The Retirement Chapter

What up yall.

I use this platform(s) for a lot of things that I do entertainment-wise, but today will be a lil bit different than usual. After carefully thinking about it, I've come to the conclusion that I will not continue on being a rapper. I'm officially hanging it up. I know some may be shocked or whatever, but this is a life decision for me. I don't have the same focus and drive anymore that I used to have that you need to be great and I can't give my best due to my life outside of music. The older I get, the more I realize that I don't have the time for it anymore. I already felt this when I made the I Ain't Sh!t album and really I was supposed to stop then, but I kept on churning and pushed my other plans to the side. Alot of yall may think I'm leaving the game at the wrong time cuz you see me doing big shows and making big moves, but it's more to it than just that. It's other higher levels to attain in this music game and I can't reach them due to the time and effort you have to commit. This is a rollercoaster! You can be up one minute and down the next and it's hard to recover. All while you're chasing this dream, you're missing out on time on other things in life and spending alot of money (unnecessary money, gas, studio time, mastering, etc...) and eventually you got to choose what's important to you. I made money in this game too, but all money ain't good money and this is a slow grind that I can't do anymore. You'll either make it big or waste time and effort that you could've used on other things in life. As Antwone, not Stoney C, I'm doing other things that need my attention more and frankly music is in the way of me achieving those life goals I set for myself. I worked extremely hard at my music career chasing my dream and trying to make it a reality and I think it was evident. No one can say I didn't try and grind for the ears and eyes of listeners of all kind with my music and if you're as serious as a grinder that I am, you would know that it takes dedication day and night literally that normal folks can't do. That's why only a small percentage actually make it. This profession takes ALOT of your time away. While I'm out being Stoney C, I have to be Antwone in real life and that's the area that's most important to me. I still love music to death, but I just can't be involved as a rapper anymore...

Fly Season Apparel is still something I will continue to do and honestly, that's doing better than my music is and it's less time consuming. I wear too many hats in this game and I do EVERYTHING by myself. In return, I got burnt out and I lost focus on other things. I'm going to always come up with songs cuz I'm a natural at that, but I may just pass it on to someone else rather than be the star of it. Same with beats too. This rap game is a young man's game. Being a 30 year-old local rapper isn't what's up to me like it was when I was a 19-year-old hungry rapper with PLENTY of time to do whatever. That's how I got my name up as apart of G-$quad with Mick anyway. We had time to grind out! Doing that now just isn't what's up anymore for me at this time. No knock to anyone else, this is about me and my views on myself...

So after saying all of that, on November 25th, my last concert as Stoney C will be at Gas Monkey Live with Devin The Dude. I'm going to give it my all like I always do and then bow out the game on a good note with my head held high because I know I gave it my all whether people heard/saw my work or not. I will then drop my Stone Age album sometime this year and let my music live on through my fans and supporters. That's part of the reason why it's called "Stone Age" because it represents "My Era of Time" and it can be revisited anytime similar to what we do with History all the time. Just like the actual Stone Age time period. That shows yall that I've been contemplating this for awhile now ever since I announced I was dropping another album. I'm also releasing the Throwed Life Dreaming project I Executive Produced for DK. That's something that I really wanted to do anyway more than being a rapper. I may still write and sell/give songs to artists that want it and play behind the scenes because that isn't time consuming. That's way easier, but I'm not as serious about that either because I don't want to be a rapper/performer anymore. That's farfetched to me...

I got love for everybody that's ever shown me love by actually jamming my music, went to my shows, booked me for shows, watched my videos, bought my merchandise, shared my music with others, played my music in the clubs and radio, put my songs on mixtapes, got inspired by my music and was a genuine fan of me as a solo artist and as a member of G-$quad. I did it for the City of Garland, myself and all of Texas and I wanted the world to know that we had something. I think I did what I could and represented well. To all other artists, keep doing you and keep representing! Just because I'm done don't mean you can't make it. I'm not the best. Everybody's situation is different, so don't compare your situation to mine. I can humbly fade to black and continue on trying to achieve my life goals. This hurt me to do this, but I'm tapped out and had to do this in order to go for mine. All things must come to an end and I believe that time is now for me. I thank God for the 11 years He allowed me to give to Hip-Hop as an artist and pray that He continues to bless me with other opportunities in my life! It's G-$quad 4 Life and always #FlySeason with me still! Thanks for reading this and hopefully understanding my decision!

- Stoney C