NEW YORK – Troubled rapper O.D.B., in a casket surrounded by red and white flowers, was remembered by family and friends Wednesday at a Harlem church where the focus was on the positives in his life.
“He just loved life,” said his father, William Jones, a retired New York City Transit employee who now lives in Newport News, Va. He said he had last spoken to his son, born Russell Jones, about three weeks ago.
Jones, 35, collapsed and died Saturday inside a Manhattan recording studio. The cause of death remained undetermined, but the co-founder of the seminal rap group Wu-Tang Clan had struggled with drug and alcohol addictions. He had complained of chest pains before he died.
O.D.B. was known for his unique rap styles, which ranged from the slurred to the hyper to the nonsensical. He recently signed with Roc-a-Fella records.
“He was a true artist and he also dealt with a lot of pain in his life,” Roc-A-Fella founder Damon Dash said before entering the church.