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Source: handout / Rico Wade
It has been a little over a week since the untimely passing of Atlanta Hip-Hop luminary Rico Wade. The founder of the Dungeon Family will be laid to rest on Friday, April 26 at a private funeral.
The late Organized Noize members homegoing will be held at the famed Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Per his press representative, Wade will be eulogized “privately and by invitation only” for close friends and family.
Although the services will be private, Clark Atlanta’s band is scheduled to perform hits produced by Organized Noize (Wade, Sleep Brown and Ray Murray) outside of Ebenezer Baptist, the same church where Martin Luther King, Jr. served as co-pastor and is currently lead by US Senator Raphael Warnock.
For those wanting to pay their respects along the funeral procession, details of the scheduled arrangements are below:
Event: Private Funeral Service for Rico Wade
Date: Friday, April 26, 2024
Time: 11 AM (arrivals typically happen 30 minutes prior)
Location: Ebenezer Baptist Church located @ 101 Jackson St NE, Atlanta, GA 30312
Procession to Gravesite Route:
Start MLK @ Mercedes Benz
Left on Harlan Road SW – Flowers to be laid at 409 Harlon Road SW
Right on Peyton Road SW
Right on Hayne
Left on Lynhurst Drive SW
Left Cascade Road
Right on Adams Drive – Flowers to be laid at 1590 Adams Drive SW
Left on Childress Drive SW
Left on Campbellton Road
Right on Delowe Drive
Right on Headland Drive – Flowers to be laid at the corner of Delowe and Headliand
Rest in powerful peace Rico Wade.
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According to multiple sources, DJ Mister Cee, born Calvin LeBrun, has passed away. He was 57.
“We have lost the iconic Mister Cee,” wrote Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg on X, formerly Twitter, confirming his longtime colleague’s untimely death. “I listened to him yesterday and am in complete shock. He was a dear friend to all of us, a wonderful man, and one of the most important and impactful DJs of all time. I love you Cee.”
The loss is a heavy one for Hip-Hop culture. Born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, in the late 80’s Mister Cee came to fame as Big Daddy Kane’s DJ, who he met while in high school. As part of the Juice Crew, Cee was there on Kane’s seminal debut album Long Live The Kane, featuring on a song called “Mister Cee’s Master Plan” with his expert cutting and scratching throughout the album.
But perhaps even more notable is that Cee is credited with discovering late, great rapper the Notorious B.I.G. Cee was among the first to co-sign the then local rap phenom before appearing in The Source magazine’s Unsigned Hype section.
Later on in his career, Cee would shine on the radio at New York City Hip-Hop station Hot 97, where he was nicknamed The Finisher, and the party scene. Controversy in Mister Cee’s personal life would ensue after multiple arrests for soliciting trans prostitutes. Although he denied being gay, he did admit to an affinity for seeking oral sex from trans women.
There is no cause of death reported at this time.
Rest in power DJ Mister Cee.
This story is developing.
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Groundbreaking rapper Boss, born Lichelle Marie Laws, and one the first female MC’s signed to Def Jam, has passed away. She was 54.
Bun B broke the news of her death when the Texas rapper shared his condolences on his Instagram.
“Rest in peace to my big sis Lichelle Laws AKA Boss. One of the best female MCs and a dear friend,” wrote B in the caption of a photo of Boss flipping up a pair birds. “Give Rick Royal a hug for me. Long Live The Org!”
Boss, stylized Bo$$, was the very first female rap act signed to Def Jam, with her debut album, Born Gangstaz, released in 1993. The lead single—the Def Jef produced “Deeper”—was a no. 1 hit on the rap charts. Her gruff style and hardcore delivery, along with beats provided by Erick Sermon, T-Ray, MC Serch and the late Jam Master Jay, amongst others, quickly made her a fan favorite, but a proper follow-up album never materialized.
Although tabbed as a West Coast rapper, she was actually born in Detroit. Moving to Los Angeles after high school, she was discovered by DJ Quik, who put her on a track with AMG. Word is it got the attention of Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, who inked her to the label’s fledgling Def Jam West imprint—but those in the know say Tracy Waples (an executive producer on the album) is who actually pushed for her signing.
In the mid-1990s she reportedly settled in Houston, where she remained ever since. Unfortunately, in 2011 she experience kidney failure and suffered from a stroke in 2017. At this time there are no specifics about her cause of death.
As information got out about her untimely passing the Hip-Hop community—fans, friends and peers—started saluting her on social media. Peep some of the overdue flowers given in the gallery.
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It’s been one year since the world lost Dave aka Trugoy The Dove of De La Soul. His bandmates celebrated him on the anniversary of his passing.
The late great Trugoy The Dove, born Dave Dave Jolicoeur met his ancestors on Feb. 12, 2023. This year his friends and family remembered him on social media.
Posdnuos wrote a touching message on his Instagram account about his former partner in rhyme. “I feel conflicted posting this on this date…Dave disliked when people were publicly remembered on the day they were lost….” he revealed. “The day they transitioned but I’m sure he also respected how people chose to remember those they love and have lost. So on this day I will stand alongside all the people who cherish him as well as kept @wearedelasoul in their prayers but to be clear I miss him in the physical everyday, rep for him everyday & will talk to someone about him everyday.”
The same day the “Rock Co. Kane Flow” rapper shared some never before seen footage of the two MC’s laying down some vocals in a home studio. The official De La Soul Instagram page also sourced sound bytes from his peers and collaborators in an effort to show the world how special Dave was as a person.
Jarobi White of A Tribe Called Quest paid his respect to him saying “My favorite memory with Dave is all of them; from playing Ruthless to pass the coodies. My favorite verse of his or song should I say “Itzsoweezee (Hot)””. Common also explained how the group changed his life when he first heard “Plug Tunin’”. He reminisced on how the legendary trio took Common to London for the first time. “A couple of ladies liked me in the crowd, and I was like a couple of ladies in the crowd and that’s when Dave gave me this name – Enrique” he laughed.
Trugoy revealed he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure back in 2017. The cause of his death has never been shared publicly.
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Carl Weathers—the actor famed for roles such as Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise and the eponymous character Action Jackson—has passed away. He was 76.
On Friday (Feb. 2), Weathers’ family announced his passing.
“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers,” said his family in a statement. “He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, February 1st, 2024. … Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner, and friend.”
Beloved is an understatement. Weathers’ filmography is filled with cult classic flicks where he left an indelible mark on audiences. Some of those include portraying Colonel Al Dillon in Predator (1987), Apollo Creed in the first four Rocky (1976) films, Derick “Chubbs” Peterson in Happy Gilmore (1996) and Jericho “Action” Jackson in Action Jackson (1988) on the big screen as well as Police Chief Hampton Forbes on television’s In The Heat Of The Night from 1993 to 1995
Most recently, Weathers received acclaim for portraying Greef Karga in the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian across its three seasons and earned an Emmy nomination for the role in 2021.
Weathers was born on January 14, 1948 in New Orleans and was a talented high school and college athlete, playing football for San Diego State University. After a short-lived pro football career, he started pursuing acting, with one his earliest parts being an appearance on Good Times.
Social media is paying respects to the esteemed actor, and we’ve collected some tributes, and fan favorite film moments in the gallery. Rest in powerful peace Carl Weathers.
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Andre Braugher, Emmy Award-winner and star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine has passed away suddenly, surprising the entertainment industry.
On Tuesday night (December 12), it was confirmed that Andre Braugher had passed away. His publicist, Jennifer Allen, stated that Braugher had died after undergoing a brief illness. She did not elaborate on what that illness was. Braugher was 61 years old. His passing was met with grief by David Simon, who remembered the Homicide: Life On The Street actor in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “I’ve worked with a lot of wonderful actors. I’ll never work with one better.”
Braugher rose to fame after a breakthrough role in the acclaimed 1989 film Glory, starring as Corporal Thomas Searles of the Union Army’s all-Black 54th Regiment of Massachusetts during the Civil War. The actor would build upon that success as the intense Baltimore Detective Frank Pembleton in Homicide: Life On The Street. Braugher would win the first of his two Emmy Awards for his role, earning him a reputation as an actor with tremendous presence. He would go on to star in numerous films including Spike Lee’s Get On The Bus and HBO’s The Tuskegee Airmen. Braugher also made his mark in television series including House, The Good Fight, Men Of A Certain Age starring opposite Ray Romano, and Thief. That FX crime miniseries gave him his second Emmy.
The actor gained a whole new audience when he turned to comedy, starring as Captain Raymond Holt, the stern but hilarious precinct commander in the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Co-star Terry Crews offered his heartfelt condolences in an Instagram post. “Can’t believe you’re gone so soon. I’m honored to have known you, laughed with you, worked with you and shared 8 glorious years watching your irreplaceable talent. This hurts. You left us too soon,” he wrote.
Born in Chicago’s West Side on July 1st, 1962, Braugher attended St. Ignatius Prep and earned a scholarship to Stanford University. Noting that he could’ve been a bigger success, Braugher remarked on it with perspective noting his choice to focus on his family life. “It’s been an interesting career, but I think it could have been larger,” he said to HuffPost. “I think it could have spanned more disciplines: directing, producing, all these other different things. But it would have been at the expense of my own life.”
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As many offer tribute to the late television legend Norman Lear after his death, we take a look at the television shows featuring predominately Black casts he produced which changed the culture.
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The passing of television icon Norman Lear at the age of 101 has paved the way for a further examination of the shows that the producer and writer was responsible for bringing to the screen and in the process, impacting comedy and American society greatly with a focus on social and political themes of the time.
His work (which included having an astonishing eleven hit shows on air at one time) included shows airing in the 1970s and 1980s that showcased the Black community in roles that captured their full scope and would have a major impact on the industry for decades afterward. We take an in-depth look at the Black-focused shows of Norman Lear that had major success.
Sanford & Son
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Reworking a popular British sitcom Steptoe & Son, Sanford & Son became a smash hit when it aired on NBC in 1974. Ribald veteran comedian Redd Foxx was tapped to star as Watts-based junkman Fred G. Sanford and Demond Wilson as his son, Lamont. Featuring beloved recurring characters such as Aunt Esther (LaWanda Page), the show was Lear’s first featuring an all-Black cast and was a solid ratings giant all of its six seasons, coming in second only to Lear’s iconic All In The Family on CBS. It would end in 1977 after a contract dispute between Foxx and NBC.
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Good Times
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A spin-off of the Bea Arthur-fronted Maude (which was itself a spin-off from All In The Family), Good Times focused on Maude’s former housekeeper Florida Evans (Esther Rolle), and her husband James Evans (John Amos) as they raised their three children in the projects in Chicago. Good Times was co-created by Eric Monte (who wrote the cult classic Cooley High) and Mike Evans, who starred as Lionel on All In The Family. The show would become another hit series for CBS, despite some turbulence with Rolle and Amos over concerns of negative stereotypes as the character of J.J. (played by comedian Jimmie Walker) was thrust into the forefront with his “Dyn-O-mite” catchphrase (which Lear actually detested at first). Good Times would go on to be revered by many, with numerous Black stars appearing on the show including Janet Jackson as Penny Gordon.
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The Jeffersons
Featuring Sherman Helmsley as the quick-tempered laundry owner George Jefferson and Isabel Sanford as his wife, Louise, The Jeffersons would become another major hit series for Norman Lear with roots in All In The Family. The Jeffersons would represent America’s first look at an upwardly mobile Black family as the couple moved from living next door to the Bunkers to the Upper East Side. With a catchy theme song (you’re humming it right now as you read this no doubt) and a unique perspective thanks to the strong cast, The Jeffersons would run for ten seasons from 1975 to 1985 on CBS.
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Diff’rent Strokes
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This sitcom by Norman Lear first made its debut on NBC in 1978, with Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges starring as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two recently orphaned Harlem children taken in by wealthy Park Avenue widower Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain) and their daughter, Kimberly (Dana Plato). The show would run for eight seasons on NBC and ABC highlighted by Coleman’s magnetic charm and the “very special episodes” that tacked issues like racism and drug use.
227
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Lear would be an uncredited executive producer for 227, a show that would become part of NBC’s vaunted Saturday night comedy block in the 1980s. Marla Gibbs, who rose to fame as the wisecracking housekeeper Florence on The Jeffersons, starred as housewife Mary Jenkins as part of a trio of friends and neighbors Rose Holloway (Alaina Rose Hall ) and Sandra Clark (Jackee Harry) in the same Washington D.C. apartment building. 227 was also the debut of Regina King, who played Mary’s daughter Brenda. The show would last for five seasons.
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The world has lost a true African-American icon. Richard Roundtree, star of the seminal Blaxploitation film Shaft, has passed away. He was 81.
Reportedly, Roundtree died on Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 24) from pancreatic cancer. The renowned actor’s longtime manager, Patrick McMinn, confirmed his death.
“Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film,” said McMinn in a statement. “The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”
To say that Roundtree was influential would be a massive understatement. In 1971 he starred as John Shaft, the titular lead character of Gordon Park’s landmark film which is credited with launching the Blaxploitation genre. Sporting an afro and undeniable swagger, Shaft became the prototype of urban, effortless cool that was otherwise previously unseen on the movie screen.
Richard Roundtree is survived by four daughters, Nicole, Tayler, Morgan and Kelli Roundtree, and a son, James. Fans, Hollywood stars, musicians, pro athletes and more quickly took to Twitter to salute the legend, which we have assembple below.
Rest in powerful peace Richard Roundtree, he was bad mother [shut your mouth].
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Hip-Hop has lost another icon way too soon. DJ Mark the 45 King has reportedly passed away. He was 62.
DJ Premier revealed the 45 King’s death via a tribute post on Instagram. “His sound was unlike any other from his heavy drums and his horns were so distinct on every production,” reads part of Premier’s tribute, where he details 45 King’s production on an early Gang Starr single.
Born Mark Howard James in the Bronx, DJ Mark the 45 King made a name for himself crafting classic beats for Queen Latifah, Jay-Z and his own famed breakbeat “The 900 Number.” For Hip-Hop heads of a certain age, you’ll remember “The 900 Number” as the instrumental used by Ed Lover to perform his famed “The Ed Lover Dance” on Yo! MTV Raps. Originally released in 1987, the song caught another resurgence when it was prominently sampled in DJ Kool’s hit “Let Me Clear My Throat” in 1996.
The 45 King was instrumental in bringing Queen Latifah to the masses, producing her debut album, All Hail The Queen on Tommy Boy Records, which was released in 1989. 45 King’s earlier work with the Flavor Unit (Latifah, Chill Rob G, Lakim Shabazz and Apache) and his mastery of sampling quickly made him one of Hip-Hop’s early production wunderkinds.
And showing he was no flash in the pan, in 1998, Mark produced Jay-Z’s Annie-sampling “Hard Knock Life,” a song often credited with turbo-boosting the Brooklyn rapper and mogul’s superstar career. Two years later, he scored another smash producing Eminem’s “Stan.”
Rest in powerful peace DJ Mark the 45 King. We compiled reactions to his passing that are a testament to how immense of a loss his death is to the culture.
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Sad news for lovers of 90’s R&B music as it’s being reported that Irish Grinstead from the group 702 has passed away.According to Blavity, the “Steelo” singer passed away at the young age of 43 with her sister, Lemisha Grinstead, announcing the terrible news on Instagram. Posting a black-and-white picture of Irish, Lemisha wrote a heartfelt caption describing her sister saying, “That girl was as bright as the stars! She was not only beautiful on the outside, but also within. Sharing the stage with her was a joy I will cherish for the rest of my life! We, the family ask for prayers and respect for our privacy as we grieve an outstanding loss to our family.”
Blavity reports:
702 released its debut album, No Doubt, in 1996. “Steelo,” one of the tracks featured on the album, became the theme song for the Nickelodeon series Cousin Skeeter.
The group continued to produce hits after artist Cree La’More replaced Williams. With La’More on the team, 702 released “Pootie Tangin,” a single inspired by the Chris Rock film Pootie Tang. When Williams returned to the group, they released another album, Star.
702 split up in 2006 and reunited 11 years later. The group earned several accolades through the years, including multiple nominations for Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards, as well as recognitions for an American Music Award and a BET Award.
The cause of death still isn’t known, but regardless it’s still heart-wrenching to see someone pass away at such a young age.
Missy Elliott who appeared on their hit “Steelo” and co-wrote “Where My Girls At?” took to her X page to give her love and condolences to the Grinstead family during this tragic time.
Prayers up for the Grinstead family.
Rest In Power, Queen. See more reactions to her untimely passing in the gallery.
