TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With Stat Quo

"Smoking Sessions With..."    By TC on November 7, 2008 at 1:10 pm

Seemingly on the brink of resurgence, Aftermath Records — the powerhouse that legendary producer Dr. Dre built — is sporting a slimmed down roster these days. Stat Quo, the Atlanta rhyme animal who joined the camp in 2003 is the latest to acquire his free agency from the label, without releasing an album. He sits down with TSS Crew’s TC and explains the shocking truth to why his album wasn’t released and his plans for the future on the heels of his latest mixtape, The South Got Somethin’ To Say. Apparently, so does Stat Quo.

TSS: So with all the attention that the South gets nowadays, you still feel like they’re going unnoticed?

Stat Quo: Oh most definitely. There’s still a lot of people on the Internet that has a lot of negative things to say about Southern MCs based on some of the other type of music that comes out. You know “They can’t rap, they can’t spit.” Because we all know that the East Coast fathered rap music, so it’s like the South and the West are like the kids and the father is always gonna look at it like the kids aren’t going to be able to live up to their potential. In the father’s eyes at least.

TSS: Yeah, but I don’t think anyone’s ever accused a Stat Quo of not having skills. You get the sense of who they’re addressing…

Stat Quo: Oh nah-nah-nah-nah-nah!!! But for me it’s like when Outkast was doing their thing, I don’t just do it for me. It’s like if my son wanna rap and he’s three years old. If he wanna grow up to be a rapper or my nephew and nieces. I wanna keep the shit going for them.

TSS: But how do you personally feel about some of those artists that they are talking about?

Stat Quo: You know what? At the end of the day, I’d rather have them making bullshit songs instead of doing some bullshit to get on. You never really know people’s circumstance and if that’s the hustle they wanna use, then fine by me. But I feel like it’s my job being that I’m not in it for the hustle of it, to actually keep the integrity of it going. And to show people that you can be “Hip-Hop” but still be commercial.

TSS: Would you say there’s any justification that those artists go on to release an album and your situation ended up the way it did?

Stat Quo: You know, I feel like every man has their own path and I’m not upset with someone making money doing what they’re doing. I would never hate on another person getting theirs. My situation was so unique along with the people I was dealing with, so I can’t just sit there and criticize someone for getting on. But sometimes yeah, in my heart…I feel left out sometimes. I still want my chance to get my shit poppin’ or whatever. But it is what it is. God’s gonna let me get mine when it’s time.

TSS: O.K. and you just dropped the mixtape [The South Has Somethin' To Say]. How much material do you actually have? I’m hearing crazy rumors of like 300 to 400 songs. What’s that about?

Stat Quo: Aw man. What people have to understand that me as a Hip-Hop artist, I got my grind and how to do this music and how to approach it, from the best! From Scarface, to Dre to Em. You know what I’m saying? These people are constantly working. So when I get up in the morning, I just do music. That’s all I do. All day long. And I’m not counting the music I’ve done with Dre and them. Aside from that, I plan out putting out a tape out once a month. About fifteen tracks of new material for people to listen to. And it’s just about me expressing myself.

A lot of times when you’re making music, you can be in a situation in terms of marketing, worrying about a single. It’s not no boundaries with this. I can do what the fuck I want. So as far as that situation with Dre and them, I said what I said. Anyone who wants to read that interview, can go back and read it. That’s what it is. It don’t even make any sense for me to keep touching on it. It’s not about me trying to be offensive or fucking up somebody’s shit. I got love for Dr. Dre, Eminem, Paul Rosenberg, Shady Records and Interscope.

I’m not one of them motherfuckers to be like “Fuck Interscope!!!” You know what I’m sayin’? (Laughs) I mean…why? “Fuck Jimmy Iovine!” Why “fuck Jimmy Iovine?” He’s been a good business man for years. There’s none of that. I don’t have any of those feelings. I appreciate my time spent over there. I went all over the world with them dudes. But at the same time, when it comes to the music that I recorded with my voice on it, I know how that shit goes. You leave and that shit just sits there. And me, personally, knowing that I was there for five years, I want people to be able to hear it and enjoy it. And like I said, it’s not about no money. I don’t want no money. It ain’t about selling no albums…FUCK going platinum. Fuck all that shit. This ain’t about no money. Everything in life ain’t about a dollar. It’s not always about recognition. It’s about Hip-Hop. That’s what it’s about. It’s about that I love Hip-Hop music.

And when I make great music with innovators and pioneers like those two gentlemen, and I just got it sitting there…? I feel like I’m doing Hip-Hop a great disservice by just letting it sit there. I’m doing Hip-Hop wrong! And I’m not gonna sit back, twenty years from now and rap might not be want it is today, and say to myself “I could’ve done something to help. I could’ve inspired somebody.” Because when I was younger and people like Scarface used to put songs out, that shit inspired me to want to do this! So you never know how your music is gonna inspire somebody else. So if I put a crazy joint, which I got a bunch of ‘em (Laughs), and some young motherfucker in Nebraska hear that shit, he be like “You know what? I’m finna rap like Stat Quo or I’ma make beats like Dre and Eminem.” And he come out like he the next motherfucker!

TSS: Absolutely. Everybody was inspired by somebody.

Stat Quo: You know it. We have the power to birth to a whole ‘nother generation through the music. So why am I gonna sit back with what I call this fucking Hip-Hop sperm I got and not bust a nut all over the Internet with it! I gotta let this sperm fly! (Laughs)

TSS: (Laughs) Pause…

Stat Quo: (Laughs) Yeah but as far as the numbers and all that, fuck all that, it don’t even matter. I’ll tell you this: I say again. I only care about Hip-Hop. It’s allowed me to feed my family. It’s allowed people I have admired over the years to feed their families, and I want the shit to continue to grow. And I feel like when we just sit on music and we in position to make great shit and we don’t let the world hear it, we’re doing Hip-Hop a disservice and that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. Sometimes all the politics behind it and how much money it makes, that shit don’t fucking matter.

Sometimes it’s just all about the inspiration. We need inspiration in these fucked up times, dog! We need to hear some shit to make you go “ooooh!” Like when Dre put that Chronic or 2001 out. Or Eminem came with that Marshall Mathers LP. When 50 came with his shit! We need some inspirational music…and them niggas MAKE IT! They make it! Dr. Dre makes inspirational music and he made it with me. That’s all I’m saying.

TSS: So the whole “sitting” on the music thing. Is it a marketing strategy? Anyone who knows Dre’s work, knows he’ll bring it ten times outta ten.

Stat Quo: This is a different era than his last records and I just think it’s a fear of acceptance. “Will it tarnish the image that I’ve done?” That kind of thinking. And at the end of the day, he’s such a great producer and he built such an empire, he can afford to do that. He can afford not to put out music. I remember a long time ago, when I was getting ready to sign and I was sitting with Puff and he was asking about the process of us making music with Dre. And Puff was like “I can’t do it. I can’t afford to do that Stat, I gotta put my shit out!” (Laughs) So it’s a different mentality with Dre. Dre’s mentality is it may take me seven or eight years to make ‘em but I’m gonna give you twelve incredible records. In my opinion, which is the only one that matters, that’s the way I think it should go.

If you ask Stat Quo, Dre got 32,000 incredible records. That ain’t nobody ever gonna hear! But those 12 are the ones he chose to come out. You know as the last album [2001] he put out, there’s probably things on that record that he would change even after it dropped and people accepted it! He told me from his own mouth that he’ll put the music out and listen to for the first week or whatever, but after that, he don’t even listen to it anymore. He make so much fucking music; he’s the hardest working muthafucka I ever seen.

I’ma throw Eminem and 50 Cent in there too. So when someone asks me, how do I got so many songs, I watched and learned from them! They rich as fuck and all they do is go to the studio! So I was like, I’m gonna be like that! And when you look at Lil’ Wayne, his consistency and how much music he’s putting out, niggas be like “He gonna run out of rhymes.” No he’s not! Because the more you rap, the better you get. And the more he spit, the better he got. That’s how he’s on top.

But only thing I would change about Dre’s whole operation is, if I was him, I’d put out music consistently. Because he’d have it on smash, no question. He’s got it on smash without putting it out but it would be so ridiculous if he was dropping music. In my opinion, I think Hip-Hop would have went in a different direction if Dre was putting music out consistently.

TSS: Yeah, on the song “Go Ham” off the mixtape you said “My label tryin to noose me/but the Doctor gotta give give me freedom/I’m like Boosie/I-N-D-E…” You guys parted on good terms right?

Stat Quo: Yeahhhh! You know at the tail end of it, there were some things I didn’t like, mainly how long it took me to get out the deal. But at the end of the day, it’s all good. I have no ill feelings. Because I got the music! Like a scrapbook. Anytime I wanna reflect, I just go and get my hard drive and just think about all the great times and just listen to all that fucking music… cuz, I got so much!!! (Laughs)

TSS: Do you feel like the success of Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ set everybody up for unrealistic expectations according to the label?

Stat Quo: All man, 50 set such an incredible bar for anybody that was coming behind that. So it wasn’t that it was unrealistic, it was just a movement. I think had they put my album out, 3-4 years ago, the numbers would have been ridiculous. It was like a wave. They could have put out a blank CD and sold two million copies (Laughs) Anything they was doing, was electric. But that’s where that perfectionist in Dre comes in and it’s gotta be a certain way. And then time passes and you look up, it’s three, four years and that wave done died down. And now you need a fuckin’ smash. When you got like five different cooks in the kitchen, it’s kinda hard.

TSS: O.K. and like we agreed on beforehand, nobody’s saying that Stat isn’t capable. So what I’m basically asking is while we know the perfectionist situation of the label head, why not release a Stat Quo album in the meantime? Does it really take that much effort to do so?

Stat Quo: At this point, the powers that be, the people that fund these labels, in that situation…they want a Dr. Dre album, an Eminem album, a 50 Cent album. That’s what they want. And they should! They know those albums are gonna sell. And when it comes to the underlinks, Stat Quo being that, it’s not happening (Laughs) They want those albums! And me being down since 2003 and now it’s ‘08… I can’t do it anymore. I can’t! I can’t sit around and just wait. Obie [Trice] put out a couple of albums, D-12 put out a couple, but me the only thing I ever put up that was in a store, was The Re-Up Album. But I’m grateful for that because some people don’t even get to do that much.

I consider myself one of the dopest motherfuckers to do this rap shit, word for word, line for line, song for song. I consider myself one of those cats because the people that are out here in the upper echelon of the tastemakers, when they have conversations on who can spit and all that, my name always come out and I don’t even have an album out. So that let’s me know right there, it ain’t just me thinking the shit, it is what it is. But my voice gots to be heard, I can’t sit around no longer, I got to let motherfuckers feel me baby!!!

TSS: (Laughs)

Stat Quo: Let me tell you man. It’s Amistad! They done gave me my free! My chains are gone, you understand me! Like I said in “The Sun,” I’m walking tall with my hand on my dick/and I answer to God and that’s it!” That’s it nigga! I answer to God only. Nobody’s tells me what to do, when to do it, how to do it. I’m going to do what the fuck I want to do. Period. And you know what my platform is? Anybody that will fucking listen!

TSS: O.K. Let’s look towards Stat’s future. Are you looking towards an indie label now or…

Stat Quo: Can I be honest with you? I’m not looking towards nothing. I’ma rap man. I’ma make music! When I first got my deal, I wasn’t out there actively chasing no deal. That’s not how I got on. I was putting music in the streets. And that’s what I’ma do. Put music in the streets and the internet. It’s like trying to look for a good woman. You don’t look, a good woman shows up. If you look for a good woman, you gonna find a fucked up bitch!

So yeah, people come to me about situations all the time. But while my lawyer handles all that shit, I’m just gonna make music. I want the respect that Face has when walks in a room as an artist. When Scarface walks in a room, niggas respect him! There ain’t nothing left to be said. What can you say besides he the greatest? Nah, he ain’t never sold 10 million records but fuck it! He can go anywhere he wants because he always stayed true to himself and made great fucking music and never tried to step outside of his shit. So yeah, I’m going to put a mixtape out every month and you gotta look up because some of them might have some unreleased shit on it. I’ma do one called 2010. You know flip the numbers from 2001 and make 2010. You never know man!

TSS: O.K. but what about the flipside? Are you worried about becoming a mixtape rapper?

Stat Quo: But me, I make money doing other things outside of music, so it’s not really me doing it to pay my bills. I do it because I love it. Before I met Dre and Em and all of them, I had houses and cars and shit. It’s not like I got with them and instantly got money. So anytime someone comes to me and be like “Yo Stat, you put some shit out and they sue and they’ll blackball you from the game…” Let me tell you something. (Laughs) You can’t blackball a child of God. What you gonna stop me from getting a check from music? I don’t need a music check nigga! This ain’t paying my bills man. I love Hip-Hop and everything about it. I love going into the booth and putting some shit out and hearing someone bang it while I’m driving. Then I look over and throw ‘em the deuces like “Ride nigga! I do it for y’all!” So as far as becoming a mixtape rapper… fuck it! It’s whatever. Because I’m going to put so much music out that motherfuckers is gonna be forced to do something about it.

TSS: Eventually somebody will take action.

Stat Quo: Yeah they gonna be forced! It ain’t too many people doing it. These niggas is reserving these rhymes. I guess they feel like they gonna run outta rhymes. But the more you rap, the better you get. To anyone out there that wanna do this shit: the more you sit your ass down and write and write and rap and record, the better you get at it. The more you make a beat, the better you get at it. The more you play basketball, sell a stock, whatever, the better you get. So all I do is write rhymes. And then, I write for other rappers and R&B artists! So I’m getting better each day.

TSS: So you stay busy even when you’re not visible, huh?

Stat Quo: Yeah man. I rode for five years. You think I don’t want nobody to hear this music and talent I got? I went in on mixtape after mixtape, interview after interview. From Switzerland to Finland. You think it don’t fuck with me when I walk down the street in Atlanta and a motherfucker be like “Where that album at?” And I know I got it at home, and it’s incredible. And the only reason it didn’t get put out is because we couldn’t agree on a single that we allll could agree on. There was never a song to force Interscope the spend the kind of money they needed to with everybody saying “This is it.”

TSS: But while were they are using the same model? Everybody’s not gonna make an “In Da Club” and at the same time, you don’t want that, cuz it would get boring.

Stat Quo: It’s just, when an artist puts a single out, you gotta know it’s associated with a record that costs money. They not just puttin’ a single out and it’s blowing up on it’s own. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes shit that makes a single work and go. And if the powers that be are in a position to call the shots, if it’s not a certain way or everybody isn’t on the same page, it’s not going to work.

TSS: So besides the musical contributions, is there anything else that you want the people to know from the horse’s mouth?

Stat Quo: Man, I just want everybody to know that I appreciate you for fuckin’ with Stat Quo, and I read people’s comments and a lot of them are made at Dr. Dre. Yo, all that “fuck Dre,” that shit is unnecessary. He got his ways just like everyone else got their ways. It is what it is, shit happens, ya know? I hope, just like all the rest of you hope, he puts his album out, whichever one he decides to put out cuz he could release like 40 of ‘em. But a lot of times, we get on the computer and be like “fuck this or that person,” that shit ain’t cool. Because our families have to read that and it’s just not cool. That’s just something I wanted to put out there.

I know people think they can say whatever and nobody’s ever gonna see you for saying that shit but you say the wrong thing, and motherfuckers can find you with an email address (Laughs) But it’s not even worth it! Disrespecting a great man like Dr. Dre. You might not agree with a lot of things they did as a company when it comes to other artists such as myself but those are great organizations with great people and I don’t want anything I say to come off as derogatory because they my peoples regardless. From the motherfuckers they hire to take out the trash, to the motherfuckers they hire to whoop people’s ass.

TSS: (Laughs) Good one.

Stat Quo: But on the last, last note…long live Hip-Hop! They trying to phase us out and we can’t let them!

Look out for the The Bailout very soon. Here’s the first taste:

Stat Quo Feat. Tiffany Villarreal - “Washed Away”

DOWNLOAD - The South Got Somethin’ To Say

Check for more on Stat Quo at www.myspace.com/statquo.

Posted in "Smoking Sessions With...", ARTIST INTERVIEWS, GENERAL, MUSIC — Tags: 50 Cent, Aftermath, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Shady Records, Stat Quo