Taking the Ol' Dirty Bastard beyond the headlines, Jarett Kobek explores the consequences of the wild tales that provided years of tabloid fare, suggesting that beneath the shock value was a very serious story ignored by almost everyone. A Black man in America refused to acknowledge social control and was crushed by the American criminal justice system. Is it possible that by recording his shameless message, the Ol' Dirty Bastard doomed himself to a short lifetime of police harassment and prison violence?