Enigmatic rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard [ tickets ], after spending the last two years in prison and at a mental hospital, is now a free man with a new handle and a recording contract.

Roc-A-Fella Records CEO Damon Dash, during a Thursday press conference with ODB in New York (5/1), announced that the Wu-Tang Clan [ tickets ] member had joined his label. According to the New York Post, ODB said that he has changed his name to Dirt McGirt and will soon begin work on a new album. He also announced a new clothing line, and said that he will be starring this fall in a new VH1 reality TV show titled "On Parole With ODB."

In April of 2001, ODB was sentenced to two to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance. Under the plea arrangement, prosecutors agreed not to pursue a bail-jumping charge.

The rapper fled a court-ordered drug treatment program in October of 2000--a term that stemmed from a 1999 drug possession arrest--and was captured a month later.

ODB has been arrested numerous times since 1987 on charges including drug possession, menacing security officers, illegally possessing body armor, shoplifting and threatening a former girlfriend.