2019-09-01 Rolling Stone

(Greg DeLong) #1

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRAD OGBONNA (^) | BY KIANA FITZGERALD
Taniqua Jones
DOB 4/23/88
HOMETOWN Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
CALLING Craft specialist for the disabled; cast mem-
ber, Growing Up Hip Hop New York; co-director of the
estate of Russell Jones (otherwise known as O.D.B.)
Barsun Jones
a.k.a. Young Dirty Bastard
DOB 4/9/89 HOMETOWN Bed-Stuy
CALLING Entrepreneur
Shaquita Jones
DOB 3/11/92
HOMETOWN Bed-Stuy CALLING Mother; DeVry MBA
student; co-director of the estate of Russell Jones
Riding the Coaster With O.D.B.
THE MOMENT THEY
KNEW THEIR DAD WAS
FAMOUS “He came to
my classroom because
I was bad in school,”
Barsun says. “He was
supposed to set me
right, but as soon as
he came, teachers
started acting different
and classmates started
participating in his ce-
lebrity. So now being
bad for me was good:
He was in the room.”
O.D.B.’S FAVORITE
ROLLER COASTER
“He would take us to
Six Flags all the time,”
says Taniqua, “and
Coney Island. He loved
the Cyclone. He was
always just our daddy.
He was famous, but he
never changed for no-
body. He never faked
the funk.”
THE DOWNSIDE OF
BEING YOUNG DIRTY
BASTARD “For me,”
Barsun says, “having
O.D.B. as a pops was
real hard. People
thought I was rich,
and I was not — when
he got locked up, we
wasn’t really making
too much money. I was
never rich until I made
myself rich.”
KEEPING THE LOVE
ALIVE “After my father
passed,” says Taniqua,
“I was 16, and Method
Man brought me
onstage. He said, ‘This
is Taniqua, O.D.B.’s
firstborn seed.’ Every-
body in the crowd
went crazy, and I just
started crying to see
how much love people
had for my father. You
couldn’t even see how
many people held up
their W’s out of respect
for him.”
THE O.D.B. LEGACY
“People see this crazy
person on TV,” says
Taniqua, who manages
the O.D.B. estate with
Shaquita. “People
don’t know he’s my
father and tell me he
was a crack addict. We
want people to know
what he brought to
Wu-Tang. We organized
a concert last year for
his birthday — oh, my
God, you never realize
how much it takes. But
next, we’re trying to set
up a tour.”


Children


of Rap


68

When you hear that a famous musician has kids, you have to wonder: What was it like


growing up in that house? We talked to the progeny of rap legends like Ol’ Dirty Bastard
and the Notorious B.I.G. about summer vacations with Usher, seeing your dad on the

cover of tabloids, and getting your deceased father’s cane back from the LAPD


TH

IS^

SP

RE

AD

:^ H

AIR

A
ND

M
AK

EU

P^ B

Y^ M

EL
ON

Y^ L

EW

IS
;^ S
TY

LIN

G^ B

Y^

JA
MI

LA

GR

EE
N;
C
LO

TH

IN
G^ B

Y^ C

HE

CK

S^ &

BA

LA

NC

ES

The Three Kids of
Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Free download pdf