Big Boi still thinks about the day his life changed forever.
It was the early 1990s, and as a teenager, he stood inside of Lamonte‘s Beauty Supply story at Headland and Delowe drives in East Point to freestyle for Rico Wade.
He and his partner-in-rhyme, André 3000, spent what felt like an eternity rapping bars over the beat from “Scenario” by A Tribe Called Quest.
Wade, an up-and-coming producer, had heard enough. He was sold on the duo. What he said next caught the future Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees off guard.
Why?
“How fast he was like, ‘y’all going with me,’” Big Boi told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He was that guy. We always heard about Organized Noize beats. For him himself to be like, ‘Come on to my house,’ that was it. And we never looked back.”
Four decades later, the gravity of that moment — getting a co-sign from the Dungeon Family co-founder and Organized producer — was on the Outkast emcee’s mind as he watched Wade‘s friends, family and longtime collaborators celebrate the unveiling of a permanent monument in his mentor’s honor.
“It started all right here, so to see it come full circle and to have something that’s going to be there forever, that‘s a lot of respect,” he said.
“That’s gratitude.”
Wade passed away in April 2024 at 52 from heart failure. A few months later, the city of East Point announced that a dedication was in the works, which followed with a private November ceremony.
Wade, one-third of production trio Organized Noize, was one of Atlanta’s hip-hop forefathers and one of the city’s most vocal ambassadors. The crawl space of Wade’s mother’s house in Lakewood Heights served as the makeshift studio where her son, Patrick “Sleepy” Brown, and Ray Murray would create a space for young Black creatives to realize their music potential.
Known as the Dungeon, it’s where Organized Noize helped cultivate the careers of Outkast, Goodie Mob, Future and others. The collective of artists became known as the Dungeon Family.
In the year since Wade’s passing, the monument celebration felt like a family reunion where it all began.
Wade grew up in the Delowe Gardens apartment complex, just a stone‘s throw from the shopping center where he’s now immortalized with an official placard.
Marqueze Etheridge, a close friend and collaborator of Wade’s who co-wrote TLC’s “Waterfalls,” remembers moving to East Point from Decatur. Local kids at the middle school gave him a hard time because of his Jheri curl, so Wade offered to cut his hair.
It was a small gesture but one that Etheridge cherishes now that his best friend is gone.
“He made you believe anything was possible however you felt about yourself,” he said.
Etheridge said the legend of Wade and the Dungeon Family started in that shopping center but exceeded the confines of the Georgia city.
“That’s why all this is so monumental — his reach was beyond East Point,” he said. “His reach was beyond Atlanta. It was beyond the United States. I know it‘s people in other countries that heard the name Rico Wade.”
V-103 personality DJ Greg Street served as the emcee for the evening’s program. Before taking to the podium, he spoke with the AJC about talking to Wade on the phone before moving to Atlanta from Dallas. “If it wasn’t for Rico Wade, we would’ve never seen none of this,” he said.
Before Street became a household name who released a dedication song to Wade after his passing, the latter helped him realize his full potential.
“Rico Wade was probably the No. 1 person that always made me understand what I meant to the city, what I meant to him,” he said.
Before Wade’s official monument was revealed, guests heard opening remarks from East Point Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham and Chantel Francois, from the city’s convention and visitors bureau, as well as council member Sharon Shropshire. The trio worked together on a plan to celebrate one of East Point’s most storied native sons.
“People from around the world will be able to see the legacy and read about the legacy of Rico Wade and his impact,” Ingraham told the crowd, which included members of Goodie Mob, Killer Mike, Slimm Cutta Calhoun, Backbone, Wade’s children and longtime East Point residents.
The monument is in Shropshire’s district. She said the city considered adding a street topper to the intersection signs for Wade, but opted for an homage with a more lasting impact. “People just don’t know the history and the work and the people that grew up that made their neighborhoods significant,” she said.
If anyone understands Wade’s influence, it‘s his sons Rico Wade Jr. and Ryder Wade, who also shared words about their father.
“We’re grateful. We love him and we‘re excited to see him honored in such a permanent way,” Wade Jr. said.
The brothers accepted a proclamation from Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr., who announced that May 9 was officially Rico Wade Remembrance Day.
“My dad knows how much we love him and miss him every day,” Ryder Wade told the crowd. “I just thank you for being such a great father, even through the ups and downs. Thank you dad for being my dad.”
After addressing the crowd, Sleepy Brown spoke to the AJC about what his friend and longtime Organized Noize production partner meant to him personally. Brown joked that even though he was older than Wade, the latter played the role of big brother and father to him.
“Rico basically helped me believe in me. I believed in him. … Rico has been everything for me,” he said.
For locals who came out to pay their respects, the moment felt personal, even if those fans didn’t know Wade or Dungeon Family members personally.
“I’ve always had an intrinsic connection, not only to them but to East Point in particular,” said southwest Atlanta native Bronze Law.
Law was hooked on all things Dungeon Family and Organized Noize after hearing Outkast’s “Player’s Ball” for the first time.
“This is how we maintain the old Atlanta,” Law said about the Wade monument’s importance.
Law was joined by East Point resident Amelia Turner, whose family moved to the area after hearing it namedropped on some of those early albums and records produced by the Dungeon Family.
Turner’s son attends Tri-Cities High School where André 3000 and Big Boi met. Her daughter graduated from the same school and another son is headed there.
The entire Tri-Cities area — East Point, Hapeville and College Park — fosters the kind of Black creativity that gave us the Wades and Dungeon families of the world, Turner said.
“Just the community, whether they all went to the school or not, they came together and made something that’s unforgettable,” she said.
Law and Turner were chatting with Kingston Callaway, son of Goodie Mob and Dungeon Family member CeeLo Green. Callaway is an aspiring producer. He knows he’s fortunate enough to glean knowledge and experience from his father and collective of uber talented uncles and aunties.
His takeaway from listening to and learning from the Dungeon Family story: fearlessness.
“Paying attention to Rico’s story, my pop’s story, Goodie Mob’s story, Outkast’s story, Backbone, C-Bone — everybody. It’s important to just step out on favor and let God do what he do. That‘s my biggest lesson. I hold that tight forever.”
The audacity to imagine a life greater than theirs is what stuck out to Dungeon Family first generation artist Backbone. Organized Noize produced his first album, “Concrete Law,” and its breakthrough single, “5 Deuce 4 Tre.”
Standing in front of what used to be Lamonte’s, Backbone put the location’s place in the greater Dungeon Family lore into perspective. “Rico basically built this city and this was the first brick, man,” he said.
Backbone is readying the release of a new project, one he said Wade got a chance to hear before his passing. “That day he hugged me and said, ‘I’m proud of you.’ I left in tears.”
When Wade’s monument was finally unveiled by his sons, the crowd started chanting, “Reek! Reek! Reek!” — the nickname given to him by those who knew him best.
Their friend, mentor, brother, father and guide’s physical presence is gone, but his spiritual connection to those whose lives he touched on Earth lives on.
“He’s going to be with me forever,” Big Boi said. “Everything he‘s done for our family, Dungeon Family, the city — I got a big angel on the other side.”
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