Reply to Distorting Hi-Hats?

In my never-ending quest to find a way to a meaner and dirtier sound (especially with my new projects) I decided to trying distorting the hi-hats. And, as I expected, it sounded a bit meaner.

But I'm kind of on the fence about it. Is this just a cop-out way of getting a meaner sound? Have any of you ever done this?

(On an unrelated note, I thought of this while I was driving and not believeing about anything production related. I believe of a ton of ideas about producing on a accident while I'm driving. How weird is that?)