NEW YORK (AP) – 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. He would have turned 36 on Monday.

O.D.B. – also known as Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Dirt McGirt, Big Baby Jesus or his legal name of Russell Jones – was a founding member of the seminal rap group the Wu-Tang Clan in the early 1990s. With his unorthodox delivery – alternately slurred, hyper and nonsensical – O.D.B. stood out even in the nine-man Clan, which featured such future stars as Method Man, RZA and Ghostface Killah.

The Wu-Tang blueprint was for each member to pursue solo projects, and O.D.B.’s were among the best.

But as his fame increased, so did his erratic behavior, and fans came to expect the unexpected from O.D.B.

In February 1998, he crashed the stage at the Grammy Awards and hijacked a microphone from singer Shawn Colvin as she accepted an award, apparently upset over losing the best rap album Grammy to Puff Daddy. He complained that he spent a lot of money for new clothes because he thought he was going to win. The rapper later apologized.

Over the years, he was wounded in shootings and arrested on a veritable laundry list of charges, including menacing security officers, illegally possessing body armor, driving with a suspended license, shoplifting and threatening a former girlfriend.

In 2000, after escaping a court-ordered stint in a California rehabilitation center, authorities searched for him for a month. He was finally arrested in Philadelphia – three days after performing in a New York City concert with his Wu-Tang clique.

He was sentenced in 2001 to two to four years in prison for drug possession, plus two concurrent years for escaping from the clinic. He was released in 2003 and immediately signed with Roc-a-Fella.

He heralded his return with a news conference alongside singer Mariah Carey.

Tesoriero said O.D.B. had been working on his comeback album for more than a year and was almost finished.

His mother, Cherry Jones, said she received the news of her son’s death in a phone call, which she called “every mother’s worst dream.”

“To the public he was known as Old Dirty Bastard, but to me he was known as Rusty. The kindest most generous soul on earth,” her statement said. “Russell was more than a rapper, he was a loving father, brother, uncle, and most of all, son.”

AP-ES-11-13-04 2250EST