Ol' Dirty Bastard

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Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004), better known under his stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard (or ODB), was an American rapper and producer. He was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, a rap group primarily from Staten Island, New York which first rose to mainstream prominence with their 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

After establishing the Wu-Tang Clan, Ol' Dirty Bastard went on to pursue a successful solo career and contributed as a rapper/producer for the Fugees. However, his professional success was hampered by frequent legal troubles, including incarceration. He died on November 13, 2004, of a drug overdose, two days before his 36th birthday. Before his death, Jones managed to record his third solo album, which remains unreleased.

Jones was often noted for his trademark microphone techniques and his "outrageously profane, free-associative rhymes delivered in a distinctive half-rapped, half-sung style". His stage name was derived from the 1980 martial arts film Ol' Dirty and the Bastard (also called An Old Kung Fu Master, starring Simon "Ol' Dirty" Yuen);Method Man articulated its relevance on track 5 of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), stating there was "no father to his style".

Brooklyn Zoo

"Brooklyn Zoo" is the debut single by American hip-hop artist Ol' Dirty Bastard from the album, Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version (1995). Ol' Dirty Bastard was the second member of the Wu-Tang Clan to release a solo effort, behind Method Man. "Brooklyn Zoo" is Ol' Dirty Bastard's second highest charting single, behind Got Your Money.

Composition and lyrics

The song is composed of an intro followed by a single long verse and finishes with a repeated hook, "Shame on you when you step through to the Ol' Dirty Bastard, Brooklyn Zoo!" This line is an interpolation of another Ol' Dirty Bastard line from the song "Protect Ya Neck" by the Wu-Tang Clan from the album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) ("Shame on you, when you step through to the Ol' Dirty Bastard, straight from the Brooklyn Zoo").

The song's lyrics take the form of a tirade against an unnamed adversary.

About halfway through the song a line is repeated in a crescendo which builds to a scream ("By a nigga, who couldn't figure").

Demetri Martin

Demetri Evan Martin (born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer, and humorist. He is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, being a contributor on The Daily Show, and his Comedy Central show Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Early life

Martin was born on May 25, 1973 to a Greek American family in New York City, New York, the son of nutritionist Lillian and Greek Orthodox priest Dean C. Martin (now deceased). He grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, and has a younger brother named Spyro.

Martin graduated from Yale University in 1995. During his time there, he wrote a 224-word poem about alcoholism as a project for a fractal geometry class, which became a well known palindromic poem. He was also a member of the Anti-Gravity Society, whose members juggle objects on Sunday evenings on Yale's Old Campus.

Although Martin was accepted into Harvard Law School, he went to New York University School of Law after he received a full scholarship. Martin withdrew from law school before the start of his final year, opting to pursue comedy over finishing his Juris Doctor.

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys are marketing campaigns for food and other products. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Since the creation and increased popularity of YouTube, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers of short promos on the site for their upcoming song and music video. Consequentially, YouTube has been converted into a social media platform for celebrities and artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.

Jackie Robinson

Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman who became the first African American to play in the major leagues in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers, by playing Robinson, ended racial segregation that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

Robinson had an exceptional 10-year baseball career. He was the recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored. Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship. In 1997, MLB "universally" retired his uniform number, 42, across all major league teams; he was the first pro athlete in any sport to be so honored. MLB also adopted a new annual tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day", for the first time on April 15, 2004, on which every player on every team wears No. 42.