The 11-track tape has a sound that is reminiscent of a lifted Super Sport that is fresh off a thorough hot box. Through the combination of ChaseTheMoney’s intricate but bass-heavy instrumentals and Valee’s unorthodox melodic rhyme pattern, VTM gives the listener a smooth but rugged feeling, like riding on 26 inches with the thin tires.

By choosing to open with “Started Off My Day (Hey),” VTM purrs to life at a relaxed pace that characterizes the whole of the project. However, just like the vehicle it parallels, VTM has the capability to take off, which is witnessed on songs like “Acid” and “Bad B***h.” While these tracks show the versatility of both artists, the song that speaks to their true potential is “Window Seat.” This trippy rendition of Erykah Badu’s hit song of the same name shows the musical influences of both Valee and ChaseTheMoney, as well as the unique direction they are taking their art.

From start to finish, VTM delivers accordingly. Although the short tracks leave the listener craving another verse or feature, VTM has paved a strip where the careers of both ChaseTheMoney and Valee can take off at drag racer’s speed. Throughout the project, both ChaseTheMoney and Valee went their pace and won out, making it feel like the end of Talladega Nights. ChaseTheMoney turned 21 the day this project dropped; add in the victory that is VTM, and it’s definitely something worth spilling a bottle of champagne over.

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The post On Track: ChaseTheMoney and Valee Enter The Winner’s Circle with VTM appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Image credit: Nick Tullis

In the early 2000s, the city of St. Louis was one of the pulses of America. The success of the city’s sports teams like the Cardinals and Rams, as well as entertainers such as rapper Nelly and comedian/actor Cedric The Entertainer, aided in St. Louis becoming a cultural staple.

However, this good fortune was short lived.

By 2016, the housing crisis of the latter decade stained St. Louis like a thief, taking with it a significant portion of the city’s jobs forcing many residents to exchange the city life of St. Louis for a better economic climate. This decline seemed to coincide with the erosion of the city’s cultural pillars. Nelly was no longer the Band-Aid wearing superstar he once was and the Rams had transitioned from the “Greatest Show on Turf” to an NFL afterthought.

Yet out of these ashes emerged a litany of talented musicians who are using St. Louis’s marred streets and vacant buildings as their canvases of creativity. With the success of musical artists like Metro Boomin and Smino, St. Louis has proven that this forgotten city still has a vibrant life. And up and coming producer, ChaseTheMoney, has perched himself as the next creative out of the city to take flight.

Born Chase Dalton Rose’, ChaseTheMoney is a native St. Louis record producer, who at 20 years old has landed producing credits for major artists such as FBG Fortune, 21 Savage, and Rich The Kid. Yet it has been his production for Chicago artist, Valee, that has gained the most interest. After his song “Shell” was featured on the popular website Fake Shore Drive, Valee’s popularity has grown substantially leading up to the release of his latest mixtape, 1988. A project that ChaseTheMoney produced three tracks on.

In an interview with RESPECT. ChaseTheMoney spoke about his relationship with Valee, his musical beginnings, and his place in St. Louis’s reemergence in Hip-Hop.

RESPECT.: “Tell us a little about yourself? Where you’re from, how you started producing, things of those nature.”

ChaseTheMoney: “I was born and raised in St. Louis, in Pine Lawn, on May 21^st, 1996. I really had started making beats at like 14. I had picked up FL Studio and really haven’t stopped since”

RESPECT.: “What sparked your interest in music?”

CTM: “Man my mom used to play a lot of Erykah Badu & Lauryn Hill, so when I would ride in the car with her, she would have the song Window Seat playing on the radio. I grew up on a lot of gangsta sh-t like Project Pat, Juicy J, DJ Paul, the whole Three Six individually.”

RESPECT.: “That actually leads into the next. How did you and Valee link up? What’s your Chicago connection?”

CTM: “After I graduated high school, I moved out to Chicago & was staying with DJ Victoriouz for a few months. We were working on music for mixtapes. One day, I uploaded a video to Instagram playing a beat. Valee commented on the video & pulled up to Vic’s crib & bought a few beats. Two of those beats became the songs “Grandma’s House” and “Thousand Dollars.”

RESPECT.: “As far as the St. Louis/Chicago connection, do you see it as beneficial? It’s known that previous acts have left St. Louis and went to Chicago to gain their footing. Is that what happened with you? Being in Chicago and meeting Valee?”

CTM: “I’ve always had a good work ethic so moving to Chicago was a walk of faith. I’ve been all over the world throughout my life & my craft would connect me with various people.”

RESPECT.: “So, did St. Louis and its Hip-Hop history influence you into doing music or more your family?”

CTM: “Sh-t, St. Louis is St. Louis. It’s a part of me.”

RESPECT.: “Yeah, it can sort of be said that there is a reemergence of St. Louis in Hip-Hop, with acts like Smino and Metro Boomin, and people say that the way you’re producing you could help with that reemergence. How do you feel about that?”

CTM: “Well, I feel like this is just the beginning. History repeats itself, our time is coming.”

RESPECT.: “You said this was the beginning, so what are your eventual career goals?”

CTM: “I want to be one of the most highly demanded producers. But I want to be more than just a producer. I’m looking to be an icon. Like that’s really just my goal in life, is to be iconic. So, I might just step out, you know? A millionaire has seven forms of income, at least. Ima go down in history, bro. I will leave a legacy that my children and grandchildren will live on to see.”

Cover art for Valee and ChaseTheMoney’s “VTM”

RESPECT.: “So what’s next for you?”

CTM: “More music for the world to appreciate. Valee & I are releasing a collaborative project titled ‘VTM‘ on the day I turn 21, May 21^st. There’s 10 tracks, all fire.”

RESPECT.: “Is this project, VTM, something you plan on touring off of?”

CTM: “You’ll see. You’re gonna have to wait on that.”

As evident in his interview with RESPECT., ChaseTheMoney is positioned for stardom. His skill and passion for being iconic seemingly give him the intangibles needed for industry success. This promise coming from a city that was abandoned by almost everyone, including the NFL, who agreed to move The Rams out of St. Louis to the more illustrious Los Angeles, proves that the city of St. Louis is back on the rise. And artists like the emerging producer, ChaseTheMoney, are spearheading this ascension.

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The post Cashing In: Producer ChaseTheMoney’s Historic Plan and The Resurgence of St. Louis appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.