R.I.P. O.D.B.

Ol' Dirty Bastard is dead.

NEW YORK - The rap artist O.D.B., whose utterly unique rhymes, wild lifestyle and incessant legal troubles made him one of the most vivid characters in hip-hop, collapsed and died inside a recording studio Saturday. He was 35.

O.D.B. had complained of chest pains before collapsing at the Manhattan studio, and was dead by the time paramedics arrived, said Gabe Tesoriero, a spokesman for O.D.B.'s record label, Roc-a-Fella.

The cause of death was not immediately clear, but O.D.B. had recently finished a prison sentence for drug possession and escaping a rehab clinic. He would have turned 36 on Monday.

A damned shame.

UPDATE: Rappers Osirus, Joe Bannanas, Dirt Dog, Dirt McGirt, and Big Baby Jesus also died around the same time as Mr. Bastard.