In 1991, Rico Wade was holding a job as a manager at Lamonte’s Beauty Supply store in East Point, Georgia when two teens who aspired to be rappers met him in the parking lot. Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton became friends at Tri-Cities High School and believed that Wade could help them find a way into the music industry, an obstacle at the time considering that Atlanta lacked an infrastructure when it came to music.
But Andre and Antwan were eager to prove themselves to Wade. So when Cameron “Big Gipp” Gipp played A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario” on his car’s stereo, the teens began rapping with the vigor of well-established emcees. For 10 minutes straight, Andre and Antwan would rap, thoroughly impressing Wade.
Wade would invite Andre and Antwan to the Dungeon, a makeshift studio located in the basement of his mother’s home in the Lakewood community. It was the place where history would be made. Andre and Antwan would be known as Dre, later Andre 3000, and Big Boi. It was the place where the most successful group in hip-hop history, OutKast, was born.
The Dungeon Family served as the creative space for Organized Noize (Wade, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown) to craft music for OutKast, Goodie Mob, Big Rube, Backbone, Cool Breeze, EJ The Witchdoctor, Parental Advisory.
OutKast would make history by winning the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2004 and selling over 13 million copies of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. It stands as the biggest selling album in rap history.
But the production trio produced for TLC, En Vogue, Ludacris, Mista, Society of Soul. TLC’s biggest hit, “Waterfalls,” was produced by Wade and Organized Noize. Wade’s cousin, Future, started his rap career with the Dungeon Family.
The city of Atlanta became a force in music thanks to Wade, Organized Noize and Dungeon Family. For over 30 years, Atlanta has stood out as a city where Black music thrives.
Beyond OutKast, artists in Atlanta owe Wade and his partners a nod for helping to pave a way at a time when there were no paths to success when it came to music.
“Atlanta is the city that’s too busy to hate. That’s the truth,” Wade told me when I interviewed him in 2019. “People are too busy doing their own thing to hate. They are inspired by others who have a work ethic. It’s like, they [are] not caring about your thing. That’s why Atlanta is still going strong. People are very confident that they are special because they see the ones that came before them and how humble we’ve been with representing Atlanta.”
In a statement Wade’s family and Organized Noize said, “We are deeply saddened by the sudden and unexpected passing of our son, father, husband, and brother Rico Wade. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of a talented individual who touched the lives of so many. We ask that you respect the legacy of our loved one and our privacy at this time.”
This article features an excerpt of Trap History: Atlanta Culture and the Global Impact of Trap Music
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