Killer Mike has been honored for his contributions to Atlanta’s Hip Hop community with an award created in memory of Dungeon Family co-founder Rico Wade.
The Rico Wade Game Changer Award — created by Radio One station Hot 107.9, DTLR and Saucony — was presented to Mike on Saturday (June 22) in his hometown, following a performance at the radio station’s Birthday Bash concert, during which he brought out a number of members of the extended Dungeon Family.
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On hand to present the award were Wade’s mother Beatrice Wade, his sons Rico Jr. and Ryder, and the surviving members of Organized Noize Productions — Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown.
“We starting something brand new,” said Hot 107.9’s program director Devin Steel. “Every year at Birthday Bash, we’re doing the DTLR Rico Wade Game Changer Award, for those in Atlanta who have changed the game. Rico Wade, Organized Noize and the Dungeon Family have done that since the 90s. Hip Hop wouldn’t be what Hip Hop is in Atlanta today and in the world if it wasn’t for Rico Wade.”
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Ryder Wade added: “This the most Atlanta thang ever, and that’s how my pops would want it. So, I just wanna say, forever Rico Wade, man.”
Speaking on behalf of Organized Noize, Sleepy Brown told the crowd: “All we ever wanted to do was represent Atlanta. We wanted to give Atlanta a voice. That’s why we hollered out East Point, College Park, Decatur where it’s greater. We hollered out every spot in Atlanta man, ’cause we wanted y’all to be proud of where y’all from.”
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Upon accepting the award, Killer Mike took the spotlight off himself and made it instead about the city he and Rico Wade loved so much.
“I just wanna tell Atlanta this: y’all ain’t gotta wish to be nobody else. Who y’all are is the absolute shit,” he declared. “I don’t give a damn where in the world you at, there’s no place for Black people like Atlanta. There’s no place with this much opportunity, this much love, this many chances to do it. And I wanna thank the woman who raised Rico Wade, his mama.”
Killer Mike receives inaugural "Rico Wade Game Changer Award"
"I just wanna tell Atlanta this: Y'all ain't gotta wish to be nobody else. Who y'all are is the absolute shit" pic.twitter.com/IFM3btIFCv
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) June 23, 2024
In addition to the new tradition established by Hot 107.9, the City of Atlanta itself has created a program to keep Rico Wade’s legacy alive.
On April 27, Atlanta luminaries gathered at Ebenezer Baptist Church for Wade’s funeral service. During the emotional star-studded ceremony, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced the launch of the Rico Wade Music Executive Training Program, a new initiative by the City Of Atlanta’s Office of Film, Entertainment and Nightlife.
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According to the mayor, the program will serve as a conduit allowing aspiring music business professionals to learn from experienced instructors and established “music executives like the 500 hundred or so gathered in this room,” Dickens quipped from the church’s podium.
The number was an intentional exaggeration; but Wade’s funeral was attended by quite a few industry execs, including LaFace Records co-founder L.A. Reid; Chris Hicks, Chief Innovation Officer of Quality Control Holdings; former Motown Records CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam; Catherine Brewton, Vice President of Creative at BMI; Orlando McGhee, Head of Urban at ONErpm’; and Sylvia Rhone, chair and CEO of Epic Records.
While he did not offer additional details about the program, Mayor Dickens explained that the goal was to continue Wade’s legacy of sharing knowledge with any and everyone he would encounter.
“Rico left an indelible mark on music and culture around the world and for that, the South will always have something to say,” Dickens closed out his address to the crowd, echoing a statement released by his office following Wade’s death.
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In addition to Dickens, Atlanta City Councilwoman Marci Overstreet was also on hand to deliver a proclamation designating April 26 as Rico Wade Day in his hometown.
