OutKast Acknowledges Music Producer Rico Wade In Instagram Tribute

'Without Rico Wade… there would be no OutKast.'

After the death of Atlanta producer Rico Wade, who died on April 13, many Georgia artists paid tribute to him and the music he created over the years. One of the biggest hip-hop acts from the Peach State paid tribute to him in a recent Instagram post.

Reminiscing about the first time they met the producer, the members of OutKast, Andre 3000 and Big Boi, gave credit to Wade being the reason they were successful in the music industry. They both left messages on the OutKast Instagram account.

Andre spoke about meeting Wade for the first time when he and Big Boi rhymed over A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario” instrumental. He stated they were in the back of the Goodie Mob’s Big Gipp’s truck when they basically auditioned for them as they rapped over the beat.

“That day, after we rhymed, Rico saw something in us. At that time we’d both shaven off all our hair. We’d dyed our hair blonde one time: We were young and in high school, we were outcasts, you know?” André wrote. “Rico saw that, and he said, ‘These guys can really rhyme. They don’t really rhyme like people from the South.’ So he told us to come over to his house, and that’s where the dungeon is, in the basement.”

Big Boi stated that there would be no OutKast without the creative mind of Rico Wade, who was part of the production team, Organized Noise.

“From the beginning, Organized Noize signed us. They were our big brothers, and they did a production deal with LaFace Records. They were the ones that gave us our first shot and we been doing music with them since the beginning. Without Rico Wade… there would be no OutKast.”

The post ended with a previous quote from Wade acknowledging OutKast coming around as young artists.

“We got with [OutKast] when they were young. They were like 16 or 17, and they were ready for some direction… I think timing is everything. It was time for a revolution.”

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Wade died at the age of 52 on April 13. No details were released regarding his cause of death.