Static Major wrote for Aaliyah, Ginuwine and Destiny's Child. Now he's a Hometown Hero

Stephen "Static Major" Garrett’s photo now hangs 22 feet tall on the exterior of the Roots 101 African American Museum in downtown Louisville.

His Grammy Award sits in a glass case as part of an exhibit in his honor inside.

This week, the beloved late singer, songwriter and record producer, who hailed from the Russell neighborhood, joined the ranks of Louisville’s Hometown Heroes. The program hangs banners, sometimes as large as 60 feet tall, along some of Louisville’s most visible buildings to honor a mix of stars, musicians, athletes, academics and professionals, who have left their mark on the city and the world. Now Static Major’s portrait can be seen by motorists traveling on nearby Interstate 64, just as his music rocked their car radios in the 90s and 2000s.

The museum, at 124 North First St., has launched a temporary exhibit of his dynamic career, which will run now through July 8.

Static Major is remembered as a musical genius, whose work reached international heights.

At the same time, he never forgot his Louisville roots. His friend and mentor, Mark Gunn, recalled he often wore a pendant of the state of Kentucky whenever he performed. He continued to live in Louisville, and raised his children here, while his career skyrocketed at the turn of the new millennium.

“The contributions that he’s made are evident in radio playlists,” said Gunn, who is also the program director for the WLOU, and 104.7 vice president of Programming for Aircom Media. “One of the things that has taken years for many people to learn, is that he was behind so many of hit songs that they heard growing up.”

Static Major was part of the R&B trio 'Playa,' best known for its hits "Cheers 2 U" and "Don't Stop the Music." His musical prowess is immortalized in the 1996 hit “Pony” written for Ginuwine, 1998's “Are You that Somebody,” written for Aaliyah, and 1999’s “Say My Name” (Timbaland’s Remix) written for Destiny’s Child. His career and life hit an abrupt, tragic end when he died from a complication from a medical procedure at the age of 33 in February 2008.

Four months after his death, Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop,” which featured Static Major on a verse, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard’s Hot 100.

With this Hometown Heroes designation, Static Major is getting recognized along with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Diane Sawyer, Pat Day and Colonel Sanders.

“His writing dominated the 90s,” said Lamont Collins, the founder of Roots 101. “He’s from Louisville and he was young, and he was brass, and he was humble. He was really everything Muhammad Ali was, and he was good to his community.”

The Hometown Hero program was founded in 2002 and fizzled out in the 2010s. It returned in 2023 with a new effort to repair some older fading banners, retire others to an upcoming avenue of heroes, and make way for new additions. Friends, family and fans have been pushing for Static Major's Hometown Hero status for several years. The revitalized organization received his nomination in 2023, and he was chosen by a blind vote from a volunteer advisory board.

Static Major’s mother, Edith Raymond, described the banner as “breathtaking.” The photo captures her son just as he was when he was working, she said, sitting at his keyboard and very concentrated on what he was doing. Static Major first started performing in the choir at Joshua Tabernacle Baptist Church, and then later went on to perform in a talent show while he attended Waggener High School.

Static Major teamed up with Benjamin Bush, aka Digital Black, and Jawann Peacock, aka Smoke E. Digglera, in 1992 and they got a chance to perform for writer/producer Donald "DeVante Swing" DeGrate of the R&B group Jodeci. That's how the group Playa was born.

His career took off from there.

“I think he’d be very proud and pleased that he’s being recognized,” Raymond said. “He would be really pleased to know that his city knows who he is.”

The next generation of Louisville music certainly hasn’t forgotten him. In 2020, Jack Harlow featured Bryson Tiller and Static Major’s recorded vocals on his “Luv is Dro" track on his Thats What They All Say album.

Gunn is hopeful that this banner and the Roots 101 exhibit will help tell Static Major’s story to everyone who has loved his songs for over two decades but may not realize the hometown tie to them.

So much of this Louisville hero’s work has risen up through other artists’ names.

Maybe the banner 22-feet on a main thoroughfare through town can give his own name an extra boost.

Features columnist Maggie Menderski writes about what makes Louisville, Southern Indiana and Kentucky unique, wonderful, and occasionally, a little weird. If you've got something in your family, your town or even your closet that fits that description — she wants to hear from you. Say hello at mmenderski@courier-journal.com. Follow along on Instagram @MaggieMenderski.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Stephen 'Static Major' Garrett honored as Louisville Hometown Hero