RIP Rico Wade, 1972 - 2024

April 15, 2024 1:04 PM

Rico Wade of the Organized Noize production team has died. Operating from Wade's mom's dirt-floor basement in the early 90s, Organized Noize convened a group of artists that came to call itself the Dungeon Family. That group gave the world the first couple Outkast albums, the first Goodie Mob album, and several great singles. It's not an exaggeration to say that Rico Wade made some of the greatest American music of the last 50 years. It's an incredibly sad loss.

Organized Noize went on to produce more music for Outkast and Goodie Mob, as well as the TLC forever-hit "Waterfalls." They blazed a trail for Atlanta before that city took over rap music entirely, and they helped bring the world Killer Mike, MetaFilter favorite Janelle Monae, and even Future (Wade's cousin). They are also responsible for the greatest Christmas song ever written.

A few other links:

• Stereogum, "Rico Wade, Organized Noize/Dungeon Family Producer, Dead At 52Rico Wade, Organized Noize/Dungeon Family Producer, Dead At 52"
• XXL Mag has several tributes online from different artists.
• Questlove Supreme podcast has a two-part interview with Organized Noize
• Complex did an interview in 2012 that is kind of a neat oral history of some of their songs.
• TheBitterSoutherner.com, "Bring the Noize" (2017)

In honor of Rico Wade, check out a Dungeon Family/Organized Noize playlist today (here's one from the NYT), and maybe check out the "Art of Organized Noize" documentary from 2016.

(I learned while writing this that DJ Mister Cee died last week, too, at the age of 57, hopefully someone will put up an obit post for him. This is so sad. Over 30 of the Black artists who essentially created contemporary US culture--modes of speaking, thinking, listening, and understanding the world that are deeply ingrained in the broader popular culture now--have died in the last 10 or so years, mostly between the ages of 45 and 60. It's not much commented on, but it stands out as a marker of the deep racial inequity in our society.)

posted by kensington314 (16 comments total)

Thanks for making this post. This obituary from Atlanta's WABE includes links to a couple interviews he did with them over the years.
posted by hydropsyche at 1:26 PM on April 15 [1 favorite]

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I was 13 years old when Waterfalls hit and it sounded like absolutely nothing else on the radio. I was reading mostly science fiction at the time, and for a while after, pop music in those books basically sounded like that in my head. And damn if my 13 year old ass wasn’t basically right about that. That basementful of musicians in Atlanta really created the future.
posted by Kattullus at 1:50 PM on April 15 [8 favorites]

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This is a total bummer.

That basementful of musicians in Atlanta really created the future.

1000x this
posted by thivaia at 2:12 PM on April 15 [6 favorites]

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posted by Token Meme at 2:37 PM on April 15

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posted by The Manwich Horror at 2:37 PM on April 15

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posted by Navelgazer at 2:50 PM on April 15

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posted by May Kasahara at 3:54 PM on April 15

♪
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:55 PM on April 15

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posted by eckeric at 4:32 PM on April 15

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posted by foxtongue at 4:35 PM on April 15

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 5:04 PM on April 15

He's in the champagne room with the angels now.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:20 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

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That first goodie mob album is incredible.
posted by youthenrage at 3:52 PM on April 16 [3 favorites]

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That first goodie mob album is incredible

I think it's the most underappreciated album in rap music.
posted by kensington314 at 6:25 PM on April 16

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posted by shmurley at 6:48 PM on April 16

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posted by The Great Big Mulp at 7:58 AM on April 17