East Point, GA – On Friday, May 9, 2025, the corner of Headland and Delowe transformed into sacred ground as hip-hop royalty, community leaders, and fans gathered to honor one of Atlanta’s greatest cultural architects, Rico Wade. The unveiling of a permanent monument at this historic intersection wasn’t just a ceremony; it was a homecoming, a spiritual revival, and a love letter to the visionary who put the South on the map.
With the sun casting a golden light over the crowd and music vibrating through the streets, the energy was nothing short of electric. Friends, family, and fans alike stood shoulder-to-shoulder, paying homage to the man whose influence birthed the Dungeon Family and helped carve out a Southern renaissance in hip-hop.
Rico Wade was more than a producer. He was a prophet with beats, a mentor with vision, and a pioneer who helped craft the sound of OutKast, Goodie Mob, and an entire generation. “This is where the world meets,” one speaker said of East Point, and nowhere does that ring truer than the site of the monument, where Wade once worked in a beauty shop that doubled as a cultural incubator. They sold hair care and mixtapes. And unknowingly, they sold dreams.
“This is a beautiful affair,” declared 103.3’s Greg Street, as the crowd nodded in unity. “Rico is Southwest. Rico is SWATS. Rico is flyness. Rico is courage. And Rico is Atlanta.” The monument, etched with his name and legacy, sits as a permanent reminder of what happens when creative spirit meets community soul.
East Point’s Mayor Dina Holiday Ingram and Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. presented the proclamation for Rico Way Remembrance Day, a fitting tribute for a man who turned basements into launchpads. “He made us believe we could fly,” one speaker recalled with emotion.
Big Boi, Killer Mike, Big Gipp, T-Mo, and Big Rube, all Dungeon disciples—showed up in full force. Their stories painted a picture of a time when cell service couldn’t reach the Dungeon, but greatness could. A young Big Boi playing A Tribe Called Quest outside the beauty shop. Spray painting Rico’s Honda Accord. Rehearsing in basements before national tours. Each anecdote was a verse in the larger song of Wade’s legacy.
But this wasn’t just nostalgia, it was prophecy fulfilled. “Without Rico Wade, there is no Dungeon Family. No Goodie Mob. No OutKast,” one speaker affirmed. “He gave us what true Atlanta felt like before the rest of the world caught on.”
The monument’s placement is poetic. It stands at the crossroads of legacy and future, in the city that birthed him and the culture he helped shape. As Killer Mike put it, “We are honoring the father. The architect. Rico Wade.”
In a world that often forgets its originators, this moment stood in defiance. A monument not only for East Point. Not only for Atlanta. But for the world. A symbol of what’s possible when vision meets faith, and community meets art.
Rico Wade may have transitioned, but on the corner of Headland and Delowe, his beat goes on.
🕊️ Rest in Power, Rico Wade.
📍 Forever immortalized in the heart of SWATS.
#RicoWade #DungeonFamily #RicoWayRemembranceDay #EastPointLegend #RollingOut
