Last night I was watching VH1’s Greatest Hip Hop Songs of All Time or whatever the hell it was called (too lazy to look up real title). “C.R.E.A.M.” by Wu Tang came in pretty high on the list, of course. When noting Wu Tang’s current hiatus, the narrator mentioned “the tragic death of ODB in 2004.”
I think the proper adjective in this case would be untimely. I don’t think Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s death can really be termed tragic. In fact, considering his many, many vices, he probably exceeded his life expectancy.
Not that I’m glad the guy’s dead, but saying ODB’s death was tragic is kinda like saying GG Allin’s death was tragic. Can’t keep putting your tongue on the third rail and not get zapped some day.
Then again, it is a kind of tragedy that we’re all robbed of the chance to see something like this again: