'Stunning' may be the best adjective to describe what it's like to bear witness to the fact that someone who was always in motion — talking, creating, co-signing, encouraging, cheering on his Hawks or Falcons — is finally at rest.
And, if an event could be summed up in a sentence, then Rico Wade's "celebration of life" April 26 at Ebenezer Baptist Church was the type of remembrance the music biz legend himself would surely not stop talking about.
Georgia's Rev. Senator Raphael Warnock eulogized the 52-year-old Atlanta native who died April 13 and said he "[thanked] God for this urban genius!"
Two Atlanta mayors —current and former — were featured on the two-hour program, and both noted how Wade was key to what one qualified as this city's current $40 billion entertainment industry.
Sixty-eight members of Clark Atlanta University's band played hits crafted by Wade and his fellow Organized Noize production team of Ray Murray and Pat "Sleepy" Brown (including TLC's "Waterfalls," OutKast's "Player's Ball," En Vogue's "Don't Let Go-Love") -outside the church renowned as the "spiritual home" of civil rights pioneer,Martin Luther King Jr.
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To enter the invitation-only gathering, a gold wristband that read "Rico Wade — Always in our hearts — Never forgotten" had to be secured days in advance; at the service, it was required to be shown to a phalanx of security guards at various Ebenezer entry points.
Within the sanctuary, there seemed to be a music industry luminary on every other aisle: OutKast's Andre "Dre" Benjamin and Antwan "Big Boi" Patton, the best-selling rap act of all time, were up front, as were fellow Dungeon Family members (as Wade's collective of artists was called) Cee-Lo and Big Gipp of Goodie Mob, Killer Mike and Kawan "K.P. The Great" Prather, plus T.I., 2 Chainz, DJs Toomp and Mars, Joi, Bobby V, Mista, Perri "Pebbles" Reid and Dallas Austin. Executives in attendance included Sylvia Rhone, Jon Platt, Michael Mauldin, Orlando McGhee, Hannah Kang, Ian Burke, Bernard Parks, Michael "Blue" Williams, Tresa Sanders, Eric Johnston and Keinon Johnson.
Antonio "L.A." Reid alone could have held a LaFace Records reunion afterwards, there were so many of the onetime Atlanta imprints' acts and staff members on site (see: Shanti Das, Phillana Williams, Sherry Riley, DL Warfield, Sharliss Asbury and Prather).
All gathered for a charismatic talent who didn't sing, write lyrics or play instruments; but as "Sleepy" Brown shared, "Rico was more than just music...[he was] a beautiful soul."
"What does heaven sound like today?" Mayor Andre Dickens asked the hundreds that filled the lower level of the venue.
A few speculated in response, from the podium, often laughing.
Wade's wife Debbie seemed to know he was "talking their ears off about the Falcons' pick," referring to the football franchise's surprise first round draft choice the day before.
Marqueze Etheridge added that Wade was "the embodiment of if 'Turn Down For What' was a person" [rather than the surge of a rap song by DJ Snake and Lil Jon].
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Then again, maybe some joyful tears were also being shed, because the day before this homegoing marked 22 years since TLC's Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes' death. And Friday was not only the birthday of TLC's Tionne T-Boz" Watkins but the 30th anniversary of OutKast's "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzic" debut, produced by Organized Noize.
Now Noize's beloved behind-the-scenes figure was front and center, sharply dressed in a gold tuxedo, Wade's rose gold casket in a horse-drawn open carriage, about to take his remains on a journey past the Atlanta homes with the legendary basement studios since referred to as Dungeons, the beauty supply at Headland and Delowe Roads, where Wade worked when he first met OutKast, Watkins and many others, before ending at Westview Cemetery.
As former Mayor Kasim Reed poignantly noted, not only was it remarkable that Wade lay still on this day, but, he said, "Our city is quiet today."
