Rap can be a wild industry even for the OG’s.
Just recently, 2 rappers associated with the Wu Tang Clan,
12 O Clock and Murdoc were killed in a shooting in Portland, Oregon.
Let's take a closer look at this story.
The Wu-Tang Clan is one of the most legendary groups in hop hop.
With classic songs like C.R.E.A.M, Protect Ya Neck and Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothin’ ta F’ with,
the Wu have cemented themselves as one of the most influential groups in rap.
What made them so unique was their status as a nine-member collective and network of countless affiliates.
This allowed them to play off each other’s strengths and create something that had never been seen before in hip hop
– or music in general.
But, over the years they’ve had their creative differences
and have gone off to launch their own solo careers,
some being more successful than others.
The most tragic story of all the Wu-Tang members is the career of Ol Dirty Bastard,
who passed away from a drug overdose in 2004,
just two days shy of his 36th birthday.
Now, just recently two of ODB’s Brooklyn Zu affiliates have been shot and killed in Northwest Portland, Oregon.
Ol Dirty Bastard was one of the wildest characters in the history of hip hop.
His raspy, drug-fueled melodic style of rapping was completely new at the time,
but has gone on to influence a whole generation of rappers to approach music from a unique perspective.
The rapper grew up in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn.
He was the cousin of Rober Diggs and Gary Grice
– aka the RZA and the GZA
and together they would form the Wu-Tang Clan in the early 90’s.
ODB also had two other cousins who were not quite as famous,
Odion and David Turner,
who were known by their rap names 12 O’Clock and Murdoc.
Outside of the Wu-Tang Clan,
ODB had a separate collective called Brooklyn Zu, which 12 O Clock and Murdoc were a part of.
ODB founded Brooklyn Zu around the time that he was recording his debut solo project,
Return to the 36th Chambers: The Dirty Version,
which was released in March 1995.
The project contains an ODB solo track called Brooklyn Zoo,
which is one of his most popular releases to date.
It also contained the posse cut, Protect Ya Neck II The Zoo,
which featured all the members from the collective,
including Buddha Monk, Prodigal Son, Zu Keeper, Killah Priest, Shorty Shit Stain, 60 Second Assassin,
and of course, 12 O’Clock and Murdoc.
The song was another one of the most popular tracks on the project because of its raw lyricism
and how it introduced hardcore fans to a whole new cast of characters in the Wu-Tang Universe.
Return to the 36th Chambers was the second solo project to be released by a Wu-Tang member,
after Method Man’s Tical.
It became an instant hip hop classic and was nominated for best rap album at the 1996 Grammy’s.
But despite his success in the music industry,
ODB struggled with addiction throughout his career,
which didn’t make him the same kind of group leader that the RZA was for the Wu-Tang.
Although in many ways ODB was a creative genius,
he would also suffer from severe mental health problems, which fueled his drug addictions.
But even without ODB’s direct guidance,
Brooklyn Zu was the first and most well-known of all the Wu-Tang affiliate groups.
From behind the scenes, the crew was run by his cousin who went by the name the Zu Keeper.
In an unverified post on a Wu Tang message board, the Zu Keeper broke down how the Brooklyn Zu came to be.
He said “ Brooklyn Zoo is not just a rap group,
we have a deep history of culture, knowledge, wisdom
and understanding of the way of life.
We spread this message through our music.
Our roots run deep, our strong foundation allows us to see,
prepare and create the future, of not just music but of culture itself.”
He continued on to say
"Im remembering when dirty was putting together one of his songs in his apartment
on Lenox and 132nd street, me, 12 and Dirty sat down on his couch watching Martin Lawrence, "You so Crazy,"
when I said it is time for us to come out with our group,
and I told dirty we should call the group Ol' Dirty Bastard Brooklyn zu.
That's how Brooklyn Zu came about,
"Protect your Neck part 2", one of the hottest songs on his first album.”
He also revealed the blood relationships between each of the members, stating
“First, 12 oclock is my oldest brother,
Shorty Shit Stain is my youngest brother,
Murdock is my first cousin
and Buddha Monk was a friend of the family since we were very young.”
He even goes more in-depth about his relationship with ODB,
the RZA, and the GZA, stating
“I was always the protector and guardian of my family so I gave myself the name the Zookeeper
and Dirty tried to take my name, but I was like
how you gonna be both the Ol' Dirty Bastard and the Zookeeper?
Just thinking back on that shit makes me laugh...
There's a lot of history with Brooklyn Zu and Wu Tang that people don't know.
Dirty, Rza and Genius are my older cousins,
but we don't say cousins, keeping with our Indian culture we say brothers because they are my big brothers.
They were the founders of Wu Tang.
Brooklyn zu was the first killer bees of that clan.
But we never got a chance to spread our wings ....”
So it seems like even though OBD was the face of the group,
his cousin the Zoo Keeper was really watching over the collective and making sure everyone was straight
at least according to him.
But the group never truly got a chance to flourish
because their most well-known figure was dealing with fame and his own personal demons.
Over the years, ODB’s behavior would get increasingly more erratic.
Just after the release of his first album,
he would famously bring his children to collect food stamps in a limousine,
while being profiled by MTV.
Even though the stunt would be hilarious to his fans,
his lavish lifestyle would lead to long-term problems.
Cash is everything around me baby
Clean get the money down dollar bill y'all
You'd never forget that.
You know Rich
You know what I'm saying look,
just look how I'm living baby
You know what I'm saying. Anybody got a quarter?
Thank you.
How much money we got here?
Alright we good to go, comon. Comon!
You need a strong hand.
To guide you through the night.
In 1997 he would be arrested for failure to pay child support
for 3 of his children and the following year
he would plead guilty to an attempted assault on his wife.
Plus, the same year, he would be arrested for stealing a pair of $50 sneakers,
even though he had about $500 cash on him at the time.
In 1999,
he was involved in a variety of legal problems,
including allegedly shooting at police officers,
driving without a license, possession of crack cocaine
and wearing a bulletproof vest as a convicted felon.
He would eventually be ordered to attend a drug rehabilitation program
but escaped in October 2000 and spent one month as a fugitive.
During that time, he even appeared on stage with the Wu-Tang at a performance at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York
and was eventually arrested while signing autographs outside a Mcdonald's in Philadelphia.
He was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison for the incident and didn’t get out until 2003.
Then on November 13th, 2004,
ODB collapsed around 4:30pm at RZA’s recording studio in Manhattan and was later pronounced dead.
The rapper had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder
and his autopsy revealed that he had a lethal mix of crack cocaine and the prescription opioid tramadol in his system.
But even after ODB’s death,
Brooklyn Zu continued to honor his legacy.
In 2008, they released a group project called Chamber #9 Verse 32.
The tape featured guest appearances from the RZA and the GZA, as well as the various members of Brooklyn Zu.
Now, years later, two more members of the crew would meet their end under tragic circumstances.
On August 11th, 2021,
police confirmed that Wu Tang affiliates and Brooklyn Zu founding members,
12 O’Clock and Murdoc had been shot and killed in Northwest, Oregon.
The shooting occurred around 5:30 am on August 10th in the area of North 82nd and Milton Street.
The shooting was captured on home surveillance footage,
and left the two rappers killed and four others critically wounded.
Police have not released much information about the shooting other than these basic facts,
but it has been confirmed that Odion Turner aka 12 Oclock,
and David Turner aka Murdoc, were the two fatalities.
12 O’clock was only 50 years old, and Murdoc was 45.
Several people close to the rappers also confirmed the news on social media.
Devine Turner, 12 O’Clock’s son took to social media to announce that his father had been killed.
In a video posted to Instagram, he said
“So I’m out of town away from home on business and I get the call that they murdered my father,”
Turner said. “I don’t know what to do”
with the caption “It’s a sad day for me...
They assassinated my father in #Oregon”
Young Dirty Bastard, the son of ODB
also mourned the death of his older relatives writing in an IG post “Rip 12 O’Clock. Rip Murdock.
They Were My Fathers Tightest blood bonds.
My Two Older cousins Was just assassinated.
Love Yalll. Blood Forever. Brooklyn Zu.”
Plus Princhesca Rainier Turner, 12 O’Clock’s wife for more than 20 years,
mourned her husband’s death saying
“August 10, 2021 How could one day bring so much joy and so much pain?
My heart doesn’t know how to separate being empty and full at the same time.”
Stephon Turner- aka the Zu Keeper
even gave his version of what went down.
He says that 12 O’Clock and Murdoc were in a tan-colored RV trailer
with 12 O’Clock’s younger brother that was parked in an abandoned lot on Northeast 82nd Ave.
Someone came and asked for a cigarette and when Murdoc opened up the door,
the stranger started firing off shots.
The Zu Keeper also said that the murder was motivated by jealousy, lust, hate, and greed,
but didn’t go into further detail.
12 O’Clock and Murdoc’s deaths were the 57th and 58th homicides in Portland this year,
which is already more than the entire year of 2020.
At this point, there isn’t enough information available to know what truly happened.
Rest in peace to 12 Oclock and Murdoc,
hopefully, justice will be served and they will eventually find the person responsible for killing these hip-hop legends.
Stay tuned for future updates on this case.
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