CFCF’s Mike Silver remade Fleetwood Mac’s “Big Love” for his debut album Continent (he seems to like the covers and reworkings game). Ontario’s Mathemagic put on their own layered, echo-y harmonies in their remix, to bring “Big Love” to a new, far warmer and laid-back place. Perhaps one that looks like their other, summery press […]
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CFCF – “Big Love (Mathemagic Remix)”
Posted on 12 March 2010
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Michael Lynche Profile: ‘Idol’ Finalist ‘Plans On Being Around For A Long Time’
Posted on 12 March 2010
‘American Idol’ Top 12 cheat sheet looks at Lynche’s strengths and weaknesses.
By Jim Cantiello
Michael Lynche at the “American Idol” top 12 party
Photo: Jesse Grant/ WireImage
On Thursday night, “American Idol” revealed its Top 12 finalists for the ninth season of the hit show. MTV News “Idol” expert Jim Cantiello whipped up a handy cheat sheet for each finalist, breaking down each candidate’s journey thus far. He also got the “Idol” hopefuls to weigh in when he caught up with them at Thursday night’s Top 12 Party in Hollywood.
Michael Lynche
Michael “Big Mike” Lynche is like a cross between season three’s goofball Matt Rogers and the Velvet Teddy Bear, Ruben Studdard. On steroids. Not literally, since Big Mike is a personal trainer, not a juice-taker. As far as we know.
Best Performance: Big Mike’s a rare example of an “Idol” contestant who shines brighter without an instrument. A confident take on James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World” was entertaining, but his go-for-broke version of Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work,” which moved Kara DioGuardi to tears, was a game changer.
Weakest Performance: Week one’s Jason Mraz impression didn’t win him any fans. He sang “I’m Yours” but he wasn’t ours. Not by a mile.
Tragic Backstory: Big Mike’s wife went into labor with their first child during Hollywood Week. Extended phone call montages and conversations about her birth canal followed. We’re not sure who will need more therapy: his daughter, whose birth her dad missed because he was auditioning for a televised karaoke competition, or his wife, whose birth was documented in eye-opening detail by “Idol” cameras.
Why He Will Win: Big Mike has a fun nickname, a newborn baby and a charming personality. Ellen DeGeneres deemed him the one to beat this week. If he continues to pick smart songs, he could muscle his way into the finale.
Why He Will Lose: He’s likable, but in a TV host kind of way, not an “I wanna run out and buy that guy’s album” kind of way.
What He Should Sing: Mike’s personal goal should be to make every single judge cry at least once this season. We know Simon’s mourning the loss of his dad. If Lynche turned John Lennon’s “Mother” into a soul tour de force, Cowell would lose it.
On Being Called “The One To Beat” By Ellen: “I think it’s way too early for anybody to be ‘the one to beat,’ ” Lynche said. “It’s a long season. I plan on being around for a long time, so you can’t take any of that stuff to heart, negative or positive.”
Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
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Broken Bells Bring Out “The Ghost Inside” For Fallon
Posted on 12 March 2010
They did “The High Road” for David Letterman on Tuesday, but last night’s performance on Late Night was more exciting, because you got to hear James Mercer stretch his falsetto muscles. Both “The High Road” and “The Ghost Inside” amble along at mid-tempo, but the latter has better points of interest: multiple keyboard hooks, drum […]
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Todrick Hall Was Planning To Dance On ‘American Idol’ Next Week
Posted on 12 March 2010
‘I was going to be the first contestant to actually do a dance break,’ he says.
By Katie Byrne
Todrick Hall performs on “American Idol”
Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images
Todrick Hall stumbled a bit during his first “American Idol” live performances, but he seemed to hit his stride with a bombastic version of Queen’s “Somebody to Love” this week.
Unfortunately, the “Idol” viewers repaid him by sending him on his way Thursday night, along with Lilly Scott, Alex Lambert and Katelyn Epperly. We caught up with Hall on Friday (March 12) to talk about why he was eliminated, how he got sucked into the rumor mill and what’s next.
Q: Were you surprised to be eliminated after your best live performance?
A: I feel like I should have done that a couple weeks earlier. The problem is, I’m an African-American male, as you call tell from watching me on TV. [Laughs.] … I got so many messages saying, “Sing Usher. Sing Chris Brown. Sing Brian McKnight. Sing Ne-Yo, Stevie Wonder, any black artist basically that you can sing, because that’s your demographic.” But that’s not the kind of music that I want to sing, so I’m happy that I stayed true to myself, but I kinda feel if I had just sang the cookie-cutter songs that people would have expected me to do and not gone so far out there with the clothes and the performing and would have just been a normal guy that got up there and sang semi-decent, I feel like I would have done better. But I’m happy that I stayed true to myself, because I think that is the most important. I would not have been happy doing anything else.
Q: Do you think your theater background worked against you on the show?
A: I do honestly feel that way, and it’s said to say, but when people know certain things about you, it’s kinda hard to shake those things. But I just told someone today that I feel if Lady Gaga, who is one of the most successful artists out right now, if she was on “American Idol,” I don’t think that they would have good things to say about her. … I do think that they want you to be out of the box and they kept telling me that I was changing things too much, but I would hear them tell people they’re not changing enough and not making it their own. You have to try and find that line of when is it not changing it too much and when is it being too cookie-cutter and being a karaoke version, which sometimes they’re OK with and sometimes they’re not. I feel like I was true to myself, and I feel I’ll be rewarded for being different in the end.
Q: What did you do after your elimination?
A: I just took a deep breath and thought, “What do I do next? Pick yourself up.” I’ve grown up in theater, and I always know there are no’s. … I was more concerned about Alex and some of the people who had not necessarily gone through this.
Q: There have been a lot of online reports about you being involved in a scam surrounding “Oz, the Musical.” Can you explain that?
A: I’m so glad that I can talk about it now. It wasn’t a good time to talk about it when I was on “American Idol,” because I just needed to focus on the show, but I do want everybody to know, I’m not a scam artist. I am a nice person. No 23-year-old that I know in the history of the world has ever had to put on a show, and I think if they think about that, they’ll realize I’m just an ambitious kid that got wrapped up with a producer that didn’t really know what he was doing. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I allowed my name to be attached to it, but I’m gonna get on the phone on Monday and hopefully call a lot of those people, because I do want to go there, and I love kids, and I wouldn’t want people to think negatively of me in that way, and I think the show is going to happen again and that we’ll be able to fix that situation. And there won’t be no more negative press. Just for the record, I was just the writer and director/choreographer. I did not produce that show. I never had any of that money. I never dealt with any of the money side of the show.
Q: Did you know what you would sing for the Rolling Stones theme week?
A: I was gonna sing “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” I was gonna dance for the very first time. They kept yelling at me for dancing, then Ellen, the very last week, said, “I think you should dance,” so I was going to be the first contestant to actually do a dance break, like Crystal Bowersox does her harmonica type of thing and the guitar and people have beatboxed. But no one ever danced, and I was looking forward to doing that.
Were you sad to see Todrick go? Will you listen to his post-”Idol” music? Let us know!
Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
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Alex Lambert Says ‘American Idol’ Stage Fright Was ‘All In My Head’
Posted on 12 March 2010
He also addresses Ellen’s metaphors: ‘I probably won’t be able to look at a banana the same way.’
By Katie Byrne
Alex Lambert performs on “American Idol”
Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images
While Alex Lambert’s nerves got the best of him during his early “American Idol” performances, the singer seemed to be getting on the right track, choosing perfect-fit songs by Ray LaMontagne and John Legend.
Unfortunately, Lambert fell victim to Thursday’s shocking results night and didn’t quite make the top 12. We caught up with him Friday (March 12) to talk about his surprise elimination, what’s next and much more.
Q: After you were eliminated, you said that you had more to show America. What did you mean by that?
A: When I said I want to break out of my shell and show America what I can do, man, honestly, every time I got up there, I couldn’t even sing my best because I was so nervous, and I have a whole series of songs that I can sing that sound so much better than singing on the show. I don’t regret anything, because it’s the beginning of my career. I have never really been onstage before, so I think I did great for not having any experience.
Q: Do you think you’ll be able to get past the nerves and have a music career?
A: I feel like I’m already past it. I feel like I just needed a few more weeks of just having a little bit more experience on that stage. … It wasn’t a nerve thing, because I would get up there and be comfortable and it felt right, but I didn’t know how to look at the camera. I didn’t know how to interact with the audience, because I had never done it before. I mean, definitely, it’s something that I’ll easily be able to get past.
Q: Did you get a chance to talk to the judges after the show?
A: They talked to me, and they pretty much told me that I need more experience. And it’s true, but I felt like, vocally, it was my time. … I didn’t have enough experience on the stage is pretty much what they were telling me. They all know I have a good voice, and they told me I had a lot of future ahead of me.
Q: The judges have made a big deal about the contestants knowing what kind of artist they want to be. Do you know?
A: I know exactly what kind of artist I want to be. I really would like to do a bunch of acoustic stuff and I would also like some R&B tracks — a whole bunch of different stuff. I know my voice and what I can and cannot do, and I know what would sound good on what, and I believe that I could sound good on not only one genre of music; I could put it on anything.
Q: What helped you through the nerves? Did the judges help or your friends or …
A: I would say it was all me. The only person who was going to help me overcome my nervousness and my stage fright was me, and it was all in my head. I could have gone up there and had a great performance, but in my head, I was thinking to nail the song vocally, and I wasn’t really worried about performing, I guess. I never thought that the show was so much of a performing show as a singing competition. I had it in my head so much, like, “I want my vocals to be so much better than everyone else’s.” And I guess that’s all. I lost track of the fact that this is a TV show.
Q: When the show came back from commercial after you were eliminated, things looked pretty emotional. What was going on?
A: A lot of people were talking to me and, yeah, it was emotional, because a lot of people weren’t expecting the people that went home to go home. There’s people in the top 12 that everyone thought was going home, and then when they found out it was me, that whole day I was nervous, and people were like, “Dude, why are you nervous? You have no reason to be nervous. You’re going to be here.” And then when I got cut, they were just like, “What?!?” And a lot of people that were upset were like, “I made it and he didn’t?”
Q: Do you think if you’d made it to the top 12 you would have been encouraged to cut off your mullet?
A: [Laughs.] The stylists have already asked me if I wanted to cut it. I mean, even if they did tell me to — yeah, they probably would want me to cut it, but I wouldn’t let them cut it. I wouldn’t ever let them cut my mullet.
Q: What did you think of Ellen’s constant banana metaphors?
A: [Laughs.] Well, I mean, I know it’s all for entertainment, but it does make sense, I guess. I mean, I probably won’t be able to look at a banana the same way.
Were you sad to see Alex go? Will you listen to his post-”Idol” music? Let us know!
Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
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Jay-Z Shouts Out Notorious B.I.G. During Nets Groundbreaking Event
Posted on 12 March 2010
‘We did it again, Brooklyn,’ Jay says in reference to Biggie’s Source Awards speeches.
By Shaheem Reid
Leave it to Jay-Z. On Thursday, Hov was in Brooklyn at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Barclays Center, the future home of the New Jersey Nets, the NBA team he co-owns. When it was Jay’s time to speak, not only did he tell the crowd — which included Beyoncé, the Reverend Al Sharpton and the mayor and governor of New York — about the realizations of his own dreams, but Jigga also shouted out the other half of “Brooklyn’s Finest.”
“What I stand here and represent is hope for Brooklyn, New York City. I’m a son of Brooklyn, I’m from Marcy projects,” Jay said. “I think about growing up in Brooklyn in the Marcy projects and shooting jump shots, thinking I can make it to the NBA. Now I stand here as an owner of a team that’s coming back to Brooklyn. The pride in that, and bringing that dream so much closer for people, brings me so much pride I get a little nervous about it. But I’m very happy, very excited about this day. And we did it again, Brooklyn — shout-out to [Notorious] B.I.G.”
The tail end of Jay’s speech hearkened back to the 1995 Source Awards, where Biggie shouted out Brooklyn during his multiple acceptance speeches. After Jodeci presented him with Album of the Year, Big — wearing a white towel on his head — and a horde of others came onstage to address the crowd.
“I wanna give mad love to my daughter, my moms, my manager, Gucci, my wife,” he said. “We did it, Brooklyn. We did it. All them sh–. [I won] all of them [awards]. One love to all y’all mutha—-as.”
The Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down in Los Angeles 13 years ago Tuesday.
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Lady Gaga Talks Hidden Meanings In Epic ‘Telephone’ Clip
Posted on 12 March 2010
Gaga said jailhouse heat video worked because she and Beyonce ‘both like women.’
By Gil Kaufman
Lady Gaga in “Telephone”
Photo: Interscope Records
Lady Gaga wears a series of barely there outfits in the nine-and-a-half minute video for “Telephone” that debuted on Thursday night, including one that’s no more than discretely applied electrical tape and a pair of torn fishnets. But the singer said despite the acres of provocative flesh (not to mention copious product placement) on display in the “Thelma and Louise”-style revenge fantasy co-starring Beyoncé, her aim, as always, is to embed some deeper, less obvious meaning in her videos.
“There’s certainly always a hidden message in my music videos,” Gaga told E! News in a sit-down during which she wore her signature round sunglasses and a lingerie-like black leather and lace bodysuit. “But I would say most predominately, I’m always trying to convolute everyone’s idea of what a pop music video should be.”
After hooking up with Beyoncé on the set of “Video Phone,” Gaga said she was excited to re-team with the R&B diva, who shows of a more foul-mouthed, edgier persona in the clip than she has in the past, including the pivotal scene in which she poisons co-star Tyrese Gibson and calls him a compound nasty name. “We had an amazing time working together on her video and it just kind of works out because we both like women,” Gaga said provocatively of the “Telephone” clip, the first half of which takes place in the sexiest/scariest women’s prison on the planet.
Gaga also explained how the infamous “Pussy Wagon” from Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill Vol. 1″ ended up making a very prominent cameo. “We were having lunch one day in Los Angeles and I was telling him about my concept for the video and he said, ‘You gotta use the Pussy Wagon!,’ ” she said of the director’s reaction to the pulpy look and feel of the video.
“There was this really amazing quality in ‘Paparazzi,’ where it kind of had this pure pop music quality but at the same time it was a little bit of commentary on fame culture,” she said of her first hook-up with director Jonas Åkerlund, who also helmed the “Telephone” mini-movie. “I wanted to do the same thing with this video — take a decidedly pop song, which on the surface has a quite shallow meaning, and turn it into something deeper: the idea that America is full of young people that are inundated with information and technology and turn it into something that is more of a commentary on the kind of country that we are.”
What do you think of Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video? Let us know in the comments below!
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Lupe Fiasco Reaches Out To Jay Electronica, Explains Jay-Z Comment
Posted on 12 March 2010
‘Everybody thinks because you’re black and you’re from the ‘hood, you wanna be Jay-Z,’ Lu tells Mixtape Daily.
By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by James Montgomery
Lupe Fiasco
Photo: Atlantic
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Please respect our exclusive game. Just a couple of weeks ago, we told you how one of the underground’s favorites, Jay Electronica, said he wanted to make an album with Lupe Fiasco. He also said he wanted to go in on projects with Nas, Mos Def and a slew of others, but who’s counting?
On Wednesday night in Manhattan, Lupe popped up on the red carpet for the MTV documentary “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro,” which airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. Not only did Lu say he was down with collaborating with Jay, he’s initiating things.
“I reached out to him a couple of days ago with some real serious ideas,” Lupe said. ” ‘Let’s put a program together. Something that works out and makes sense for the both of us.’ He’s a very talented MC. One of the few MCs that I actually listen to what they’re saying. I don’t listen to 98 percent of the rappers out there. But he’s one of the MCs I listen to and I’m inspired to do so. A collaboration is in the works.”
Lupe also clarified the comments he made to TheAge.com, when he said he did not want to be like Jay-Z.
“There’s a misunderstanding with my fanbase,” The Age quoted him as saying. ”People [at Warner] feel they know my fans more than I do. They want me to step out of my comfort zone and step into theirs. I don’t have necessarily the celebrity success they want me to have, but it’s more social success and being able to speak at a college about world affairs. That’s a success to me. I don’t want to be Jay-Z and be worth $400 million and perform on every awards show. It’s getting in touch with somebody who needs to improve their self-esteem as opposed to driving a Bentley and putting some chains on.”
Lupe told us he didn’t mean any malice toward Jigga but was speaking up for individuality.
“Jay-Z’s a personal friend of mine. [He] executive-produced my first album,” Fiasco said. “[My comments were] just an example using him of how people rate success. There’s an idea of the status quo that every rapper wants to be Jay-Z. Nah. Every rapper does not want to be Jay-Z. Every rapper don’t wanna be Kanye West. Everybody don’t wanna be Lil Wayne. They wanna be who they are. … You’re a fool trying to chase that success down and manage it like that. I always look at my success as further than a dollar sign, further than record sales. … Everybody thinks because you’re black and you’re from the ‘hood, you wanna be Jay-Z. There’s kids who wanna be astrophysicists and don’t care about rap. That should be OK. You should be OK just being you, working your regular job and being happy. That’s why I made that statement. I felt it need to be said.”
Don’t miss “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro,” airing Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. And find out what you can do to help solve the global water crisis now at the “Summit on the Summit” Web site.
For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.
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Lilly Scott Trades ‘American Idol’ For ‘Indie Cred’
Posted on 12 March 2010
‘It was just my time to go out with a bang,’ she says.
Lilly Scott performs on “American Idol”
Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images
Lilly Scott’s name was often mentioned in the same breath as Crystal Bowersox’s as this year’s “American Idol” female powerhouses. Looks like Crystal has that title to herself now.
Scott seemingly had a ticket to the top 12 with her well-received take on Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces” and the coveted final performance slot, but her “Idol” journey came to an end, along with Alex Lambert, Katelyn Epperly and Todrick Hall, during Thursday’s shocking results show.
We caught up with Scott on Friday (March 12) to talk about her surprise elimination, what’s next and much more.
Q: After you were eliminated, you made it clear that you were frustrated. What was going through your mind?
A: Originally, trying out, I really just wanted to kind of break the mold and just kinda be that offbeat contestant that did exactly what I wanted to do. … I definitely have no regrets in that department. But just kind of watching certain people make it into the top 12 that have not done so well over the past three weeks and then based on the judges’ comments on my three songs the past three weeks, I was just kinda frustrated, just kinda feeling like my fanbase wasn’t really there, even though the judges and producers seemed to love me. I was feeling like I had a great run on the show. So I guess my fans weren’t there. So I guess that’s why I said, “I don’t know what America wants to listen to.” But then again, my voting demographic is probably more of the underground scene who probably doesn’t even own a TV, and if they do, they’re probably out riding their bike or doing something more productive than watching TV, let alone “American Idol.” I guess they just weren’t voting and that definitely was my falter.
Q: Do you think singing the 50-year-old song “I Fall to Pieces” had anything to do with your downfall?
A: I picked that song because I love Patsy Cline. It really describes who I want to be as an artist. But, then again, the “American Idol” voting demographic is probably mostly tweens, and I’m sure they don’t know who Patsy Cline is. So that probably affected me. But I’m staying true to my song choices and I’m definitely having no regrets. I just feel like maybe my fanbase and the audience I was playing to, which is the underground market, literally wasn’t watching the show and just supporting me in their hearts and not actually voting, and there’s the whole deal of maybe people just assumed I was safe and chose not to vote. Obviously, I really have no idea what happened, though.
Q: Did you expect to go home this early?
A: I did and I didn’t. In the past years I have watched “American Idol,” and it seems like every year, the person that I fall in love with goes home. And if that’s because I see true artistry in that contestant or I don’t know what it is, but I definitely feel like I got cut early. I knew that I could have done a great job next week with Rolling Stones, and I knew I could of really kicked butt in the top 12, but maybe I was just too off the wall for people or it was just my time to go out with a bang so I can still keep my indie cred [and] kind of do my own thing without having the “American Idol” label over my head.
Q: Do you know how close the vote was on Thursday?
A: No, they really don’t let us know any of that stuff. It’s actually really unfortunate, because I’m one to think, “Screw the establishment!” But I definitely would love to know the statistics. I don’t want to think anything was rigged, but I would also like to know how many votes I really had.
Q: Who would be your dream collaborators?
A: I would love to meet Thom Yorke from Radiohead and people like Björk, just really like the king and queen of the indie world. They’re really who I kinda strive to be like as an artist, and their fanbase is so huge, and they’re so respected as artists. Just every album they put out, I would love to collaborate with someone like them.
Q: Did you ever consider singing songs by those artists instead of older choices?
A: I definitely considered that, but in a way, the producers swayed me against doing songs like that, because they’re almost less well-known than people like Sam Cooke and Patsy Cline. … I mean, they’re 100 percent well-known to me, but I actually did try to do “Nude” by Radiohead — which is their top-charting song, more than “Paranoid Android” or older songs — so that didn’t get cleared. I just figured, I love classic rock, and I’m going to try to make that my niche this season, but unfortunately, indie underground music isn’t really ready for the big breakthrough, and I think that was kind of reaffirmed last night by me getting voted off, that America may still not be ready to have that kind of music in the mainstream.
Q: What do you see yourself doing in the music business now?
A: I definitely feel like I would fit in the big film and festival circuit doing things like Coachella and Bonnaroo and really just doing some mass touring. I know that I can have a whole entire different kind of audience coming out to shows if I did tour. Recording is definitely on my list of things to do. I know there’s a fanbase out there for me that is loving what I’m doing .I just don’t necessarily think that would be the “American Idol” voting demographic, so that’s kinda what I worried about. Day one of being on the show, I thought I could break the mold, but I guess it’s another season of the same old stuff. [Laughs.]
Were you sad to see Lilly go? Will you listen to her post-”Idol” music? Let us know!
Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
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Stat Quo Working With Dr. Dre On Detox, Readying Own Album
Posted on 12 March 2010
‘It’s definitely gonna come out,’ Atlanta MC says of Dre’s long-awaited opus.
By Shaheem Reid, with reporting by Matt Elias
Stat Quo
Photo: MTV News
Stat Quo says he doesn’t know exactly when, but Dr. Dre is definitely going to drop Detox. It’s not a myth. Stat has been writing on the project for several months.
“It’s definitely gonna come out,” the Atlanta native said of Dre’s long-awaited project. “I always said it was gonna come out in 2010 light years ago. I also at one point thought it would never come out. Being around Dre and the energy that’s being created, all I can say is that it’s incredible. It’s totally left-field from what’s going on — I really appreciate what he’s doing as an artist. Even though from the outside looking in, if I’m other people, I’ll be like, ‘What’s taking him so long?’ But it’s gonna be worth every second, every hour, every minute. Every week, every year we waited for the album.
“The songs I’ve heard since I’ve been around are all really special,” he continued. “It’s so important to hip-hop that this record comes. It’s our saving grace. A lot of the radio stations are going rhythmic and going away from certain types of urban music. You can only go to contemporary stations to get certain soul-type music. The whole platform is changing. An album like his can bring a boost to the music that’s going on.”
Well, at least we know that Dre is busy. Stat appears in Dr. Dre’s new Hewlett-Packard commercial — in the short, Dre is at the boards producing while Stat is in the vocal booth. Quo’s fans have been waiting for him to put out his debut almost as long as Dr. Dre’s followers have been anticipating Detox. Stat signed to Shady/Aftermath around the same time as 50 Cent, watching while 50 Cent put out an album and waited while G-Unit commandos Tony Yayo, Young Buck, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck dropped. When he was finally on deck in 2007, plans for his LP were squelched once again.
“When it was time to put a record out, the powers that be [at Interscope] that keeps the lights on at the company was like, ‘We need either a 50 Cent or a Dr. Dre or an Eminem record,” Stat said. “So I had to make the decision: ‘OK, it’s time to leave.’ We parted on good terms. Initially when I first left, I was upset because I wanted to put my album out under that umbrella. At the end of the day, my relationships with Dre and Em is still intact and it’s all good.”
Last year, Stat inked a deal with former G-Unit executive and producer Sha Money XL’s Dream Big Ventures imprint. His album Statlanta is due in May. The first single is “Success” and on the ditty, Stat raps from the perspective of success being his girl.
“For me, it’s a situation of, you start a journey,” he explained. “This album is my odyssey. It’s like I’m finally completing it and putting it out. People are like, ‘You been working on this album for seven years.’ I’ve made this album, like, four or five times. When I first signed to Shady/Aftermath, it had one particular vibe then I worked with Em, and the vibe changed. Then I worked with Dre and the vibe changed again. Then when I left Shady/Aftermath I made another album thinking I was gonna go to another major, the vibe was different at that point. When I hooked up with Sha and the Dream Big thing, the vibed changed again. This is the vibe you getting now. So Statlanta has been made seven, eight times. I got a bunch of old Statlantas, but I have to make the music more relevant to what I have going on at this particular time. Times changed.”
Stat says his LP will depict what’s going on in is life right now.
“This album — I had to look at the game and what’s going on in music,” he offered. “It’s a lot of people complaining. I think too many artists are trying to fit into boxes and lanes that don’t fit their personalities. If you’re a 31-year-old male or female, you shouldn’t be rapping about what a 16-year-old male or female is going through — unless you’re trying to enlighten them on a perspective of ‘I’ve been where you’ve been.’ But ‘I’mma drop my booty low and make music they’re excited about,’ that’s not really your life. You look like the old dude in the club. That’s just not hot. This [album], I wrote it from a standpoint of what I was going through in my life and the struggles that not only I’ve been through, but the people around me have been going through.”
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