Montana Diary

At the height of the Shady/Aftermath takeover of the rap industry, no one signed to the label could do wrong. D12, Lloyd Banks, 50 Cent, Young Buck and Obie Trice all collected platinum plaques, some more than one, while the rest of the industry tried their hardest to keep up.

In 2003, a young rapper from Atlanta by the name of Stat Quo was brought into the fold and was said to be the second coming of Southern hip-hop. His lyrical abilities and wide range of subject matter was highly praised and it seemed as if Stat Quo was the next in line to take the reigns as Shady royalty.

With appearances on other artists’ records as well as video games his buzz only grew. He was also a large part of the success of Eminem’s triple platinum The Re-Up, a compilation album that showcased the Shady roster.

Now, it is 2008, and the highly anticipated debut album, Statlanta is still nowhere in sight. There are no release dates set and it remains to be seen if it will come out at all.

Sixshot.com caught up with Stat Quo to discuss Eminem and Dr. Dre, the hold up on his album, and if he thinks he’ll be a part of the Shady team for much longer.

The first question I wanna ask you and I know you must get this every five minutes but when can we expect the album?

Hey man, I don’t even wanna say no more. I don’t even know, you know what I mean? (Laughs) I’m just doing my thing over here man, just making music and to be honest with you, I really don’t know. That’s out of my control and I don’t make that decision.

The thing that has me curious is when people in the Shady/Aftermath fold don’t release an album they usually seem to get dropped pretty quick.

That’s what I thought too. That’s what I thought. I mean, a lot of people think getting dropped is a bad thing but sometimes if an artist gets dropped it could be like a relief for them. Some people they let go but some people they hold captive.

At this point, do you feel like you’re being held captive?

I’m not saying I feel like that, I’m just stating the facts, you know.

You’re definitely not a typical “Down South” rapper, how is it that you manage to keep your sound so diverse?

I just do my thing man. I don’t wanna be categorized and put into a box. I’ll put out a record like “We Get Higher” and all the underground heads and them will love it then I’ll turn around and do a “My Ride” which is some straight A-Town type shit. Then I’ll hop on a Dre beat and do my thing. I just don’t wanna be boxed in so I do what I’m feeling; it’s all based on my personality.

What’s it like for you working with Dre and Eminem?

It’s definitely a good look man. I learned a lot from those guys as far as how to conduct myself as an artist, as a man, and as a parent. They’re both great dudes. I take a lot of their knowledge and apply it to my life and myself. It’s really a good look. You’re working with the best.

Do you have a personal relationship with Dre and Em too or is it strictly business?

Yeah, you know, it’s a family atmosphere. If I need advice on certain issues I can go them. At the same time, its business too so the relationship is back and forth.

What’s the general feeling about your album in the building, not only from you but also from others? Do they want it to come out?

Yeah, everybody wants it to come out but the people that want it to come out aren’t in the position to make those decisions. The company has priorities and those priorities have to be met. Until my situation is a priority I guess it’s whatever. If I made the decision about when an album comes out the public would have been had an album from me. I’ll tell you this, I got all the records and if it keeps up like this I’m just gonna let the people hear it, I’ll put it out myself. I want people to hear this album and if the situation doesn’t come up then, let’s just put it this way, the people are going to hear it regardless.

At the end of the day, in your heart and in your mind, do you feel like it’s gonna come out on Shady?

I don’t know man. Who knows? At this point my patience is definitely wearing thin. It’s Shady and Aftermath, it’s both. I guess certain people don’t want it to come out. Sometimes it’s a bad thing when there’s too many cooks in the kitchen. It happens.

It’s strange because everything you drop gets an excellent response. Why do you feel the fans are riding with you so hard?

I think I try and I think a lot of other artists don’t. They don’t care what they put out. They’re doing it just to do it. They don’t put any heart into it. As human being we have natural instincts so the fans can tell if a dude is really trying. If he is trying, obviously they’re gonna feel that and they’re gonna appreciate that. I think when people hear my music they can tell that I really care and it’s not just about a dollar for me and how much money I’m gonna make on it.

Aight, let’s be honest, Statlanta is done, is it a classic?

Ah man, that’s like when people say are you the greatest rapper? Of course I wanna say that about myself but I like when the people deem something to be a classic. Biggie didn’t deem his albums to be classics. When Scarface was putting The Diary out or The Fix he wasn’t thinking himself that it was a classic. It was the people that called it classic. Reasonable Doubt was classic. Illmatic was classic. Blueprint was a classic. The reason why these albums were classics was because the people said they were. That’s how I’m gonna let my stuff be judged.

The Re-Up did real well and you were featured on that a lot. Did that help widen your audience?

It was dope. A lot of that material was for a mixtape we were doing. There was a lot of material for that in there. Em and Paul just figured we should make it an album. It was a good platform for the artists to showcase our skills and shine. Anytime you sell three million records worldwide you’re audience is gonna get bigger.

Your flow and subject matter are real different. Who are some people that influenced you musically?

Scarface, Bun B, Pimp C, 8 Ball & MJG, Biggie, Pac, Jay-Z, Outkast, N.W.A, and Eminem. They all had a great deal to do with how I’m doing my thing.

Coming from the South, were the East Coast artists big down there?

Yeah, I mean we got to hear all the different music that came in from Cali, New York, and Miami. If you lived in New York you probably didn’t get to hear what we were doing in the South because you had your own movement but in the South we got to hear everything.

Besides the album, what are you working on that we can look out for?

To be real with you, I’m working on another album. Statlanta is done so I’m working on my second album to come out after that. I don’t have a title yet; I’m still trying to figure it out. With Statlanta, it just kinda came along as I was making music and this one is the same way. I’m tryna do it like Prince where he recorded albums back to back to back and he just chilled and he didn’t really have to do anything. He made timeless music so it doesn’t matter when you put it out, it’s gonna be great regardless. All I do is record; I got a studio in my basement. I write for other artists too, that’s how I keep the lights on.

You write for other artists a lot?

Yeah, I write for some of ya'll favorite MC’s and R&B singers. I would never say names; they probably don’t want that to be known.

You said your patience is wearing thin as far as the album coming out. Are there ever any tense moments between you, Em, and Dre about the release?

Nah, we don’t get down like that. We don’t have no tense moments because that’s not the nature of the relationship.

So they just tell you to be patient?

Some things are just out of the control of what they got goin’ on. You see what’s going on with rap man. Flo-Rida had one of the biggest records ever and he came out and did what? Rap sales are different. Kanye West would have sold ten million copies. If that same album would have come out in like 1998 with the same momentum, Kanye would have sold ten million records. Everybody is just trying to figure out what’s going on and regroup and I happen to be caught right in the middle of that.

I promise you this and I promise all my fans that have supported me that you will hear Statlanta; it’s coming and let’s say the curtain will unveil itself soon. And the performance will be something you wanna see. The truth will be brought to the light so everybody can see what the fuck is going on.

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iMaGe

i think stat is so fuckin under-rated!!!!!!!!!!! i wanna hear tha album, i have high hopes that is gunna be a classic

Montana Diary

^^^We'll see. That "Fire" joint with Bilal sounds like a banger. That, and "The Way It Is" with Scarface, seem to get a lotta love from the few people who've heard the album so far. Hopefully Statlanta will get a legit release date this year.

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blazer15

real talk this dude needs 2 leave shady/aftermath, honestly why is his album being pushed back so much wasnt it suppose 2 come out like in 04?

Outlaw

stat is dope he need to release that album asap

Hakaroodi

can't wait to hear this - its fuckd up how labels work with droppin' albums..

SP3unit

this guy aint no rap star man, he aint never gonna blow on a major cos he aint got the whole package to be big, how wack must this guy be to not drop an album with em and dre cosigning him. the dude is waiting for something to happen instead he needs to go out and create his own buzz instead of talking about statlanta coming out summer, winter, end of april or some shit like that.

Hate Me

hes neva gonna drop i'm tired of waitin

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da411

this shit sad Stat can spit Shady/AfterMath fuckin up here they need 2 drop this shit i understand Interscope would rather drop Detox, King Mathers , or Fif next LP but damn cant they fit Stat cd in somewhere