Putnam Avenue in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood has been officially co-named ODB Jones Way in honor of the late Russell Tyrone Jones, better known as Ol’ Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan. According to local reports from the July 26 ceremony, family, friends, and city officials gathered at the corner where the late rapper’s grandmother still resides to unveil the new street sign.
Bed-Stuy Roots and Family Connections
Although Ol’ Dirty Bastard was born and raised in the nearby Brooklyn neighborhood of Fort Greene, his ties to Bed-Stuy run deep. According to statements made at the renaming ceremony by the rapper’s eldest brother, Ramsay Jones, to New York photographer Howie Weiss, the newly designated street sign sits directly at the corner of the block where their grandmother continues to live. That same block features a prominent mural depicting the cover art of Jones’ debut solo album, Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version.
Legacy and Documentary History
The street co-naming arrives more than two decades after Jones died from a drug overdose in November 2004 at the age of 35. In the years following his death, his life and musical legacy have been the subject of multiple film projects. An unauthorized documentary was released in 2013, which the rapper’s estate actively attempted to block. A subsequent authorized film debuted on A&E in 2023 with the full blessing of Jones’ family, chronicling his explosive impact as a co-founder of the influential hip-hop group.
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