Stat Quo
w/Eminem, 50 Cent, guests (Anger Management Tour III)
Mon July 17, White River Amphitheatre, 7 pm, $39–$73, all ages.
They say you gotta have a gimmick, but Atlanta rapper Stat Quo (AKA Stanley Benton, 27) disagrees. He was signed just last year to Shady/Aftermath—Eminem and Dr. Dre's labels, also home to 50 Cent—and everyone wants to know why.
"I've had people come up to me and be like, 'What's your story, man? You haven't gotten shot,'" he says. "My story is, I'm a human being! What the fuck you talking about? That's my story. I'm a human being that goes through shit like every other human being. No, I haven't been shot! And if that's a prerequisite to sell records, I don't wanna sell 'em, okay? Period."
Even more than a rapper, Stat Quo is a businessman, educated both on the streets and in the classroom. Despite moving around Atlanta as a child and having a typically rough upbringing, he still went to college and isn't shy about sharing his knowledge.
"I don't hide the fact that I went to school," says the University of Florida graduate. "I'm proud of that. Motherfuckers out the hood don't do that. I've always prided myself on being different. Looking at me and where I came from and what I've been through, the fact that I went to college, that shows how much of a hustler I am."
Applying his degree in finance, Stat planned to thoroughly study the music business in order to conquer it. He set himself apart from sizable rapping competition in Atlanta (and snagged his deal) by releasing his own Underground Atlanta mix-tape series of freestyles and original songs. In a marketplace largely dominated by DJ-helmed mix tapes, his instantly stood out from the pack. Here he was, rapping over some of the most popular beats from other artists, and embarrassing them with his superior wisecracks and declarations. His original songs held their own too, both in terms of the beats and the rhymes. By the time Vol. 3 rolled out last summer, Stat had already attracted the attention of people like Kanye West, who collaborated with him on "Ooh Drama" for that installment.
Those who catch Stat on his debut tour—which happens to be Em and 50's Anger Management Tour, also featuring Lil Jon, D12, Pitbull, and Obie Trice—will get a chance to hear why he's rolling with this crew. He's devoid of platinum teeth, catch phrases, or a bullet-riddled past, but he is equipped with a powerhouse voice and punch lines that slip life lessons in between the boisterous party sounds. For example, in last year's "Problems" (his first promotional single for Shady/Aftermath), he offers cautionary words over fierce minor key chords and almost militaristic beats: "Can't nobody tell you what getting killed feels like... they don't make bulletproof vests for your face!"
"I'm telling people [advice] in a playful way and you think it's just being crunk," he explains. "But when you sit down and listen to it you're like, damn, he's really telling us a message right now: Let's not get that $80,000 chain when we can't even pay our month-to-month rent." Of course, he's not all message, all the time: Stat's latest release, "Like Dat," is a fairly straightforward crunk jam tailored toward the strip clubs. If the track contains any deeper meaning or lesson, it's yet to be revealed.
Although Stat's keeping most of his upcoming debut album, Statlanta (due out after the tour finishes its rounds internationally), under wraps, he mentions a few heavyweight producers (Em, Dre, Lil Jon) and guests (Dirty South pioneers Scarface and Three 6 Mafia) that made the cut. No matter how many prominent names stack the credits, though, the main focus will be to showcase a rapper who's on the level. Stat loathes the often purposeless and conspicuous consumption that popular music seems obsessed with even as he craves the celebrity status.
"It's all a façade. It's all imaging. Tom Cruise doesn't wear a big, clunky chain on his neck, but you know Tom Cruise is rich as fuck," he says. "And that's the shit I want. Dr. Dre don't wear no big clunky chain, Em doesn't either. I shine as an individual. I am a fuckin' chain! My body is a chain. I don't need all the other extremities to make myself stand out." â–
Read more about Stat Quo in Tamara Palmer's new book, Country Fried Soul: Adventures in Dirty South Hip-Hop (Backbeat Books).
