Organized Noize drops jewels, jokes, and release dates live from Stank
Ain't nothing like an off-the-cuff Q&A with the legendary Organized Noize to remind us that Atlanta's still real.
Photo credit: Courtesy Twitter/@BigBoi
Ain't nothing like an off-the-cuff Q&A with the legendary Organized Noize to remind us that Atlanta's still real. And last night's reminder couldn't have been better timed.
While the Season 5 premiere of faux reality-show "Love and Hip Hop ATL" trended on Twitter, the real Atlanta was busy having its own global Twitter moment. That's because the architects of the city's timeless sound — Ray Murray, Sleepy Brown, and Rico Wade — were simultaneously giving an extended live Twitter Q&A. Their answers, posted in the form of video snippets recorded straight outta Stankonia Studios, flowed like a bunch of cool-ass uncles having grown-folk convo on the back porch. Except, this time, all us children were invited to peep game.
Co-hosted by Big Boi and Rob Markman of Genius, the live digital event was organized by Fadia Kader, the Atlanta-bred music industry maven who, following tenures at Def Jam and Complex, recently became Twitter's Music Partnerships Lead with a focus on hip-hop and R&B.
If you've already seen The Art of Organized Noize — the recently released Netflix documentary that chronicles Organized Noize's rise as iconic production trio and nucleus of Dungeon Family — you may think you know all there is to know. But not hardly, as the #AskOrganizedNoize hashtag proved.
With Big Boi, Gipp, Cee Lo, and ONP manager Orlando McGhee in tow, we got funny backstories on everything from the making of Soul Food ("I remember not everybody had a car at the time, so we were relying on T-Mo Goodie's trusty Jeep Wrangler Wagonneer," Cee Lo said, laughing. "With the wood on the doors!") to rarely heard industry insight and scoops on unreleased DF material (y'all remember Lil Will, don'tcha?) including Organized Noize collabos with the likes of EarthGang and Mac Miller.
The vibe was nothing but love, as you'll see in the videos posted below. But do yourself a fave and check out the entire extended Q&A asap.
ONP'S LEGACY IN ONE WORD: "Scrumptious, you know'm sayin."
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ONP IS SO INSTRUMENTAL: Sleepy Brown breaks down his skills, with some well-timed ribbing from Cee Lo and Big. embed-12
AND THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST: Ray Murray puts DFs legendary status in proper perspective, starting with OutKast. embed-10
STILL WATERS RUN DEEP: If you watched The Art of Organized Noize, you may have been surprised to discover the writer of the No. 1 TLC hit "Waterfalls," Marqueze Etheridge, still works at Marriott. But it ain't like that, as Rico explained of his long-time friend. He also explained how life-altering the song became for the crew after it skyrocketed to the top.embed-7 embed-11
THAT NEW NEW OUTKAST? While there are separate Big and Dre verses in the ONP vault, they're already looking forward to future recordings. embed-9
ANOTHER LABEL? Maurice Garland comes through with the $20 million dollar question of the night: If given the opportunity would Organized start or run another label?
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LOOKIN' FOR LIL WILL? Though never officially released, the album by Lil Will of "Lookin' for Nikki" fame has only been available via bootleg — until nowish.
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SOUL FOOD APPETIZERS: Cee Lo recalls meager beginnings while recording at Curtis Mayfield's home studio and Rico remembers the night Khujo Goodie laid down the hook to the classic "Cell Therapy" after the group's somewhat-surprise performance at the Roxy using the beat Wade had just put together. embed-3 embed-4
EAVESDROPPIN': Big Boi tells some wild sounding story in the background that involves a "Momma Dee" (possibly of LLHATL fame but who the hell knows) and the infamous Bankhead Highway.embed-2
NIGHTCAP: The best ad-lib comes at the end of the session. After Sleepy Brown closes it out with heartfelt gratitude for the collective — "It's always gonna go down like this; we always gonna be family" — Big Boi cracks an inside joke explaining Andre 3000's absence.
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