Big Stat No Longer Hushh-ed

It has been said that the road to success is a long and winding one. Enfield emcee Big Stat has certainly seen his fair share of obstacle on his. From having to deal with the murder of his mother when he was only 12 years old, to coming to the decision that he had to dissolve Hushh, the group he spent the past half decade building, and split from his musical partner and best friend, Diadem.

“It wasn’t just a decision I made overnight,” Big Stat says of going solo, “it was difficult, but down in my heart I knew it was the right decision for myself.” He adds that despite the breakup of the group, “there’s no beef, but as friends and artists we just went separate ways.”

To see how extensive Big Stat’s journey has been one only needs to look at the odometer of his 1998 Subaru Impreza Outback. It had 80,000 miles on it when he bought it a little over two years ago. Today the meter reads a shade over 190,000. The excessive mileage is due in part to Big Stat’s interesting idea of what “close” is. Enfield is on the border of Massachusetts, but he still refers to New York City, a place he frequents, as “down the street.” A street that just happens to be three hours long.

In addition to all the miles, Big Stat’s car has seen an impressive array of passengers. One of his friends suggested he have all the famous people who’ve been in it, a list that includes Method Man and Canibus, autograph it so he can sell it on ebay. “I’ve grinded so hard in this car, I’ve done so much. I told Canibus that and he was like ‘man, it’s a Subaru, you can drive this thing to the moon and back!’” The moon might be a stretch, but Big Stat has driven it just about everywhere else, including down to Miami for a trip where he credits being pulled over in Georgia for speeding as the sole reason he didn’t end up in the middle of a hurricane.

If you’re beginning to think Big Stat’s life sounds like something out of a movie you’re not the only one, filmmakers Mark Covino and John Kane agree. The duo have been filming both Big Stat and Dia for the past two years. “Even though the group split apart they’ve been following us separately,” Big Stat explains, “they’re doing a great job doing a documentary on what it takes to be in the industry and make it; the ups and downs, losing friends. We have Rakim in it, Chuck D, Green Lantern, Method Man, Redman, a bunch of people.” The one thing they don’t have, however, is an ending. “What they’re gonna do is keep filming until either Dia or I pretty much become successful in the music industry.”

One of the many interesting aspects of Big Stat’s life they’ve been documenting is his close friendship with Wu-Tang Clan legend Method Man. It’s a friendship that, according to Big Stat, got off to an inauspicious start. “I first met Method Man about eight years ago at a Wendy’s in Hartford,” he remembers, “I went up to him and started rhyming and he walked away from me.” Big Stat’s hustle, however, made all the difference in the world, as many of the miles he’s racked up have been to network at concerts and it just so happened quite a few of the shows he ended up at featured Method Man. “I became really good friends with his manager, Seven. I call him uncle Seven, we’re like family. I kept in touch with Meth and Seven and eventually we grew a tight relationship. We had a lot of the same views on Hip-Hop and he respected my grind. He knew that every time I chilled with him until four in the morning that I had to be at work at six and that I would drive home and go straight to work.” One thing Method Man didn’t realize, however, was that Big Stat had skills on the mic.

“Meth just thought I was Dia’s manager up until January of 2008.” It was at that point that Big Stat decided it was time to rhyme for him again. “He went bonkers. He said ‘how come you never told me you spit?’ and I was like ‘I rhymed for you when I was like 16 at a Wendy’s in Hartford and you walked away from me.’ He just started laughing. He was like ‘I don’t even remember that.’”

Soon enough everyone will know Big Stat’s status as an elite emcee. He just wrapped up doing the last handful of dates of Method Man and Redman’s tour and he may be featured on their next tour, as well. Big Stat is also finishing up a mixtape titled Don’t Quit Your Day Job that is scheduled to be released in March and will be hosted by Redman, as well as a currently untitled album that he hopes to shop to labels. Musically these projects will be a departure from Big Stat’s work with Hushh as he’s working with a number of artists from overseas and even an acoustic guitarist. Production on the album includes tracks by Ralphie-O and Young Cee, the latter being a producer who’s worked with Little Brother and Scarface.

Since networking has been the backbone of everything Big Stat’s done he’s decided to bring some of that hustle to Connecticut in the form of a monthly event for producers. On the last Sunday of every month he hosts the get together at Vibz Uptown in Hartford. This month will feature Canibus’ producer, Puerto Roc, and the creator the M.O.P. classic “Ante Up,” DR Period.

In an illustration of hard work paying off, after over half a decade of traveling anywhere and everywhere just to make a connection, Big Stat finally has people coming to him.

Story originally ran in the FairfieldWeekly.