Rico Wade, a member of the pioneering Atlanta-based manufacturing trio Organized Noize and a key early Outkast collaborator, has died, based on an Instagram publish by his shut good friend Killer Mike and the Atlanta Journal-Structure. No reason for loss of life was cited; he was 52.
“I don’t have the phrases to specific my deep and profound sense of loss,” Killer Mike wrote. “I’m praying in your spouse and youngsters. I’m praying for the Wade household. I’m praying for us all. I deeply admire your acceptance into the Dungeon Household, mentorship, friendship and brotherhood. Idk the place I might be with out y’all.”
Wade’s household launched an announcement about his passing, writing, “We’re deeply saddened by the sudden and surprising passing of our son, father, husband, and brother Rico Wade. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the lack of a gifted particular person who touched the lives of so many. We ask that you just respect the legacy of our liked one and our privateness right now.”
Organized Noize and the Dungeon Household additionally put out an announcement reflecting on his legacy and which means to the collectives. “We’re devastated by the information of the passing of our expensive brother Rico Wade. The world has misplaced one of the vital progressive architects in music, and now we have misplaced a useful good friend. Rico was the cornerstone of Organized Noize and the Dungeon Household, and we are going to perpetually treasure his reminiscence and the moments we shared, creating music as a united workforce. Our hearts weigh heavy with sorrow, and we kindly request privateness and empathy throughout this difficult interval. Rico’s presence will all the time have a particular spot in our hearts, and within the music we introduced to the world.”
The Organized Noize songwriting-production workforce — which additionally featured Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown — was shaped within the early ‘90s and performed a pivotal function in early releases by Outkast, TLC, Goodie Mob and plenty of others, and have been steadily shouted out or featured on these recordings. Together with Jermaine Dupri, their sound, which was as indebted to basic R&B as hip-hop, outlined town’s burgeoning scene of the period, which might lay the framework for Atlanta’s dominance as a hip-hop capital within the coming a long time.
Entrance, L-R: Outkast’s Andre 3000 and Large Boi with Wade (second from left) and Atlanta music exec Shanti Das in 2016. (Photograph by Prince Williams/WireImage)
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The prolonged collective across the scene was often known as the “Dungeon Household,” which additionally included Killer Mike and Large Rube.
Wade’s studio within the metropolis’s East Level neighborhood, “the Dungeon,” was not solely the birthplace of most of the period’s hits, it featured in a lot of them as nicely — “We havin’ a smokeout within the Dungeon with the mary jane,” Outkast rapped on “Ain’t No Thang,” from their galvanizing 1994 debut.
Info on survivors was not instantly obtainable, though Wade is said to rapper Future.