Stat Quo: The Invisible Man

Quick history lesson for the youngn’s: The Invisible Man was a book written by H. G. Wells (Same dude that wrote War of The Worlds) in which a scientist named Griffin is able to successfully make his entire body invisible. Once he realizes that he can’t undo what he’s done he begins to lose his mind and go insane. Son in the book was basically a victim of his own genius. It was a classic book. I read it my senior year in high school not because it was assigned, but because like Ghost once said, “The older God put me on how to rock this. Maintain 360, Lord and live prosperous!”

I can see how Stat Quo might be able to relate to Griffin. Like G, Stat is a genius in his field. If put in the right hands, the material he creates in the lab can put the game on its ear. And like the invisible man, his genius is right in front of everyone’s face for all to see, but yet, it goes completely unnoticed. That’s enough to drive any man to the brink. And you know what they say, there’s a thin line between genius and insanity.

His genius can be heard in his flow and rhymes when he gets creative with joints like the piano key driven “Beast Out The Cage II,” “What Can I Do,” and the slow and melodic “Heaven,” where he states, “All I hear is you can’t help but grab/I’m right here lookin’ for the shit, but my bullshit nast/sometimes I spaz thinkin’ ‘bout my dad/and thinkin’ ‘bout my past and the friends that passed/I can’t help but be mad, happy and sad/frustrated, confused/paranoid, I’m glad—I went through what I went through when I was a lad/now I’m on cloud 9, hope I never crash.” How this man wasn’t on Def Poetry but Jewel was, is beyond me.

But to every Dr. Jekyll there’s a Mr. Hyde (or a Bobby-Chris Brown) and the insanity of this man is evident on joints like, “The Price Is Right” where the theme song to the popular game show is sampled and dude talks about what his life would be like if he sold out. But nothing in this world can drive a man to psychosis like a woman. Just ask Kurt Cobain, Owen Wilson and Lindsay Lohan (or Samantha Ronson?). I could only say Word when I heard “Swallow Me” and homie said, “Meet a bitch, fuck a bitch/maybe let my partner hit/that’s the motto/when I see my ex girl she gonna catch a bottle-to the face/she broke the windows out my car—it’s okay! She ain’t worth shit/I’ma dog and hit/she wanna be the new Superhead, silly trick…”

Without a doubt in my mind Stat has been the most consistent MC in the past year and change to continuously drop hot product. His past few mixtapes have been riddled with album worthy material and The Invisible Man is no different. He has an original yet versatile style that allows him to create a variety of music without getting boring. I hate repeating myself, but that’s the only way I can put it. I mean for real, the man’s nickname should be quality cause that’s the kind of music he brings to the table. The sad part is that Stat might be ahead of his time and his work won’t be appreciated until his mixtapes are removed from a time capsule… by aliens.-The Infamous O

Hottest Joint: “What Can I Do”

Weakest Joint: “Stylin”