Stat Quo
Interview by Javon Adams
Continued from Murder Dog vol 16 #1
What did you learn from your previous situation? What did it teach you
about yourself?
I learned that I am a very loyal and patient person. I learned that musically
I am capable of 
making music with some of the greatest people to ever
do it. That’s who I was working with and I learned that I won’t ever
prevent my voice from being heard musically for the remainder of my life.
I won’t sacrifice my music anymore.
Loyalty is usually a great thing, but in your case would you say you
were too loyal or too trusting?
It’s not necessarily that I was too loyal or too trusting. I think I
was a little naïve at times in certain situations. To be honest, my naiveness
about certain things got me in certain situations and I was too easy
to work with. Sometimes you can’t be so easy to work with. It seems like
in this music business that only the assholes get ahead.
You went to college to study business and economics. Have you been able
to pull any of those things and apply them to what you’re doing with
music?
Of course. I think the major thing about college is not necessarily what
you learn in a book, it’s what you learn in the people. I learned so
much about people in general from going to school and I implement that
in my rhymes and in the way that I conduct myself. Every type of
business you get into, regardless the type of business, is like a game.
You have to know your craft. Being around different types of people from
different backgrounds taught me how to use that to benefit myself from
an economic standpoint.
I read somewhere you said that, ‘Muthafuckas make songs but not albums’.
How much have you grown at being able to write albums over the years
and what has that transition been like?
It was just something inside of me and I always knew how to do this shit.
It wasn’t that it just clicked. It was something instinctual inside of
me. When I approach making a record or putting my voice on a track I
always try to have it be about something with a beginning and ending,
like a story. A lot of artists just get on and they aren’t talking about
anything and you can’t follow it. L.A. Reid was a great executive at
Def Jam and he says that when you write a chorus in R&B—and it still
applies to Rap—all great songs have some sort of story. Even if
it’s a club record there is a beginning and end. I try to follow that
when it comes to my music.
I know you have been working on new material for the mixtapes and all
that, but is Statlanta still going to see the light of day?
It’s going to see the light. It might not be sold unless Interscope sells
it, but I’m not selling it. The way things are now with music and the
ability to download music, I definitely could see it popping up like
that.
Where do you see yourself being in five years?
Anybody that dealt with me and did not take full advantage to make money
with me will be shitting on themselves for missing out on that chance.
I like that.
And I’ll be eating in a restaurant and they’ll be watching me from the
outside. Because I know what I have inside me and I know the ability
that was given me. My job is to develop that and put it out there.
What do you have to say to your fans that have been sticking by you?
Thank you for the support and love. I appreciate you for real and I do
it for y’all. And your nieces and nephews and sisters and brothers. Go
to my myspace page at myspace.com/statquo or quocity.com and download
the music there too.
