Stanley Bernard Benton (born July 24, 1978), better known as Stat Quo, is an American rapper and record producer. Benton worked his way to college and attended University of Florida, where he majored in economics and international business in 2000. He was contemplating law school, until veteran Southern rapper Scarface encouraged him to rap professionally. In February 2003, Stat Quo released his first installment of the Underground Atlanta Mixtapes and caught the attention of Aftermath Entertainment associate Mel-Man. When Stat Quo was in L.A. performing at Encore, Mel-Man invited him to Record One Studios where he met Dr. Dre. That night at Record One, Stat Quo recorded the song "The Future" with Dr. Dre and released it on the second volume of his Underground Atlanta mixtape in 2004. The tape made its way by a different route to Eminem and led to Stat Quo's record deal with Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment. Stat Quo is currently managing Lil Xan and Young Aspect. After 50 Cent, Stat Quo was the second and only other artist to date signed to both Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment; he became Dr. Dre and Eminem's newest protégé. Stat Quo was supposed to release his debut album, Statlanta, with Shady/Aftermath but, despite being made three different times, the album was never released by the labels. Statlanta was finally released in 2010 by Sha Money XL's label Dream Big Ventures. Stat Quo has continued his career in the entertainment industry by earning production and writing credits as well as release more studio albums and launching a record label called Blood Money Entertainment, with West Coast-based rapper The Game. Early life Stanley Benton was born in Thomasville Heights, a neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, at Grady Memorial Hospital. In his early life, he lived with his mother and grandmother. Benton started freestyle rapping at around the age of 12 with his cousin D. Later, his mother bought him a radio, and he would record himself rapping. In 1997, Benton started taking rap seriously, but continued with his education. Career 2003–2007: Aftermath Entertainment Stat Quo was discovered towards the end of 2003. Dr. Dre and Eminem individually learned of the Atlanta-based rapper via his Underground Atlanta mixtapes. After Eminem heard his music, he gained interest and passed it on to Dr. Dre, and a joint deal was reached, resulting in Stat Quo becoming signed to both Aftermath Entertainment and Shady