Young Dirty Bastard Calls Dad ODB A “Genius,” Criticizes Wu-Tang Show Casting
Nothing against the actor who portrayed his father, but he thinks they should have reached higher.
Although it’s been 15 years since the world lost the Wu-Tang legend, the stories of Ol’ Dirty Bastard continue to flow. YDB sat down with AllHipHop to clear up misconceptions about his dad while praising his good deeds in the process. “My father always gave back,” YDB said. “Let’s say it’s cold outside. The children gon’ eat. He gave ’em all the money out his pockets. They called him a dirty mothaf*cka, but he’s the cleanest one in his heart. He was a genius. People got him confused. And he was a leader, too.”
The subject of Hulu’s hit series Wu-Tang: an American Saga came up and it was mentioned that TJ Atoms, the actor who portrayed ODB, mentioned that he spent time with YDB to learn more about the rapper. YDB corrected the host and said, “We never spent no days together. Keep it real with you.” He said that the actor asked “to chill” but that was as far as it went. “First of all, that’s my family,” YDB said. “If anything, we’re supposed to pick who we want to play the role. That was orchestrated from a higher level that, you know, it was orchestrated behind doors the wrong way on my behalf.”
“I think they should have definitely picked me,” the rapper added. “Since I play the role every day. Life.” He added, “To get anybody to do it and not reach to the highest actor on the pedestal at the time. I would have called Denzel [Washington], you know what I’m saying. He would have said no, but I would have called somebody else. I would have did that first before doing that.”
YDB also admitted that he wasn’t impressed with TJ Atoms’s portrayal of his father. The rapper said his mother is “pissed at it” because “he looks more like a goofball. My father wasn’t no goofball.” He stated once again that his father is a leader and he can’t be seen leading anything in the series. Watch Young Dirty Bastard’s interview in full below.
