Paul W Arnold
The last time HipHopDX spoke to Atlanta emcee Stat Quo, in August 2007 [click to read] he was shifting gears from promoting the Dr. Dre-produced “Here We Go,” the intended first single from his long-delayed Shady/Aftermath Records debut, Statlanta, to putting his push behind the then recently leaked “G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised In The South),” following Interscope’s lack of support for “Here We Go” at radio.
While openly frustrated after having to wait at that point three-and-a-half years for a firm release date for his debut long-player, Stat was still a loyal Shady/Aftermath artist who appeared to be on the verge of finally being able to bask in the glow of his time to shine nationwide. Unfortunately, that moment appeared to be just that, a moment, as after a year of trying to pry himself from his deal with Dre, Stat finalized his release from the label within the past couple months. DX recently spoke with the southern spitter to find out what happened that led to his departure from arguably the most important Hip Hop label of the last decade, and what his plans are now for future releases, as well as the music he recorded over the past five years with the aid of Dr. Dre and Eminem.
Before a planned project entirely produced by DJ Toomp makes its way to the people, as well as a new version of Statlanta, the newly independent artist’s first post-Aftermath project is The South Got Somthin’ To Say. Hitting the net tomorrow (October 23rd), the free mixtape, which features freestyles, as well as new material (including the soul sample driven “The Sun” [click to listen]), derives its title from Andre 3000’s prophetic declaration at the 1995 Source Awards.
“Regardless of what’s going on, considering how well Wayne has done, and ya know, you got T.I. [click to read] and Luda [click to read] and these guys are successful, but I feel like it’s still a bias [against southern artists],” Stat said to DX. “People still don’t wanna give artists that are coming from the southern region the credit and credibility [they’ve earned].”
The South Got Somthin’ To Say is just the first planned free offering to his fans to tide them over until a proper album release, with possibly a new label, can be arranged.
“People been waiting on an album from me for so long I wanna give them some music while I still try to work on the politics behind getting an album out,” said Stat. “I slowed down with doing mixtapes and putting music out…but not no more. I’m gonna put music out at least once a month. I’ma put a whole CD out – at least 13, 12 songs – once a month for the next year.”
Stat can easily crank out that planned CD-a-month, as he records daily in his home studio. But while clearly having modeled his work ethic after his former mentor, his plan to actually release his future recordings as they’re completed stands in stark contrast to his onetime guarantor’s approach to letting the world hear his creations.
“I’m not sittin’ on music no more, man,” Stat declared. “I been around Dr. Dre for so long, and as great as he is one thing I disagree with him about how he handles his business is that he sits on a lot of music. He makes incredible music and it just sits there. And it just gets old. And no one ever gets to hear it. Fuck that.”
“And he don’t even get to enjoy what he made,” Stat continued. “He go to the studio and make all this music, everyday, and never put anything out. I’m not living like that. No. I learned what not to do, and I learned what to do, by dealing with those guys. And that’s one thing that I’m not gonna do. I’m not gonna sit on this music ‘cause people need to hear it period.”
In addition to his own future recordings, Stat plans to release everything he recorded during his stint at Shady/Aftermath.
“All that shit coming out,” he revealed. “Everything that I done rapped on, everybody gonna hear it. You can quote me on that. Everything that I done rapped on, I don’t care who did the beat…Everything that my voice on that I’ve done over these years with them, everybody gonna hear it. I’m just waiting on the right time to put it out…I’m talking about 300, 400 Dre [tracks]. I’m talking about 100 Em beats I’m spittin’ on…”
But what about obvious legal entanglements that could be created by his decision to open up Dr. Dre’s long-rumored vault of unreleased material?
“I don’t give a fuck,” Stat replied. “Listen man, I’m college educated. If they say I can’t rap I’ll go get a job. If that don’t work, I can hit the street. I get money. I ain’t worried about no lawsuit. I ain’t necessarily saying I’m fin to put it in Best Buy and sell it. Nah. It ain’t even about no money for me…with that music. It’s about people need to hear that shit… The world gotta hear what the fuck I was doing with them, because that shit was amazing.”
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