It could've been real simple. Police seeking Ol' Dirty Bastard during his now-concluded stint as a fugitive could have found him in the studio with his bandmate RZA, where he recorded several songs with "very, very peculiar" lyrics, according to the Wu-Tang Clan mastermind.

"I hate to admit it, but when Ol' Dirty came out for his little hiatus, he recorded about four or five songs," RZA told Sonicnet.com last week. "He did some to my music, and he did some with [Wu-Tang-affiliated] producer John the Baptist, and he got some material."

ODB (born Russell Jones) was arrested in Philadelphia in November after fleeing a court-mandated stay in rehab the previous month. In a hearing held Tuesday morning (December 19) in Philadelphia, the rapper waived extradition proceedings, paving the way for a transfer to New York to face crack-cocaine possession charges in Queens, according to a spokesperson for the Philadelphia district attorney's office.

RZA (born Robert Diggs), who is ODB's cousin, said the rapper's new songs have a "Marvin Gaye feeling."

"I think he has a lot more songs he planned on doing, because we planned on doing an album [called] 'The Abbott and the Drunk Monk,' " RZA said. "They snatched him before we could settle some of these lyric problems [though]."

None of the new songs is slated for release anytime soon, according to a spokesperson for Loud Records, the Wu-Tang Clan's label. ODB, who released his second solo album, "N***a Please," last year, appears on only one song on the latest Wu-Tang Clan album, "The W."

Although ODB could face several years in prison if convicted of his drug charges, RZA said he was confident that the rapper soon will be free. "He definitely will be around for us by the middle of the year. ... He seems to be very in tune with his mind and very in tune with himself. He's been sober for a long time, so I guess he built some of those brain cells back up."

After facing the Queens drug charges, ODB likely will face similar charges in Brooklyn, as well as other charges in Manhattan, before returning to California to deal with a warrant for his arrest issued after he fled rehab, according to Cathie Abookire, spokesperson for the Philadelphia district attorney's office.

ODB had been living at the Impact House rehab center in Pasadena, Calif., after serving six months in county jail for violating his probation by drinking alcohol. The sentence stems from convictions for illegally wearing a bulletproof vest and making terrorist threats.