Stat Quo Thinks Out Loud

Three and half years. That's how long Atlanta's Stat Quo has been signed to Shady/Aftermath and waiting to put out his debut, Statlanta. Just to give some perspective on how long it's been, in that time his friend Young Jeezy stopped asking him for advice about which label to sign with, signed two record deals and has released two group albums as well as his platinum-plus solo LPs. Chamillionaire, who was a fellow upstart long ago, signed his deal, went platinum-plus and won a Grammy. Even Game, who's worked under the wing of Dre as well, has put out two albums and is working on a third.

But the sighs of frustration are morphing into sighs of relief: The wheels are turning for Statlanta to come out this summer.

"[Eminem] came out to L.A. and we all sat down and listened to the album, we just listened to it," Stat said. "Then we played the record for execs at Interscope and they said, 'This is what people need to hear.' "

The album does exist and it'll definitely be a sleeper hit when it drops. There's an insane collaboration on there called "The Way Sh-- Be," which is produced by Dr. Dre and features a Dre verse, as well as a guest spot from Scarface. Another Dre track called "Fire" (featuring Bilal) is just that.
 
Eminem got in on things as well. He produced a few cuts, one of which is a double song — with no hooks, might I add — called "Testify/ The Next One," where at one point Slim Shady uses a Southern flow to vanquish rumors of his retirement.

Stat said that unlike some of his peers in the South, he wanted to stay away from more redundant themes like partying and women and go deeper. The single, "Here We Go" (produced by Dre), and another called "G.R.I.T.S." (i.e. "Girls Raised in the South") are probably the only records we heard that heavily get into those topics on the 16-song LP.

"I'm trying to change the game — [or at least] put some action into it," Stat said. "You always hear rappers talking about 'hip-hop is dead' or 'hip-hop is wack,' then their album comes out and they only have one good song on there. How are you contributing? If you gonna talk about it, then do something about it. That's what's cool with working with Em and Dre: They're about setting precedents and taking this rap sh-- to a whole 'nother level."