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. The "Dungeon" would be the name given to recording studio which was located in the basement of Organized Noize member Rico Wade's mother's house. The "Dungeon" studio, which attracted numerous aspiring musicians and artists, even made Wade a key architect of Atlanta hip hop.[7][8] In an interview with Billboard, Big Boi of Outkast explained that Organized Noize helped them early on in the music business, saying, "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."[9]
The documentary feature The Art of Organized Noize premiered on Netflix on March 22, 2016.[11] The documentary, directed by Quincy Jones III, details the formation of the group, who met through Tionne Watkins of TLC, and the early days of their Dungeon Family collective.[12][13]
On May 5, 2017, Organized Noize released an eponymous, seven-song EP, which had been in production for over 20 years.[9][14] Ahead of the official EP release, the track "Kush" was released on April 20, 2017.[15] The project was generally well-received, with Cult MTL writer Mr. Wavvy calling it "an enjoyable listen for any fans of the original Dungeon Family/Dirty South movement."[16]
Rico Wade was the older cousin of Grammy winning rapper Future.[17] He died on April 13, 2024, at the age of 52 of heart failure.[18][19][20] Wade was considered to be the "cornerstone" of not only Organized Noize, but also its collaborative group Dungeon Family.[21]
Impact
Organized Noize are credited with jumpstarting the rise of Southern hip-hop in the early-to-mid 1990s.[6][17] 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," by NPR and Spin respectively.[22][23]Billboard has stated that Organized Noize "pioneered the Dirty South sound."[24]
