Many members of the Dungeon Family reunited in Atlanta on Friday (April 26) for a private memorial due to the loss of one of its pillars: Rico Wade. Moreover, his mother’s basement was the “dungeon” that Outkast, Killer Mike, Future, and many more called their home, whether literally or figuratively. While the Organized Noize producer was not the most famous person in the world, his final public remarks, particularly ones from an AllHipHop interview about his Dungeon Family partners, have taken on a more meaningful, saddening, but still beautiful luster after his passing. They went through a lot of bumps as folks in the industry, and even through his health struggles and alcoholism, they always came back together to let their love, support, and gratitude be crystal clear.
“I just had heart surgery, where they had to put a stent in my chest,” Rico Wade told the publication in an interview from the day after he went to an André 3000 concert. “This happened January 19 and I just felt like, ‘Man, I would have missed it [the concert].’ God didn’t want my life. He wanted my attention and he got it. It’s been blessings on blessings on blessings since then. Since that moment, I’ve been blessed in every way. It’s hard to not cry every time I think about it.
Big Boi, Killer Mike and Rico Wade attend Grammy Celebration on February 25, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Prince Williams/WireImage/Getty Images)
“They all love and respect me,” Rico Wade remarked about the support he got from the Dungeon Family amid his health scare. “They all look at me as a person that did it for them, especially after what I just went through. I’ve spoken to every last one of them, and it’s been like, ‘I want to hug you and I want to let you know how important you are to us. I’m glad you’re still here.’ I hate for it to take a life-altering situation, but even Future, that’s my cousin, he’s been so busy. But if I text him now, he texts me right back. I seen André last night at the show, and I was in the studio the other day seeing [Big] Boi. Everybody can see that I’m clear and clean. They can see that I ain’t drinking and they can see my energy…
“What’s crazy about that is that Killer Mike is one of the most articulate, intelligent people I know,” he said of Mike’s Grammy wins and his brief arrest at the ceremony. “So sometimes -– not purposely ’cause I wouldn’t say it was a conspiracy. But they were waiting for him or whatever, like, because of something that happened at the Staples Center or whatever. Since then, the city has been so supportive. Other news outlets have been so supportive of giving him that platform to let him speak because not only did he sweep the Grammys, his album is really good. The song with André and Future won Song of the Year. So it’s like, I’m happy that I’m here.” For more news and updates on the Dungeon Family and its fallen legend, check back in with HNHH. Rest In Peace Rico Wade.
Earlier this month, Atlanta producer and hip-hop legend Rico Wade passed away at the age of 52. A spokesperson for Wade’s family revealed heart failure as the cause of death. As a member of the production group Organized Noize, Rico Wade helped shape the sound of Atlanta hip-hop during the 1990s, transforming the genre into what it is today, specifically in the South. Their impact is well-documented, especially in their 2016 documentary, The Art Of Organized Noize. Wade and his group members, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown, led the Dungeon Family collective, which included the likes of Outkast and Goodie Mob.
The trio produced the majority of both groups’ first few albums and biggest hit singles. The Dungeon Family also helped foster the careers of Killer Mike, Janelle Monáe, and Future, who is Rico Wade’s first cousin. Its “Dungeon” name originates from the name of the studio at which they used to record, located in the basement of Rico Wade’s childhood home.
As a pivotal member of Organized Noize and The Dungeon Family, Wade’s contributions to southern hip hop and the genre at large remain outstanding. Many of his closest collaborators have taken to social media to mourn his loss, including Killer Mike, Big Boi, and CeeLo Green. In light of his passing, we are celebrating his most iconic beats of all time, which primarily consist of Dungeon Family productions. Take a look at the list below.
5. Outkast – “Player’s Ball”
Outkast’s 1993 debut single is where it all began for The Dungeon Family. Rico Wade and his Organized Noize counterparts not only produced “Player’s Ball,” but handled the entirety of Big Boi and André 3000’s Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. The song’s funky groove put a southern spin on West Coast G-Funk. This blend of regional styles acted as a catalyst for Outkast and Organized Noize’s later works. “Player’s Ball” marked the beginning of the South’s hip-hop takeover and remains one of Rico Wade’s most iconic works.
“Two Dope Boyz (In a Cadillac)” is easily the most iconic beat from Rico Wade and Organized Noize on Outkast’s ATLiens. The instrumental revolves around a sample of Five Stairstep’s “Danger! She’s A Stranger.” The hypnotic loop is flipped into a hip-hop track with its simple drum break. The beat leaves plenty of room for Big Boi and André 3000 to trade slick rhymes with one another. One of Outkast’s earlier iconic tracks, the beat prompted many artists to also sample “Danger! She’s A Stranger,” including Meyhem Lauren and Roc Marciano’s “Street Religion.”
3. Goodie Mob – “Cell Therapy”
Rico Wade and Organized Noize handled the production of Goodie Mob’s classic debut single, 1995’s “Cell Therapy.” Its main melody consists of just a few simple piano notes, which creates a haunting atmosphere. Goodie Mob contributes to this unsettling feeling of the chorus. They sing, “Who’s that peeking in my window? POW nobody now.” As Goodie Mob’s most iconic song, its beat is instantly recognizable and has been sampled on numerous occasions. Travis Scott, Rapsody, Lil Keke, and others have notably incorporated the legendary melody into their works. It is one of Organized Noize’s signature productions.
Outkast’s 2000 album, Stankonia featured less Organized Noize production compared to their previous albums. However, Rico Wade, Ray Murray, and Sleepy Brown produced one of the album’s biggest and most iconic hit singles. The samples of Joe Simon’s “Before the Night Is Over” and Funkadelic’s “I’ll Stay” provide a shimmering quality to the song’s feel-good instrumental. In addition to its samples, the track’s stuttering drum pattern is the production’s most outstanding quality. It provides a laid-back yet danceable rhythm, making “So Fresh, So Clean” a joyous occasion of its own. It is easily Outkast and Organized Noize’s biggest hit and arguably their most iconic collaboration.
1. TLC – “Waterfalls”
Rico Wade and Organized Noize may be known for their contributions to hip hop, but one of their most undeniable productions is an R&B classic. The group produced TLC’s signature hit, “Waterfalls” in 1995. The song’s groove is reminiscent of “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik,” but TLC made the track their own with an infectious performance. The brass, organ, and drums work with one another in the beat, creating a soulful backing for the singers. “Waterfalls” is a timeless record assisted by classic production from Organized Noize. The song’s longevity is a testament to Rico Wade and Organized Noize’s everlasting musical legacy.
“I just think timing is everything,” Rico Wade opens up the first song on Killer Mike’s Grammy Award-winning 2023 album, MICHAEL. “Like, n***a, this it. This, this one right here… That ain’t easy. Stay motivated, stay inspired. I owe it to myself, stay down on it. And it ain’t been hard throughout the journey: it’s been a journey.” On April 12, 2024, Wade passed away at the age of 52, and Mike offered a touching tribute. “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.”
Much like the Run The Jewels MC, countless hip-hop artists, legends, and fans have much to thank Rico Wade for. From Outkast to Future, from Goodie Mob to Janelle Monáe, and even acts outside of their Dungeon Family collective like TLC, Ludacris, and more, it’s clear that the East Point native is among the key reasons why the South (and Atlanta, in particular) has such an omnipresence right now. Not just hip-hop, but music and pop culture at large. He lives on in many ways: as a host, a talent judge, a gifted producer alongside Sleepy Brown and Ray Murray as Organized Noize, a curator, a liaison, an organizer… But perhaps most importantly, Rico is a bridge. He is the crux through which 50 years of hip-hop history can be examined, as one of his greatest achievements was honoring the old and shaping the new.
While Houston already created a blueprint for Southern rap through acts like the Geto Boys, the talent that Rico Wade introduced to the “Dungeon” (the studio in his mom’s house’s basement) proved instrumental in furthering the identity of the Southern MC as opposed to their East Coast and West Coast counterparts. They were not simply backpack rappers, cold-blooded lyrical killers, or hot-headed gangsters. They could be a little of everything with unique self-awareness, diverse melodic sensibilities, and palpable passions for soul and cultivating the mind. “It was street without the crime,” Rap Pages editor Allen S. Gordon said of their content. “How do we live, how do we survive? How do we encourage each other, how do we kick it, how do we have fun? None of it is degrading.”
For examples of this, look no further than André 3000, who as early as Outkast’s first single “Player’s Ball” (on which Rico Wade provides the intro), previewed his eventual space in GOAT conversations alongside legendary lyricists like Nas, Ice Cube, and Scarface. On the flip side, look at one of the Dungeon Family’s late-era bloomers: Meathead, or as he’s better known today, Future. While he may not have the same weight behind his pen, he’s easily one of the most influential artists in music period working today thanks to his auto-tuned crooning and other aesthetic innovations, his earworm flows, and that same woozy, soulful, bass-heavy, and ATL-drenched idiosyncrasy that he attributes to his time with his big cousin Rico in the Dungeon. “Nobody could ever do what Rico Wade did for me,” Pluto said in 2014. “Everything I know about music, I know because of Rico.”
Rico Wade & Organized Noize’s Production: Defining The Dirty South… And Beyond
Ever since the very early 1990s, Rico Wade’s mentorship, instincts, talent curation, and sensibilities put innovative and impressive rappers at the forefront no matter the style. But of course, that’s also because of the production that Organized Noize perfected. In the face of sample-based and therefore expensive production styles dominating the Coasts (and thus, all of mainstream rap), the Dungeon Family cut down and got live: bass, multiple different drum sounds for each new song, horns, guitars… you name it. Just listen to the lushness of “Crumblin’ Erb” by Outkast, “The Day After” by Goodie Mob, or “Sumthin’ Wicked This Way Comes” by TLC and Andre 3000. However, the percussion was still rooted in grimy and familiar rap rhythms, and in terms of songwriting, Organized Noize knew exactly how to capture the culture.
Rico Wade provided plenty of hits and commercial smashes to etch Organized Noize into many popular styles of music of the time in addition to the musty underground. The most notable of these is likely TLC’s “Waterfalls,” whose combinations of vocal harmonies, guitar plucks, and horns are Dungeon all the way. While Wade definitely built off of established g-funk and other scenes, it was this overtly colorful production that most tangibly laid the groundwork for the Pharrells, the Kanye Wests, the Tyler, The Creators, and the JIDs of rap history.
Rico Wade’s place in hip-hop history will never fall victim to old-head biases or new-school ignorance. One of the most interesting ways in which he links the roots and the contemporary fruits of rap is how he welcomed the first and final waves of the Dungeon Family for two completely different reasons. Outkast had to audition and ended up delivering 30-minute-plus verses, which impressed Wade and earned his trust and support. Meanwhile, when he found out that Future was his cousin, they started to speak about Rico’s father’s side of the family that Fewtch was connected to, which he knew very little of because many of them were incarcerated. The trap icon stuck around in the Dungeon and soaked up so much game, all simply because he was family.
At the end of the day, neither approach is more valid or heartening than the other, and they resulted in amazing art for the culture regardless. On MICHAEL, the album that the late legend opened up just last year, “SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS” reunites representatives from three distinct waves of the Dungeon Family: André 3000, Killer Mike, and Future. 30 years after “Player’s Ball,” and 50 years since hip-hop was born, he continued to evolve the game, to fuse it with other beloved and important music, to represent his city to the fullest, to embrace the next talents, to preserve the culture’s foundations, and to always create something greater and more compelling than the sum of the old and the new. It was extremely hard for Rico Wade to forever be the bridge in hip-hop history. But to him, it wasn’t hard throughout the journey: it was just a journey.
Atlanta, Georgia, has been the dominating hub of rap music for well over a decade now, but the region’s run began long before that. Rico Wade laid the groundwork for the South as part of the pioneering production team Organized Noize and Dungeon Family collective.
Sadly, the mastermind behind the sounds of OutKast, Goodie Mob, and Killer Mike, to name a few, has died at the age of 52. Today (April 13), a representative of the late musician reached out to AllHipHop to confirm the tragic news.
Several media titans and entertainers have taken to their official social media pages to share a touching message in Wade’s honor. One of the most moving came from Killer Mike.
“I don’t have the words to express my deep and profound sense of loss,” he wrote on Instagram. I am praying for your wife, children, the Wade family, and us all. I deeply appreciate your acceptance into the Dungeon family, mentorship, friendship, and brotherhood. I don’t know where I would be without y’all.”
Others who have shared their condolences online include Phonte, Juicy J, Ebro Darden, Arrested Development’s Speech, and Alchemist. View their statements below.
In the heart of Atlanta’s vibrant music culture lies a collective that transcends mere collaboration. Dungeon Family has forged a legacy that echoes through the city’s streets and beyond. A musical brotherhood born from the soul of the South, they are the cornerstone upon which Atlanta’s music scene was built.
In detail, at a time when Hip Hop was dominated by the coasts, Dungeon Family put Atlanta on the map. Since the early ‘90s, the collective has carved out a space for Southern voices to be heard. Although they have had their ups and downs over the years, Dungeon Family’s bond remains unbroken. Here’s how they became such inspirational figures in the Atlanta Hip Hop scene.
This iconic musical collective was formed in 1991 by the production trio Organized Noize, consisting of Rico Wade, Ray Murray, and Sleepy Brown. Besides those three, Dungeon Family has many other members who are prominent figures in the Atlanta Hip Hop scene. These include Future, Killer Mike, and Society Of Soul, among a host of others. Altogether, they emerged as a collective of like-minded artists and producers drawn together by a common desire to push the boundaries of Hip Hop and R&B.
The catalyst for Dungeon Family’s formation was the iconic Atlanta recording studio known as “The Dungeon.” This basement space located in Rico Wade’s mother’s house was the birthplace of many special songs. It was in The Dungeon that Organized Noize, along with a revolving cast of musicians and artists, created magic. Occasionally, they would gather to experiment, collaborate, and cultivate their sound. Subsequently, The Dungeon became a creative sanctuary, a space where artists were free to explore their craft without limitations or expectations.
As word of The Dungeon’s legendary sessions spread, it attracted a diverse array of talent from Atlanta’s musical landscape. Among those drawn to its magnetic pull were the members of OutKast (André 3000 and Big Boi), as well as Goodie Mob (CeeLo Green, Big Gipp, T-Mo, and Khujo). These two groups formed the nucleus of Dungeon Family with Organized Noize serving as the sonic architects behind their groundbreaking sound. Eventually, many more artists and groups joined the collective, and the Dungeon Family grew much larger.
1995: A Call To Action
After working with Organized Noize for a while, OutKast released their debut single, “Player’s Ball” in 1993. The Organized Noize-produced track became OutKast’s breakout song and put the duo’s name on the map. Subsequently, on April 26, 1994, OutKast dropped their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.
At the time, the album brought local attention to the duo, and by extension, the Dungeon Family. However, their music had yet to cross the Southern borders and break into the mainstream. Nevertheless, the excellence of their album was evident, and it began to garner OutKast some accolades.
At the 1995 Source Awards, the duo won the award for Best New Rap Group. This happened in the thick of the East Coast-West Coast rivalry, and the audience was largely made up of those demographics. As OutKast walked up on stage, they were booed by the audience because they were relatively unknown. Despite the ill reception of their win by the audience, they proudly went on to receive their award.
During their acceptance speech, André 3000 said something that arguably altered the landscape of Southern rap forever. In what is now undoubtedly a pivotal moment in Dungeon Family history, André declared, “The South got something to say.” Later, this phrase turned out to become a rallying cry for Southern Hip Hop artists. They had a point to prove, and their music needed to be heard beyond the shores of their home. Needless to say, OutKast’s subsequent albums were much bigger hits.
On November 20, 2001, The Dungeon Family dropped the seminal album, Even In Darkness, their debut offering. Although it is the collective’s sole album to date, its impact on the Atlanta Hip Hop scene is immense and undeniable. The 14-track album was entirely produced by Organized Noize and Earthtone III (André 3000, Big Boi, and Mr. DJ). It features a fusion of Southern Hip Hop, funk, soul, and R&B elements, showcasing the diverse musical influences of the Dungeon Family collective.
Without a doubt, Even In Darkness is a very ambitious project. Considering that it features over 20 artists, there are several ways it could have gone wrong since collective projects can be tricky. However, Dungeon Family delivered, as expected, inspiring a new generation of artists. While the album only peaked at number 42 on the Billboard 200 chart, it is widely regarded as a cult classic. With Even in Darkness, Dungeon Family set a new standard for creativity within the Hip Hop community. Although the albums broke into other circles around the country, Atlanta certainly felt its impact the most.
The Legacy Of Dungeon Family
The Dungeon Family undoubtedly played a pivotal role in shaping the sound and identity of Atlanta hip-hop. Through their music, members of the collective provided a voice for the diverse communities of the city. Over the years, their influence increased greatly, and they helped serve as a launching pad for many more artists. Future (formerly known as Meathead), Janelle Monáe, and Killer Mike, among many others, are affiliated with the Dungeon Family.
The collective’s legacy in ATL is unshaken and continues to reverberate through its music scene today. By pushing the boundaries of Hip Hop and amplifying the voices of their community, Dungeon Family became indispensable icons. While simultaneously shaping Atlanta’s cultural identity for generations to come, they helped elevate the city onto the global stage.
