RIP Static :(

sigh.  i really feel like i lost a cousin right now.

not many ppl know this dude by name or face but Stephen Garrett, aka Static of the r&b group Playa, is one of your favorite producers; you just dont know it.  the group worked closely with Missy, Timbaland, and Aaliyah throughout their career, and Static himself wrote and/or produced the following hits:

for Aaliyah:  ‘We Need a Resolution,’ ‘Try Again,’ ‘Loose Rap,’ ‘Are You That Somebody,’ ‘Rock the Boat,’ ‘More Than A Woman,’ ‘Back in One Piece (feat. DMX),’

for Ginuwine: ‘Pony,’ ‘So Anxious,’ ‘U Owe Me (w/ Nas),’ ‘Same Ol’ G,’

he also did ‘Luv 2 Luv Ya’ for Timbaland & Magoo, ‘Addictive’ for Truth Hurts (remember how big those songs were??), as well as songs for Jamie Foxx, Pretty Ricky, Christina Aquilera, David Banner, Brandy, Lil Wayne & a bunch others.

of the songs listed & mentioned, 5 of them were #1 records.

i’ll be honest, i didn’t know he did all that shit.  lol.  i thought Timbaland did most of them for real.  too amazing.

but to me in my heart, what’s even more amazing is what he did with Playa.  im probably biased, but other than Muhammed Ali, Louisville doesn’t have a lot to hold on to and claim in the world of fame.  but Playa was/is it.  their only album dropped back in 1998, but still, to this very day, 10 years later, they are *still* the pride and joy of black Louisville.  i claim them dudes like family when schoolin these yankees up here on the east coast (and chicago too–hi donnie!) and, as a matter of fact, when i found out that my brother’s first baby’s mama’s stepdad is Black’s cousin (true story people)?  i told EVERYBODY that shit like it meant somethin in the grand scheme of things.  i aint even met the dude nor seen him in real time.  i stress the importance of knowin who these dudes are like they were the damn… i dunno, like they were the first black presidents of the united states.  lol.  imagine how you’d react if someone told you that they had no idea who Martin Luther King was.  that’s EXACTLY how i react when i talk to people who have never heard of Playa.

clearly, the group itself never blew up Kanye style, but still, its important to me that i never felt like they’d forgotten Louisville; the tributes they paid to the city on their album (the Intro, Derby City interlude, & I-65) were more than enough to assure that.  and i wanted want everybody to know what a huge talent these dudes were and still are, both singularly and joined, and further want them to know how proud they were of their locale, cause that means a lot to me as a resident.

i was mad at them dudes for never droppin another album and wondered for the longest what was taking them so long, and now i see.. dudes was busy, man.  especially Static.  but, imo it started with Playa, and that’s where i want to end this entry.  below you’ll find every Playa video and song available on youtube that im aware of, and when i get some decent internet at my crib, i’ll upload the three (tracks that i consider) Louisville tributes from the album, too.

RIP Static.  the music industry misses you.  Louisville does twice as much.