16/07/2026
For the first time in his own words, LL Cool J has addressed a strange episode from hip-hop’s past: the day the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard wrecked a batch of his plaques at Chung King Studios in New York.
The story came up during a recent broadcast of the rapper’s SiriusXM program, Rock The Bells Radio. As LL tells it, the news reached him by phone. Chris Lighty, the influential executive who has since passed away, called and pressed him to get down to the studio right away. LL, unaware anything had gone wrong, asked what the problem was — and was told that ODB had shown up, torn his plaques apart, and relieved himself on them.
By LL’s account, the reason behind the outburst was never clear to him. He said he couldn’t figure out what he’d done to provoke it. Even so, he spoke about the Wu-Tang Clan member with obvious affection, framing the whole thing fondly rather than bitterly and paying tribute to his memory.
Though LL had never told it himself until now, the tale has circulated for years. Lighty’s earlier account filled in the background: ODB had turned up drunk and grew agitated when studio staff wouldn’t record him in that state, at which point he tore the plaques down and urinated on one. A receptionist ended up calling the police. Lighty also remembered how quickly ODB’s mood flipped — by the time he reached the ground floor, he was reportedly laughing.
There’s a lingering detail, too. Chung King’s founder, John King, later said one plaque never found its way back to LL and still sits in his own collection.
The anecdote joins a deep catalog of tales about ODB’s famously erratic streak. All these years later, LL seems to carry no grudge, revisiting the moment with a laugh.
