He’d come up with a hook to 'Change the Game' and Jay-Z was like, 'Nah, it’s alright but you Static, you can come up with something better than that.' Jay knew. He’d heard all the songs he’d done with Aaliyah and Ginuwine and Nas…
FAMILY GUY
RAYMOND: When my son told me he was getting married, I was like, “To who?!” He then told me about Avonti and I had never met her or anything, but I think he had spoken about her before…I just didn’t pay it much attention.
SANDAPA: Everyone was like, “Hold up, slow down!” We always told him he was the number one “S.F.L.”: Sucker For Love. He hated that.
RAYMOND: One thing Stephen and I had said around the bed of his sister [M before she died. We both had stood around the bed and told her, “You ain’t gon’ have to worry about Alexis.” Alexis was two at the time, and she was three when her mother died.
ALEXIS: I guess I went through my little stage where I was starting to stress her out once I hit high school, so that’s when her and uncle Steve said it would be best if I moved in with him. I would talk to him about guys all the time. He would be like, “Man, Lexi, these boys out here… they’re not about nothing.” I would have to get his approval [before] they would come over, and he’d be like, “Nah, I don’t like him he’s lame, he’s square.” He was just real protective of me, because he would tell me all the time that I reminded him so much of his sister, and I was the only link he had to her.
TQ (singer): I’ve sat on the porch drinking with him [and] all his niggas, and it was love…and that’s rare. I came to Louisville, and he took me out one night. We went to the club, and before that he just kind of gave me a tour of his neighborhood. We ran all through the projects in a Bentley! And I walked up in somebody’s crib like I was family. I’ve been doing this for a long time and that just never happens.
DAVID BANNER (rapper/producer): Static was the first black guy I’ve ever seen with a Bentley. I hear a lot of rappers talk that shit, but the Bentleys that was in that “Crank It Up” video was Static’s. I was asking niggas, “Why that nigga got a Bentley?” But when you come from where we from, you don’t ask a nigga how he got his money…you might get your fingers cut off.
LIL D: Me just being around him, I changed my whole look. I was a jersey, tennis shoes type person. Being with him, I went to Louis Vuitton and Gucci shoes, and buying jewelry. You couldn’t wear your jewelry around him. You can’t wear that little stuff you bought in the middle of the mall, because when he put on his jewelry, it would change everything you got on. You had to be around him to see the difference in his diamonds. He taught me the difference in the quality of diamonds. I had people come to me like, “Yo, Static made me put my jewelry up.”
HP (jewelry designer): His jewelry game was nuts, his Kentucky piece, all that. Everybody went crazy over that piece. That was his logo.
After Static left the studio I asked Wayne, 'Dog, you know who that was?' And he was like, 'Nah, like people been telling me about him.' And I was like, 'Yo… the nigga wrote all your favorite songs.' And he was like, “What you mean?' And I started running it down to him, and he was like, 'Man, are you serious?!'
After Aaliyah’s success, the industry was treating Static/Major like songwriting royalty. Calls came in from Nas, Destiny’s Child, Diddy, and Pretty Ricky. Even Jay-Z called for some of that Static magic. But the songwriter was nonplussed in the face of fame. “You know how most people, when Jay-Z come around, they act different?” says Lil D. “He didn’t. He was like, Whatever.’’ Static also quietly began working on his own solo debut.
BARNETT: I think Ne-Yo had a hit record and all [these different songwriters] went in at the same time trying to work with Pretty Ricky. And Pretty Ricky was kind of cocky so they weren’t receptive to a lot of people. So when Static came into the studio, Spectacular was at the door looking at us like we crazy.
PLEASURE P (former lead vocalist, Pretty Ricky): Static had on a big Kentucky chain, braids going down to the sides, and some black boots…
BIGG D (producer): We thought he was like a…like he was a pimp or something. He came in fly with the chain on, and we were like, Man, this dude can’t write no songs man.
BARNETT: So we're like, “Back up nigga, we're trying to get into the door!” Spec' was like, “Who is you?” [We] was like, Ya’ll kids, we're veterans in the game. Y’all better let us in and take this lesson. We had heard how they had been to people, but we was like, We got swag, we gon’ win these little boys over.
BIGG D: You wouldn’t know Static wrote all those smashes for Aaliyah and Ginuwine. We thought he was just a young cat that had just got in the game.
LIL D: “Hotline,” from my understanding, Pretty Ricky didn’t like. They were like, “Man, we don’t talk like that.” And that song was huge for them. Static had a way of getting people to do stuff you really didn’t want to do.
PLEASURE P: Static and me started building on a friendship level. I use to ask him about everything because I knew nothing about the industry. And being in my last situation, I definitely didn’t know nothing. I learned about publishing, how people put they name on your record and take all the credit, how to write songs… to even how to play politics with the different label executives because he was an artist on a label and he was like, “We went about it the wrong way, and I don’t want to see you do that.”
BARNETT: Static and I were in Nashville one day, and my phone rings. The dude on the line is like, “I’m trying to get up with Static.” [I said] “Cool, aight, this is his assistant... Who's this?” He's like, “It's Jay. I need him to do this record with me.” And at the time, I’m not putting two and two together. So I’m like, “Well, we're in the booth working, let me get a number on you.” So he's like, “Aight” and tells me Timbaland gave him [Static’s] number. Then I put it together and was like “Ehhhh! Hold on boy!” I got Static out of the booth and Jay [told him], “I got the song, which is my biggest song, but I need the hook. And Timbaland told me that if I needed a hook, I needed to call you.” He said the record is about to be the biggest song on the album if we get the right hook. So we went [to New York], and I’m like, 'Damn, we're in here with Jay-Z.’ [Static] wasn’t overly fascinated that this was Jay-Z.
SANDAPA: He’d come up with a hook to “Change the Game” and Jay-Z was like, “Nah, it’s alright but you Static, you can come up with something better than that.” Jay knew. He’d heard all the songs he’d done with Aaliyah and Ginuwine and Nas…
BARNETT: Jay-Z and Static both sat at the board and Static started kind of whispering the melody and Jay was like, “Man, that melody's crazy!”
SMOKEY: What it came down to was his arrangements, and the melodies he would choose. Can’t nobody do that.
LIL D: We were actually in New York one day, and Puffy said he’d never met anybody that lights up a room like he do but Static. Static was mad because at the studio they had Static in this little bitty room in the corner next to the boxes and pianos. And he was like, “Man, watch, I’m gon’ make a hit though.” Puffy came in there, heard the record and he went to calling people, dancing, and bouncing around, and he was like, “That’s what I’m talking about!” And for the next few days, Puffy moved Static to the big room.
SANDAPA: The engineers and stuff had to always wear earplugs when Static was in the room, he’d have music up so loud. He’d always tell me he lets the track talk to him. He'd say, “I’m trying to hear what the track’s telling me. I’m trying to hear what it’s trying to say.” If you watched him writing he’d be in his own little world. He’d be kind of possessed when he’s writing. I’d see his eyes roll back…it will amaze you.
AVONTI: He would go to another dimension. And how I could tell that was because the same beat that I’m beating my head to, he’s beating to a whole different beat, and I’m like, He’s hearing something different. I had talked to Missy about that. She was like, “I know what you talking about because I do the same thing.”
SANDAPA: Timbaland offered Static a songwriting deal, and he didn’t want to rely on Timbaland to make him big. He wanted to do it himself, because he felt he never got the credit for the work he did with Timbaland and Missy. He would never admit he was hurt, but Static felt like he was the reason for a lot of careers.
AVONTI: He was calling his first album Suppertime because he’d been hungry for so long.
BARNETT: That’s what made me fall out with Barry and Jomo all the time. It’s like, “How do you have a man that y’all suppose to manage, who’s written all these big-ass records, and y’all can’t even get him an interview?”
LIL D: Static was upset that he never put out a solo album.
SANDAPA: There’s a show in Miami called Miami L.I.V.E. Static and me would always go. One night Static jumps on the stage and was singing his songs. Lil Wayne approached Pleasure P like, “Who is that?” He just liked his whole swag.
PLEASURE P: Wayne was like, “I want to meet him.”
LIL D: Static loved Lil Wayne. If Wayne said, “Come on, let’s jump off the building together and see if we can fly,” he would’ve did it.
JUAN “PLAY” SALINAS (producer, Play-n-Skillz): We were in the studio in L.A. when Static got the call that Wayne wanted to work with him. [Static] didn’t jump up and down or go crazy, but I could see him pacing back and forth like, This is my moment.
DARIUS “DEEZLE” HARRISON (“Lollipop” co-producer): Static was in the studio with a Dickies outfit on, some braids—chilling. He just came in like, “Dude, I really want you to be on my single, and I also have a record for you to cut. And I’d take care of you on your fees.” Wayne was like, “Okay, cool, bruh.”
SANDAPA: Static originally was writing that song [“Lollipop”] for Pleasure P. They didn’t really finish it, but all that, “Shawty want a thug,” “Lick me like a lollipop,” and “Call me,” all that stuff was already in there.
LIL D: Static said, “Man, I appreciate everything you just did for me. But by the way, Wayne, I got something for you. This your single.” He pulled out [a demo of] “Lollipop.”
ANDREWS: And Wayne said, “What is that?” Static said, “It’s yours if you want it.”
DEEZLE: [Wayne] jumped up on the speakers, and was like, “Yo, this the single!” He was doing the dances he does in the video.
JIM JONSIN (“Lollipop” co-producer): Static hand-delivered a No. 1 song to Wayne. Chorus, pre-chorus, bridge...
LIL WAYNE (rapper): His initial intention was to help. He’s definitely to blame for my newfound success.
DEEZLE: After Static left the studio I asked Wayne, “Dog, you know who that was?” And he was like, “Nah, like people been telling me about him.” And I was like, “Yo… the nigga wrote all your favorite songs.” And he was like, “What you mean?” And I started running it down to him, and he was like, “Man, are you serious?!”
SANDAPA: From that point on, Static was telling me, “Man, Wayne wants to do everything with me!” They spoke about doing a whole album together.
LIL D: Next thing we know, we got the call saying, "[Lollipop] gon’ be Wayne’s single, we need you in Vegas to shoot the video.” The whole time they were shooting, he was calling me every 30 minutes. “Man, me and Baby just talked! Suge Knight just showed up!” I ain’t seen him that excited in a long time.
ALEXIS: He called me and was like, “Lexi, I’m all up in the video.” I’m thinking he just had a cameo, and he was playing it up real big. When I saw it, I started crying.
He bled to death. Once I heard the nurse talking about, “Mr. Garrett, I need you to talk to me! I need you to talk to me Mr. Garrett!” and I saw him rise up in the bed in a stroke-like position with his hands curled, I went out of it.
DISASTER STRIKES
Just when things couldn’t be going better for Static—another No. 1 single, new album in the works—his health began to fail him.
LIL D: Static was sick before he shot “Lollipop.”
ANDREWS: He already had a cold, and I told him to relax, but he just kept going and going. Then he called me and said, “I’m on my way to Atlanta.... I don’t want to go, but I got to.”
AVONTI: He was recording with Lil Eazy-E—he needed his voice, and he asked me what could he take, and I said, “Well, I think you need to get that mucus out of your chest.”
LIL EAZY-E (rapper): Static said he needed to go back to his hotel room to rest. That’s when I became concerned.
AVONTI: He took that medicine, and two hours later, he was like, “I feel dizzy again, and I can’t open up my eyes!”
RAYMOND: He called and said, “Mama, I can’t swallow. Do you hear how distorted my voice is? I try to swallow, and it comes out my nose.” I said, “Baby, you got to go to the hospital.”
ALEXIS: Uncle Steve hated hospitals. He always said you go in there for one thing, and they find a million other things wrong with you.
PLEASURE P: We were supposed to go to L.A. to finish my album. I called him up, and he was like, “P, I can’t talk.” And I was like, “Well, text me.... What’s wrong?” And he [texted], “They say acid reflux, whatever that is.” I felt like something was wrong. I told him I loved him.
AVONTI: He didn’t end up getting home until Sunday at 8 o’clock. I picked him up from the airport, and he comes out in a wheelchair. I looked at him, and his eye was closed, and my heart stopped.
ALEXIS: He just looked so sick, so weak.
RAYMOND: After [Avonti] got him to bed, I left.
In the middle of the night, they called me.
AVONTI: By 3 o’clock that morning, I could hear him choking. So we get up and go to the hospital, and as soon as we get there, they took his blood, and they gave him IV fluids, and he was starting to feel better.
RAYMOND: The hospital ran a bunch of tests, and they ruled out stroke. They came up with Myasthenia Gravis.
AVONTI: It’s an autoimmune disorder. A number of things can trigger it.
LIL D: He was in there looking down, and I never really seen him like that. So I go in there laughing and he was like, “Dee, I’m fucked up.” And I was like, “You’re straight bruh. Look, we gon’ put some glasses on you, we gon’ sit this fucking hospital bed up, and we gon’ shoot this fucking video right here in this hospital.” So he started laughing. Then the doctor came in and checked him, and I said, “You straight man…God’s got you.”
ALEXIS: I came up to the hospital, and he had this thing over his eye, and he said, “Lexi, look at Uncle Steve”—and he made like this little funny face, sticking his tongue out. And he said, “Uncle Steve gon’ be okay.” I couldn’t under- stand how he was joking.
AVONTI: [The doctor] said, “I’m recommending you get a procedure where we take your blood out, filter your blood through a machine, and we put it back in. That takes the toxins out your blood.” I signed the papers, and the nurse said, “I’m going to need you to leave because I need a sterile environment.” I leave the room, and I’m thinking to myself, Sterile environment? The roommate is still in there....
RAYMOND: But that’s hindsight. I really do feel the hospital messed up. It’s a comedy of errors that went on.
AVONTI: I go out of the room, and something tells me to go back in there. So I go back, and they had just pulled the curtain back, and he’s look- ing at me like, This is the last time I’ma see you— almost as if he knew. And as he was looking at me, a tear came out of his eye.
ANDREWS: He just started crying and said, “Tell mom to bring the kids here.” So he got the kids and he was all hugging them, kissing them, telling them, “I love you.” He was getting so scared.
RAYMOND: I just can’t get it out of my mind. He kept saying, “Something don’t feel right, is it supposed to hurt like this?”
AVONTI: The nurse kept coming in there turning him from side to side trying to make him comfortable, and he kept telling her that something was wrong with one of his organs. He was leaking blood and every time he took a breath, blood would go into his lungs.
RAYMOND: He bled to death. Once I heard the nurse talking about, “Mr. Garrett, I need you to talk to me! I need you to talk to me Mr. Garrett!” and I saw him rise up in the bed in a stroke-like position with his hands curled, I went out of it.
AVONTI: I see this chest tube coming out of my husband’s chest and I follow it down to the floor and it was like three or four liters of blood, like little capsules of blood. So I’m like, “Where is all this blood coming from? What happened?!” And all that time, they never said a word. [The hospital] hasn’t really said anything to me about why my husband died. They kept saying they were working on him. But I spoke to the medical examiner, and he told me that Stephen died immediately.
ALEXIS: All Vonti was saying was, “They killed my husband!”
PLEASURE P: The next day I was walking into the studio. I was having a meeting with Baby and Slim from Cash Money. I got this call from Lil D, and he was like, “Static dead.” I still had to have that meeting, so I kept my composure...tears in my eyes the whole meeting.
DEVANTE: I was in the studio, and somebody called me. I didn’t want to believe it. But the dude that told me, I knew he wouldn’t lie to me. I said, “Come on man, not Static!”
SMOKEY: It took me back to Aaliyah.
LIL D: My mom died when I was 3-months-old, so I felt like I couldn’t lose anybody else. But him passing… it was the first time I cried in thirty-three years.
DEEZLE: Wayne took his death hard. Every time the [“Lollipop”] song came on, he would just look at me like, Damn.
LIL WAYNE: I thank God every day for people like him. I’m grateful to have been in his presence. He was truly a genius.
BARRY: I didn’t go to the funeral, but I took care of everything his family needed. I just can’t... bury another kid. I was immobile. I will never get over Aaliyah. I will never get over this. I have buried a lot of people in my life...let me be the next one to go.
AVONTI: [At the funeral,] I fixed his tie, because Stephen...didn’t play about his clothes. And he used to tell me that that came from not having for so many years.
BLACK: The hardest thing I ever had to do was sing at the funeral. I sang, “Lord, Take My Hand.” I probably won’t ever sing that again.
SMOKEY: It didn’t really set in until the day of the funeral [that he was gone]. I kissed him on his forehead and just feeling the body temperature… You can touch someone that has died and tell that something is not there anymore. It starts hitting home that that “something” is actually something you grew to know and love. I’ve been a through a whole lot of deaths in my family but nobody’s death has affected me more than that cat’s. Nobody.
RAYMOND: I got this one book that I’m reading. It’s called, “When the Game Is Over It All Goes Back In The Box.” A lady minister at my church suggested it to me. I wish I had read it to been able to talk to [my son about] these riches and things that you gather here on earth…when the game is over, it goes back into the box.
DAVID BANNER: His death was so painful to me, because I hate [when] people like Static, who really help other people shine, don’t get they shine. Static helped so many other people get money, but nobody knows who he is.
MISSY: I don’t think he got as much [recognition] as he should have because he was more behind the scenes writing and not trying to be an artist at the same time. He was a very humble man. Never the type to be everywhere saying, “I did this and that.” He wrote timeless records.
JOMO: I honestly believe he was going to take over...I thought he was going to be an R&B version of Wayne.
GINUWINE: Without him I don’t know if I would be who I am today.
DEVANTE: He left before his time. He was one of the greats.
BLACK: He was chasing success...but he already had it.
RAYMOND: Both of the children I brought into the world, I saw leave. I saw them both go out the world.
Static’s wife has filed a suit against Baptist Hospital East for medical malpractice and gross negligence. As of press time the case was still pending. The hospital declined to comment, but extended it’s condolences to the Garrett family. Static’s tentatively titled solo debut, Suppertime, will be released next year.
Read "One In A Million" Part One
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