Has anyone else in the game been killing it with quality mixtapes for the past year like Stat Quo has? One after another, he’s been dropping straight album-worthy material on every joint. You really have to sit back and wonder why he never got that big push from Shady Records. Like I said before, I slept on dude big time, but this past year he’s made me a believer in what Luda said when he rocked that shirt that read: "hip-hop ain’t dead, it moved to the south."

While mainstream rappers from NY and  LA are talking about Louis V swagger and whatnot, Stat’s spitting ish like, “What if money grew on trees, how high would we climb? I’m beyond this design, I’m so defined, I’m divine/I’m the tears of my generation, we tired of cryin’/not content with walkin’, we destined to be flyin’/on earth searchin’ for signs, Stat the young mind young minds/these niggas is rhymin’ some bullshit while hip-hop’s dyin’/right in front of our ears, God give us a sign/take the good with the bad, Lord knows I’m tryin’/lost souls need findin’/lazy niggas need grindin’/we all need remindin’ diamonds/lookin’ like coal but the beauty is behind it/with the right pressure you can find it… so find it!” (“Say You Will" Remix). Count how many jewels he dropped on that rhyme alone and you can ice out a bracelet and a few Jesus pieces.

On “Homage To Premier,” Focus sampled a few Preemo beats to craft a sound that Royce Da 5’9", Phonte and Stat just went in on and honored one of the greatest East Coast producers of all time. NY rappers should really feel stupid. That’s the second ATL dude (Check Luda’s “MVP”) and his peeps to recognize the genius of Chris Martin and y’all don’t even acknowledge the dude in your album credits. For shame! Taking things to a lighter note, Stat ripped a page out of Biggie’s book and went “Playa Hater” with the hook on “I Just Wanna” and made one of the most entertaining and comedic joints in a while.

When are rappers and hip-hop fans going to start to take notice that few rappers in the game have anything on Quo? His lyrical content has much more substance than what most of these rappers spend their whole careers throwing out there. The production, especially from Focus (“Pharmacy” & “Homage To Premier”) is an MC's dream and the style that Stat brings to the table is original and just a breath of fresh hip-hop air at times. I’m reviewing every Quo mixtape until y’all get the point: he’s that nucca right now-The Infamous

Hottest Joint: “Say You Will”

Weakest Joint: “Lovin’ The Sunshine”

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