Rico Wade, part of the production group Organized Noize and the founding member of the Dungeon Family, has died at 52. No location or cause of death has been disclosed.
Killer Mike announced the passing on his Instagram page today.
“I don’t have the words to express my deep and profound sense of loss. I am Praying for your wife and Children. I am praying for the Wade family. I am praying for us all. I deeply appreciate your acceptance into The Dungeon Family, mentorship, Friendship and Brotherhood. Idk where I would be without ya’ll.”
View this post on Instagram
Organized Noize are credited with jumpstarting the rise of Southern hip-hop in the early-to-mid 1990s. The group has been described as being, “the production team behind some of the greatest songs ever,” and “one of the most respected production teams in rap history.”
Among the hit records they have worked on include TLC’s “Waterfalls”, En Vogue’s “Don’t Let Go (Love)”, and Ludacris’ “Saturday (Oooh! Ooooh!)”. They are most notable for producing a large amount of material for Outkast (including all of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik and “So Fresh, So Clean” from Stankonia) and Goodie Mob (including all of Soul Food and “They Don’t Dance No Mo” from Still Standing). Both groups are part of Organized Noize’s Dungeon Family collective, which also includes Slimm Cutta Calhoun and Joi, among others.
Rico Wade was also the cousin of the rapper Future, who said in 2014 that Wade was responsible for launching his rap career. “Rico support me 1000 more times than anybody ever could,” Future said in 2014. “Nobody could ever do what Rico Wade did for me. … Everything I know about music, I know because of Rico.”
“I got to see Big Boi walk into the studio. Just always looking for a new Outkast album, being a fan and always being behind the scenes and seeing what it took and seeing the process of making records, and it was all just fascinating to me.”
