Rap Fans Mourn Southern Hip Hop Pioneer, Rico Wade - Dead at 52 | Jean Alon Media

 

The Great Southern Hip Hop Influencer

It was probably less than a month ago - Rico Wade came up in conversation between my Wife and I. She's from the South. I'm from NY. That's just the kind of influence Rico Wade holds over the entire landscape of Hip Hop. Surprisingly, it was the New Yorker speaking on just how big the name Rico Wade is when it comes to Southern Hip Hop - you simply can't mention one without the other. Which is why it's with great sorrow that we're forced to recognize that the universe has lost a true Hip Hop great.

When I finally emerged from the rock I've been under all day, I logged onto twitter, checked the explore tab, only to fully realize that Rico Wade had left this earth earlier in the day.

And while he may no longer be with us in the physical, his essence will always be tethered and woven into the fabric of southern rap, organized noise, and the hip hop community as a whole. 

Many of us know Rico for facilitating the launch of the Southern Hip Hop Duo, Outkast, while others may know his production for TLC on Waterfalls, or as being the blood cousin to superstar rapper Future. Needless to say, that any place Rico was, is a place you wanted to be. In an interview posted almost 10 years ago, cousin Future sat down in an interview and professed how hanging with Rico Wade changed his life. In the interview he says, "He took me to my first 5 star restaurant" "..I never knew nobody [who] was legal that made money until my cousin Rico.."

Watch interview:

Who Influenced Rico Wide

I don't recall ever hearing what influenced Rico Wade musically. That is until I came across the following interview uploaded on YouTube by the account TheBeeShine, published almost 10 years ago. To my pleasant surprise, he rocked heavily with NY.

Watch Interview:

It was interesting to peace the idea together in my mind how this southerner, working hard behind the scenes was the one responsible for my love for Southern Hip Hop at the tender age of 12 years old, while the whole time he was drawing from inspiration he would develop from studying early Hip Hop scholars out of New York. It's funny how things come full circle. 

Thank You for Everything Rico Wade.