Forget about everything you think you know about Southern rap and open your ears to the new sound of the A-Town. “Everything I do is different from what’s going on right now,” says Stat Quo matter-of-factly. And Shady/Aftermath’s newest recruit isn’t just blowing hot air. Although his name may suggest the average, Shady/Aftermath Records’ first southern artist is anything but. “A lot of these artists are just clones of what’s come before,” says Stat from under the brim of his signature Braves fitted cap. “But I don’t sound like anybody, especially [anyone] out the south. Period. I’m setting the new bar. I’m the way things should be.” Ain’t that the truth? If only every new artist could spit and sound like Stat—mixing style and substance into a mean brew that’ll force you to rearrange your thinking about southern rap. And if only every rapper was blessed with Stat’s distinctive flow (even folks in East Atlanta think his accent is unique), then you might be able to find folks on posse cuts as easily as you can hear Stat shine in any crowd. And if only everybody had to impress Eminem and Dr. Dre just to get a deal. “Just being around the two of them, you can’t buy that experience,” says Stat. “Eminem will just give you those little techniques on putting words together, and you’ll be like, damn, I can literally make orange rhyme with purple. And then you fuck with Dre… and Dre, man, he just takes what you do to a whole ’nother level.” Eminem plus Dr. Dre is definitely one vicious combo, just ask 50 Cent, the only other artist besides Stat directly signed to the rap’s reigning kings. One listen to Stat Quo’s impressive debut, Statlanta, and it’ll quickly become clear why both Em and Dre felt they had to be involved in the project. From the frenetic thump of this spring’s hottest street single, “Like Dat,” to the dark DJ Toomp produced anthem, “I’m Livin’,” Statlanta is packed with enough Southern heat to melt the polar cap. And Statlanta’s appeal stretches way beyond the Georgia State. With appearances by Scarface, Devin the Dude, Young Buck and Eminem, plus production by Scott Storch, Eminem and Dr. Dre. Stat’s debut is sure to have heads buzzing from Bankhead to Brooklyn and beyond. “Motherfuckers just be making songs, not albums,” says Stat. “But an author doesn’t write a book and chapter one don’t have shit to do with chapter 12. An album has to be a journey, it has to have a storyline and it all has to correlate.” And Stat Quo definitely got a story to tell. Atlanta born and bred, he’s seen all sides of his red hot hometown, so whether it’s breaking down the traps (song-tk) or making the girls in the club get low (“Like Dat”), Stat’s got it covered. But there’s more to Stat than stuntin and flossin’. The college grad (Stat earned a double major in international business and economics from the University of Florida in 2000) can help those with their money on their mind get their mind right (song-TK), and explore emotional depths that few MCs would touch (“Thirty Minutes”). And with an ear finely tuned by a vast catalog of rap classic – “I grew up on Outkast, 8Ball & MJG, UGK, Scarface, plus Wu-Tang, Nas and the whole Death Row movement, back when everybody was popping on all cylinders,” he says – and with Dre and Em behind him, the stage is set, not just for a classic debut, but for a legendary career. Such versatility is all part of Stat Quo’s master plan. “When people think about lyricists in the South, I want my name to come to their head,” he says. “And not just when they think about the South, but lyricists period. When people say who the best damn rappers period, I want motherfuckas to say my name.” So, what you really know about the Dirty South?