On this day in 1999, the late great Ol’ Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan released his second LP Ni**a Please on the Elektra label. Before it’s release, ODB was quoted saying that the then-untitled album had two contenders for its name; God Made and Dirt Don’t Hurt and The Black Man Is God, White Man Is The Devil. Ni**a Please was decided on after the original two were considered too outrageous.
Known for his controversial nature, ODB’s idea of promoting this project was to get his name in the headlines as much as possible, whether it be positive or negative. In the time in between his debut and sophomore release ODB was all over entertainment news and tabloids. His antics included a bail money fundraiser, surviving a shootout with police, interrupting the 1998 Grammy Awards, and even popping up at the welfare office in Brooklyn in a limousine to pick up his food stamps.
Obviously, all press is good press because the album debut on the Billboard 200 at #10 and sold 93,000 copies in the first week. The album went on to be certified gold by the RIAA in the year of its release.
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