook filled with "hundreds" of rhymes, and began recording rap music on a computer. His father advised him to choose another career path. Disregarding his father's advice, Young Dirty Bastard began rapping in earnest in his mid-teens, around the time his father died of an accidental drug overdose. During the funeral, he took the stage and declared that " y father, Ol' Dirty Bastardain't going nowhere... He lives through me." Subsequently, his mother took the family out of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Norcross, Georgia Norcross is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, about 15 miles northeast of Atlanta city limits. According to the 2010 census, the population was 9,116, while in 2020, the population increased to 17,209. Norcross is part of the Atlanta metropol ...

, hoping to improve Young Dirty Bastard's school grades, and to escape relatives who wanted Ol' Dirty Bastard's royalties. Afterward, he dropped out of school to focus on making music. RZA began mentoring him and took him on tour, familiarizing him with the other members of the

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

. He took the place of his late father.

Career

Music

At the 2013

Rock the Bells Rock the Bells is an annual hip-hop festival that originally took place in Southern California only, but has since toured throughout the world. The concert features a line-up of high-profile alternative hip-hop artists, often headlined by a mo ...

festival, he performed alongside a

hologram Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...

of his late father, for which he had provided the physical model and the voice. In October 2018, he performed on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'' along with the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan. In April 2019, Young Dirty Bastard performed " Triumph" with the surviving members of the Wu-Tang Clan on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

''. In November of that year, he formed the musical group 2nd Generation Wu with rappers iNTeLL, PXWER, and Sun God, who are all sons of members of the Wu-Tang Clan. They released their debut single that month. In October 2019, his manager claimed that he had "about ten" albums completed.

Other ventures

In 2019, Young Dirty Bastard made his reality television debut on the show '' Growing Up Hip Hop: New York''. He also tried out for the role of Ol' Dirty Bastard, his father, in '' Wu-Tang: An American Saga'', but the role ultimately went to T.J. Atoms. RZA stated that he decided not to cast him because his acting skills were inadequate, conceding that he bears a strong visual resemblance to his father. As of 2014, Young Dirty Bastard was planning to create a black hockey team.

Musical style

When performing with the Wu-Tang Clan, he fills the role of his father. According to ''

Creative Loafing Creative Loafing is an Atlanta-based publisher of an arts and culture news and events newspaper/magazine. The company historically published a weekly publication that once had a 160,000 weekly circulation. While Creative Loafing is no longer p ...

'', Young Dirty Bastard has a similar "guttural drawl". Speaking on his own style, Young Dirty Bastard claimed that his father's soul "jumped" into him when he died, resulting in him being able to imitate his father well. He cites religious leader

Elijah Muhammad Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1933 until his death in 197 ...

, civil rights activist

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

, and the

as influences. In particular, he describes

as his mentor.

Personal life

In 2014, Young Dirty Bastard revealed that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He stated that he would not seek any professional medical treatment, as he distrusted doctors. In 2019, he further elaborated that he had survived cancer "a few times" and had a heart attack at some point. He has also voiced support for the conspiracy theory that AIDS was artificially created. He does not smoke or drink, which he attributes to his father's early death and his mother's disapproval. He describes himself as vegetarian, but eats chicken. He is a follower of the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A centralized and hierarchical organization, the NOI is committed to black nationalism and focuses its attention on the Afr ...

. As of 2019, Young Dirty Bastard has six children, and lives in

Stone Mountain, Georgia Stone Mountain is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 6,703 as of 2020. Stone Mountain is in the eastern part of DeKalb County and is a suburb of Atlanta that encompasses nearly 1.7 square miles. It lies near and ...

as of 2014. Young Dirty Bastard's cousins and fellow rap artists Odion and David Turner were murdered in 2021 in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

Discography

Mixtapes

* ''Food Stamp Celebrity Vol. 1'' (2011) * ''A Dirty Tomorrow'' (2015) * ''A Dirty Tomorrow 2'' (2015)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young Dirty Bastard Living people 1989 births 21st-century American rappers Rappers from New York City 21st-century African-American musicians Rappers from Atlanta People from Norcross, Georgia