Today, July 24, is the birthday of Atlanta rapper Stat Quo, who now turns 40.

Born Stanley Benton in Atlanta, Ga., Stat had every intention of making the most of his education and becoming a lawyer until fellow rhymer and Geto Boy Scarface convinced him otherwise. When Stat decided to focus on the rap game full time, Eminem and Dr. Dre discovered the young MC through his Underground Atlanta mixtape series around 2003. They subsequently signed Stat to both Shady Records and Aftermath Records, making him only the second artist after 50 Cent to have that double contract.

Though Stat was riding high off the hype and had the talent to back it up, complications pushed back his debut album, Statlanta for almost a decade. After parting ways with Shady and Aftermath, Stat finally dropped Statlanta in 2010 under Sha Money's newly minted label, Dream Big Ventures.

In between working with Wiz Khalifa and creating the duo FUPM with Creekwater, Stat followed up his debut with ATLA: All This Life Allows, Vol. 1 in 2014. Earlier this year, the rapper answered fan questions on Facebook Live and told the story of how he got dropped from Aftermath Records after arguing with Em over a chorus.

Happy Birthday, Stat Quo!

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