::: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH STAT QUO

[Gotti......Xl]

Atlanta's Stat Quo is not your typical Dirty South rapper. In an exclusive interview with HipHopGame.com, Dr. Dre's protege talks about his moves, working with Em and Dre, and what's wrong with Hip Hop. Be on the lookout for his debut album "Statlanta" and if you haven't copped his new mixtape, "Underground Atlanta Volume Three," go do that...

How'd you end up linking with Eminem and Dre?

I did a mixtape "Underground Atlanta Volume One" and basically, I had heard about 50 and his mixtapes, but it wasn't really that big in the south at the time, so me and my squad, which is GMM, went out in the streets and were giving em out for free, and a girl that knew Mel Man gave the cd to him, and he gave it to Em and Dre. I still didn't know Eminem, I had just been dealing with Dre. I went to the Mixshow Power Summit in September, and by that time I had "Underground Volume Two." I just took my CD's, no clothes. I just gave my CD's out, and they got in the hands of a lot of executives and DJ's that were feeling the shit,so all these motherfuckers started calling. Eminem got one from Paul Rosenberg, who's running Shady Records, and when Em got it, he made the call to Dre, and there it is.

How long had you been rhyming and grinding?

Since I was 12 years old, but seriously, since about 2000. When I graduated college, I met up with Scarface, and started hanging out with 'Face and started picking up different shit. He's really like my mentor. He got me to take rap seriously. I met him through Zeek's (manager) sister.

You have your debut album "Statlanta" in the works with Em and Dre as the executive producers. How is the creative control handled with Em and Dre?

Basically, as far as creative control, it's all three of us. Obviously, they're not from the South, so there's a lot of things that might be new to them. They're counting on me, as far as consistency in the South. As far as what I'm trying to do, I really wanna open up the South. I feel that when people get exposed to Southern music, they just see it as one-sided. They just think it's all about partying, they forget about some of the messages these artists put in their music. We party and have a good time in the South, we get crunk, but there's a lot of messages and story-telling. We're some real lyricists down here, and I want to expose that and make that more mainstream.

What's a studio session with Stat Quo like?

Basically, I go to the studio with my squad, GMM. We got the X-Box, the Playstation, we got everything you would ever want to drink. The Kool-Aid, the Minute Maid, the Cognac...We don't drink that "piss-in-a-bottle," we call that 'Cris. We don't drink that bullshit. Anyway (laughs), we got the engineer in there and we get there around 9 in the morning, and we'll work, there's no clock in there, we might leave at 4 in the morning. We live in that bitch, we look at it like, some of your best ideas and freshest ideas are when you wake up. So we might fall asleep there, wake up, and lay something down. It's like that.

When people hear the name Stat Quo, what do you want them to think?

I'm striving for greatness. I feel that anything you do as a person, as an individual, if you're striving to do it, you should try to be the best at it. I'm striving for greatness. I really wanna be one of the greatest to ever do it. I feel that anybody rapping that doesn't wanna be the greatest, shouldn't be rapping, You're wasting your time and the people's time. There's a lot of artists that don't want to be the greatest, and that's why a lot of these albums come out sounding the way they do. They're trying to hit it quick and get some money, which there's nothing wrong with, but respect what this shit is, it's Hip Hop!

What's that line you can cross when you go from making good music to just making money?

When you try to duplicate others. When you try to do what someone else has done, I think you're crossing the line, because you're losing creativity. Then it's not coming from within you. When the creativity's gone, the culture is losing, because it's not growing. That's with anything you do in life, relationships, anything...you gotta be creative. You gotta keep the shit stimulated. If you're not being creative with these songs, or you gotta have "18 bitches in a video" or you gotta be drinking 'Cris....nah that's not it...you stupid as fuck.

Do you feel any pressure on Aftermath as the first Southern artist working with Dr. Dre?

It's crazy, look how successful Em was when he met Dre before 50. There's a lot of pressure to follow that, but at the same time, I'm 25 years old, finna be 26 on my birthday, and I've been through some shit, where I thought I wasn't gonna be here. It really don't get too much more pressure than when you're lifes on the line. This right here, this is good pressure. This pressure don't kill you right here.

You got your new mixtape, "Atlanta Underground Volume 3" popping, "Statlanta" in the works, what's your next move?

I'm on Young Buck's album, Green Lantern's putting an album out, just jumping on different projects. Still working on my album. Still in the streets with the mixtapes, doing some shows...you can really tell when someone puts a lot of time into an album, like when you listen to Kanye's album, the man really put a lot of time into his album and he really did his thing. It's just important that the public supports what these men are putting together in the studio. I'm just trying to create one of those classic albums that's gonna be played for years to come.

What are some artists that you look forward to working with?

Me and Buck just worked a lot. Of course Em, I always look forward to that. Luda, Tip, Killer Mike...Kanye, we're gonna work again...it's a whole gang, even though I already worked with Em and Dre, you still look forward to going to the studio with them. That's what's dope about working with them. It's refreshing, because everytime, you get something new. They always give you something that you can take home to try and improve yourself. Like Dre told me to "do this next time," so I'm gonna work on that to make my shit sound better. Or Marshall told me to ride the beat like this instead of like that...so I take that and implement it in the way I write.

Is there anything else you want to say to everyone reading this?

GMM is the squad, you understand that! Grown Men Music! Be on the lookout for everything that comes out of the Shady/Aftermath camp, Interscope, G-Unit. My album, "Statlanta," be on the lookout for that, and my mixtapes, "Atlanta Underground," volumes one, two, and three, they're all over the web, your bootlegger, your local liquor store...that's all I want to say. I appreciate y'all doing the interview, and if y'all aren't on HipHopGame.com, get the hell off the web because you don't know what the fuck is going on!
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[UKnowWhatItIs: welcome to my traps....game over]

thx

[Gotti......Xl]

Np^^

[Sikx]

GMM is future D12/G-Unit?

Im really looking forward to hear this album in future.

thx for interview

[Gangstauu]

wtf
LOL
I thought 50 cent & young buck were from the south too
LOOl
Dre worked wit em
sta quo gone crazzzy

[Code Blue]

Props. Stat Quo is dope as fuck. That "Dr. Dre Introduces The Future" freestyle is boooonkers.

[I`m Wayne Brady bitch!]

I agree with him on many parts here , too bad he  doesnt take his own advices