childhood friend who grew up in church with him and knew all about the promise he showed as a youth. “When [Static] was 8, my aunt asked him, ‘Stephen, what do you want to be when you grow up?” and he said, ‘I wanna be a singer,’” remembers Wade, describing Static’s singing in church as a treat for everyone in attendance. “At that very young age, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He was always singing.” Stephen’s singing continued from childhood to adolescence at Wagner High School, where he earned a reputation for being cool, funny and popular with the ladies. Life was somewhat sweet for the 16-year junior until tragedy struck. Stephen’s sister Melynda suffered from pulmonary hypertension, a rare condition that causes heart failure. She was in dire need of a heart-lung transplant, an even rarer procedure which is performed on less than 100 patients in America each year. Sadly, Melynda lost the battle, and died of heart failure at only 22 years old.
group released their first and only album, Cheers 2 You, in 1998. By that time, Static’s career as a songwriter was headed in different direction. Two years before, he had penned his first Billboard #1 record, Ginuwine’s crossover hit “Pony.” “If it wasn’t for Static writing that song, I probably wouldn’t be here today” admits Ginuwine. “Timbaland had just did the beat, and we were just going to just use it for an interlude, but I was like, ‘Nah, Static, we gotta write something to that. That beat is crazy.’ So, Static took about a day to write Pony, and the next night he called me in and he let me hear it, and I was like ‘Yo, that’s a smash!’” Ginuwine and Static went on to make numerous other smashes together, including the chart-topping hits “Same Ol’ G” and “So Anxious.” “I’ve always admired his writing,” adds Ginuwine. “Needless to say, the songs he wrote for me were some of my biggest hits. He really played a major role in my career early on.” Static was also instrumental to Aaliyah’s resurgence. He wrote her smash single, 1998’s “Are You That Somebody.”
According to his mother, Stephen had a hard time coping with his sister’s death, and subsequently got into trouble at school. One bright spot came when he was placed in a high school program, the Burger King Academy, and asked to sing the national anthem at their national symposium. His enthralling performance won him a full scholarship to the University of Louisville where he majored in music. His days at UL proved to be very influential as it was during this time when Stephen heard a braggadocios line on a rap cassette tape that provided him with the name the world would one day know him by.
“Missy was supposed to write it, but we had to turn the song in the next day,” recalls Hankerson about the song that appeared on the Dr. Doolittle soundtrack. “We only had a day to get the record done and we couldn’t get Missy there in time, so Static came in, and he and Aaliyah worked together for the first time. It was an incredible session. They nailed the song in like three hours, and it became the smash that we all know.” That proved to be just the beginning as Static later wrote two more number one hits for Aaliyah, “Try Again,” and “Rock the Boat.”
“He was listening to a song, and the rapper said ‘I cause static in the industry.’ And Steve said, ‘That’s what I want to do, cause static in the industry,’” recalls his longtime business partner and best friend Lil D. Static later added “Major” to his name years later to differentiate himself from other artists who emerged with the name Static.
In 1998 Static was on the road with Timbaland, Ginuwine and Aaliyah on their Blackground tour. The tour made a stop in Static’s hometown of Louisville, for the Kentucky Derby. Real Quiet was the name of the horse who won the Derby that year, but Static Major claimed the biggest prize—his future wife.
It was also at UL where Static came in contact with Smokey and Black, two gospel-turned-R&B singers. The three of them would eventually join forces to form the group Playa. The group finagled their way backstage at a Jodeci concert in Louisville. The Playa collective got in front of Jodeci singer/songwriter DeVante Swing and performed several of his songs a cappella. Impressed, DeVante soon signed Playa to his Swing Mob imprint with Elektra Records. At the time, Playa’s labelmates included then up-and-coming acts such as Ginuwine, Timbaland and Magoo, Missy Elliott and a young songstress by the name of Aaliyah. DeVante Swing became like a mentor to Static. It was under Swing’s tutelage that the young singer blossomed as a songwriter and formed the relationships that would allow his talents to touch the world. “I was talking to the group about management and Static just stood out as a star, right off the bat,” says Jomo Hankerson, President of Blackground Records, who first met Static while he was one third of Playa. “They were all incredible writers, but Static was really the creative force behind what they were doing.” Playa wound up leaving their Swing Mob/Elektra situation and later moved to Def Jam where the
Life
“He was performing with Timbaland, Missy, Ginuwine, and Aaliyah.” remembers Avonti Garrett, Static’s widow, whom he first met following a show that Derby weekend. “We happened to see each other in passing, and he kinda gave the notion that he wanted to talk to me, but I kept going. I saw him the next day at the mall, and I still kept going. I was not trying to deal with an entertainer.” However, sometimes fate can follow you. “About a month after Derby Weekend I was at a park,” recalls Avonti. “I was leaving and Stephen was coming in. I was with my girlfriend and she gave me an ultimatum: Get out of the car and talk to him or she was going to put me out.” After the exchange, a romance between Stephen and Avonti escaladed rapidly and the couple got married exactly a year and a half after they met. “I couldn’t ask for a better husband,” she proclaims. “He was loving, devoted, loyal, and giving. He was my best friend. He would call me 10, 20 times a day, even through the night when he was at the studio.” Coming from a small family where both his mother and grandmother were only children, Static’s dreams of having a big family were realized when he met his in-laws. But nothing compared to his ultimate dream of being a father.
“Static loved his family, he always talked about them,” remembers R&B songbird Brandy, who worked with Static on her singles “Come As You Are” and “Sirens.” Anyone who spent any amount of time with Static in the studio will tell you the same. “A lot of people don’t know that Static made beats, too. But he never wanted to do it, because he felt it took too much time to do both songwriting and producing,” Lil D points out. “Static was a family man. He wanted to spend time with his kids and his wife.” Although Static only had two biological children, he was a father to four: Lexi Garrett, the 20-year old daughter of his late sister Melynda, who is a sophomore at the University of Louisville, Stephen Garrett Jr., 14, his first son from a relationship prior to marrying Avonti, Donald Jackson, 14, (Avonti’s son from a previous relationship) and Makari Garrett, 7. Static got the two boys involved in sports, especially football. “I don’t care what he was doing or where he was at, he would stop what he was doing and go to his kids’ football game,” says Lil D. But football was far from all he did with them. Static would often take his kids to play laser tag, to race at the go-cart track, or play videogames at the arcade. If he lost, he refused to let them leave until avenged the defeat. “He loved all his children, but our daughter was the love of his life. He just adored her,” explains Avonti. “He would look at her and say, ‘She looks just like me. Everything about her is me.’”
Studio Static
Though his family meant more to Stephen Garrett than anything in the world, the music that Static Major crafted left an indelible mark on the world. Even more impressive was that everyone he worked with was inspired by just being in his presence. “Every time Static walked in the building he brought joy and life to everyone in the building,” explains Bigg B, a long-time Static associate and producer of Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne’s “Hello Brooklyn.” “I don’t care what kind of day you were having, as soon as Static walked in the room you were ready to work, and make a hot record.” Play of the Play-N-Skillz production team most known for producing Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’ Dirty” shares similar sentiments. “Static influenced us forever,” he admits. “Even the way we do our recordings. We switched everything up after watching Static do it. He showed us the way it’s really supposed to be done. I became a fan in the studio when I was working with him. It was an event just being in the studio with Static.” Pleasure P, formerly the lead singer of Pretty Ricky, looked at Static as an older brother. “It was an honor to even meet somebody like Static. To be in the presence of good people is kind of hard to find in this industry,” he declares. “If you couldn’t vibe with Static something’s wrong with you, because he OZONE MAG // 81