Rico Wade, Organized Noize/Dungeon Family Producer, Dead At 52
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Rico Wade, one third of the legendary Atlanta production team Organized Noize and a founding member of the city’s fabled Dungeon Family, has died. No cause of death has been reported. Wade was 52.
Wade was a towering figure in Atlanta music and hip-hop as a whole — one of the true architects of the sound of Southern rap. His funky, soulful, brilliantly eclectic production with Organized Noize was a crucial factor in the rise of OutKast and Goodie Mob, and he ushered his younger cousin Future into the music business. He also had a hand in hits like TLC’s “Waterfalls” and En Vogue’s “Don’t Let Go (Love).” The Dungeon Family was named for his basement studio, the Dungeon, where so much legendary music was created.
Wade was born in 1972 and grew up in East Point, Georgia. He formed Organized Noize with Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown in the early ’90s, after T-Boz from TLC introduced him to Sleepy Brown. Wade worked on early TLC demos, and the first official Organized Noize credit was on a remix of TLC’s 1992 single “What About Your Friends,” which also marked the first on-record appearance of OutKast.
Organized Noize assembled a group of talent around themselves, a crew known as the Dungeon Family. OutKast and Goodie Mob were central among them. The trio produced all of OutKast’s 1994 debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik and Goodie Mob’s 1995 debut Soul Food. They continued working closely with OutKast throughout their run, producing a good deal of ATLiens and Aquemini. They also produced the hit “So Fresh, So Clean” from Stankonia. As one of the founding members of the Dungeon Family, Wade helped launch the careers of Killer Mike and Janelle Monáe, and his cousin Future.
In 2016, Organized Noize were the subject of a documentary that debuted on Netflix. In 2017, the trio released a self-titled EP that had been in the works for the past two decades.
Killer Mike shared a eulogy for Wade on his social media. “I don’t have the words to express my deep and profound sense of loss…” he wrote. “I deeply appreciate your acceptance into The Dungeon Family, mentorship, Friendship and Brotherhood. Idk where I would be without ya’ll.”
