?Shimmy shimmy ya, shimmy yam, shimmy yay?gimme the mic so I can take it a-WAY?? It?s like a slightly more coherent ?Cold Lampin? With Flav? or something. Thank God those two never got in a studio together.

It?s been almost a week and I still don?t know how to react to the news of Ol? Dirty?s death. For me, ODB was like that one relative you only see at the family barbecue that brings their own foldout lawn chair: loud, ignorant, and embarrasses you without halfway trying, but they?re family so you can?t disown them. And when they?re gone, it still affects you?for reasons that you can?t even find the words for.

I can remember the first time I sat down with his Return To The 36 Chambers album. I knew I was in for trouble upon discovering that the intro for the album was FIVE MINUTES LONG. And how surreal was his cameo on that Mariah Carey joint?

?Me and Ma-RIIIIIIIIIIII-ah?go back like babies with paci-FIIIIIIIIIIIII-ahs??

Ever since his death, the video he did with Busta Rhymes for the remix of ?Woo-hah!!? has been in my head. Anybody else remember the full-bodied psycho ward outfit they shared while bouncing around a rubber room? It was that image that came to mind when reading the sentiments of the webmaster at Okayplayer.com, calling his recorded output and live performances ?smart went crazy.? Yeah, I?d buy that.

May as well cut this short, for there will be others that can speak much more eloquently than I in regards to this passing. However, I would like to direct you to a related thread on the OkayBoards that I found interesting. In a way, it reminds me why I left the boards in the first place (and it?s rare that I go there even to lurk), but the participants do bring up some intriguing views regarding discussion of the soul after death, particularly amongst the hip-hop community.