On this date in 1995, Russell Jones, better known as Ol’ Dirty Bastard, unleashed “Brooklyn Zoo,” the premier single from his debut solo album Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version on Elektra Records. Now 31 years old, the record remains one of the rawest and most unmistakable statements ever to come out of the Wu-Tang universe.
Produced by in-house Wu producer True Master, “Brooklyn Zoo” captured Dirty at his most unfiltered, chaotic, and fearless. The single went on to become his second highest-charting record as a solo artist, later surpassed only by “Got Your Money” from his N***a Please album. At the time, it stood as proof that ODB’s off-the-rails charisma could thrive outside the collective while still carrying the Wu banner.
The song’s title came directly from ODB’s real-life circle, Brooklyn Zu, a crew whose name carried weight in the streets. The word itself had already been associated with a well-known Brooklyn gang, and that reputation reportedly played a role in a violent encounter that left Dirty shot in the Brevoort Housing Projects in Bed-Stuy. Like much of ODB’s music, the record blurred the line between lived experience and art, with consequences that were very real.
“Brooklyn Zoo” quickly became one of the borough’s defining anthems. Loud, unruly, and unapologetically Brooklyn, it embodied Dirty’s refusal to clean himself up for radio or industry comfort. Instead, he doubled down on who he was and where he was from, representing Brooklyn with a ferocity that still resonates decades later.
31 years on, Ol’ Dirty Bastard is remembered not just as a Wu-Tang original, but as a true native son of Brooklyn who repped his borough without compromise. “Brooklyn Zoo” remains a time capsule of that energy, a reminder of an era when authenticity mattered more than polish.
RIP ODB. Brooklyn forever.