Stat Quo | Main

Although his name may suggest the average or the norm, Shady/Aftermath Records' first southern artist is anything but. The Atlanta, Georgia native has the distinction of being the only artist besides 50 Cent directly signed by rap's reigning kings Dr. Dre and Eminem. Stat, who's real name is Stanley Benton, was introduced to Dre by former Aftermath Records producer Mel Man.

Mel Man heard Stat's demo and had been trying to track him down and after some light detective work he got Stat's phone number and gave the promising young MC a call. When Stat first received the call from Mel Man he assumed it was a prank and hung up the phone. Thankfully, Mel's persistence triumphed over Stat's skepticism and after the eighth call they met up so that Mel could sample his rap skills in person. That same day Stat met Dr. Dre, who expressed interest in signing him.

Although he had an offer from a living legend Stat's aggressive push didn't stop there. Intent on increasing his buzz, he headed to the famous Mixshow Power Summit in Puerto Rico. Without a change of clothes or a hotel room, Stat hit the Summit distributing as many CDs as possible to established DJs and artists.

He would eventually end up meeting with five different labels before Eminem got the CD and called to negotiate a contract. Now after much preparation Stat has readied his debut album Statlanta. The star-studded LP features appearances by Scarface, Devin the Dude, Young Buck and Eminem and production by Scott Storch, Eminem and Dr. Dre.