“It’s beginning to look a lot like Wood, follow my every step
Take notes on how I crept, I’s bout to go in depth
This is the way I creep my season here’s my ghetto rep”

As a young man in late 1993, hanging out at a Sam Goody in the mall, knowing I had no money, counting down the days till Christmas, little Craig remembers hearing these lyrics for the first time. Andre 3000 and Big Boi had formed Outkast and blasted on to the scene with “Player’s Ball.” The beats, the lyrics, the flow, the whole song was amazing to hear. I purchased the cassette single almost immediately. I had no idea who Organized Noize was or how much their style would influence the rest of my musical life, but “Player’s Ball” was merely the beginning.
The Art of Organzied Noize tells the story of Rico Wade, Ray Murray, and Sleepy Brown as they shaped the hip-hop sound that came out of Atlanta in the 90s. Going from literally the basement of Rico’s mom’s house, called “The Dungeon”, to breaking it big finally with TLC’s “Waterfalls”, to walking away from Interscope Records and leaving $17 million on the table. Their story has so many ups and downs that you can’t believe the producing trio lasted through any of it. Outkast, Goodie Mob, P Diddy show up to speak about the unique skills and ability that Organized Noize brought on to the scene. Their talent of using real instruments instead of sampling other songs, most of which were played and recorded in the Dungeon, changed the hip-hop music scene forever.
If you have even a passing interest hip-hop or R&B from the 90s, “The Art of Organized Noize” on Netflix is worth checking out. You won’t be sorry you did. I am for reeeeal.

-Craig