On a money Chase with Chase The Money

“Chase the money,

“Chase the money, chase the money,” that’s the producer tag of St. Louis beatmaker ChaseTheMoney. He’s responsible for hit singles from the likes of Ski Mask the Slump God, J. Cole, Smorkpurpp, and most frequently, Valee. The 22-year-old is building a name for himself, shaping a sound like no other from his hometown.

Although CTM is responsible for creating hits with artists such as Rich The Kid and Chance The Rapper, his projects with G.O.O.D Music signee Valee and 1017’s Z Money will serve as staple works of his career. Chase produced songs on several of Valee’s early works, dating back to 2016, but it wasn’t until a year later when they released their criticallyacclaimed mixtape VTM.

Almost a year later, ZTM drops containing one of the most controversial releases of the year: “Two 16’s.” Chase details it as a career-changer, the final cut caught the eyes of many as other artists attempted to bite the overall production and flow. “There were so many people trying to make beats and songs that sound like that.” The project certainly helped shape both the sound of CTM and peers. When asked if he’ll release another project with the artists, Chase simply responded: “maybe.”

Home is where some of the craziest moments take place and for Chase, that was in the backseat of Valee’s truck. “We were sitting at a red light on a street called Hall St which is a street with no speed limit in Saint Louis. Most STL-natives race on that street all the time,” describing the setting leading up to the experience. “Now here's the most odd ball part about this story, there was a red Chevy camaro that came flying down from the other side of the light. Right after the Chevy camaro comes an old dusty suburban truck, which I guess was racing the camaro. The truck tries to hit a corner & it ends up flying off the road like it just went off a ramp. The car flips three times in the air over Valee’s car and lands directly behind us. The light turned green & we took off. It was the craziest shit ever, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.”

Earlier this year, ChaseTheMoney unveiled a surprise project with Pasadena-native and Sailing Team associated act K. $upreme. The nine-track offering is full of punctuating kicks and heaving hi-hats, containing on two guest appearances: Cheif Keef and Lil Yachty. “We actually me through Yachty years back,” Chase details. They previously collaborated on “We Outta Here!” from Lil Yachty’s 2018 release Nuthin’ 2 Prove.

In July, ChaseTheMoney appeared on Dreamville’s Revenge of the Dreamers III compilation album, landing the Missouri-native his first No. 1 record. He produced “Sunset” on that project, a collaboration between J. Cole and Young Nudy. The beat was crafted by both Chase and Brooklyn producer Pyrex and was played during the Revenge of the Dreamers sessions which took place at the top of the year. The song’s title references Sunset Boulevard, a thoroughfare in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, symbolizing the beauties of their viral triumph. “Rolls Royce riding down Sunset / I must get a crib in LA,” Cole raps on the chorus.

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Seemingly, the track was intended to be a CTM song titled “God Flinch” with not only J. Cole and Young Nudy, but Drake. A tracklist for what was supposedly Chase’s solo debut album appeared online moths after the Dreamville sessions. “It wasn’t real tracklist, I'm not dropping an album anytime soon. That was the internet’s perception of a “ChaseTheMoney” album when in reality it was just a board of ideas that I had,” he responds. “The Billie Eilish song really exists, Bobby Raps was the original person to have the song because he was featured on the song.”

Elsewhere on that project, fellow St. Louis musician and rapper Smino made a guest appearance on “1993” and the final cut, “Sacrafices.” Revenge of the Dreamers III debuted at No 1. on the Billboard 200 chart, moving over 100,000 equivalent units. Nearly a month later, the project was certified gold by the RIAA, making it one of Chase’s first but definitely not last plaques to hang up on his wall.

Despite having several joint efforts with many of hip-hop’s buzzing rap stars and producing monumental records for the past few years, Chase is finally readying to release his studio debut. “On The Way,” ChaseTheMoney’s first single as the lead artist, arrived in mid-June featuring two artists that know him best: Valee and Z Money. They’ve collaborated on numerous works in the past, notably 2017’s “Two 16’s,” so it’s only right that Chase begins his new peregrination with the same ones he came up with.

ChaseTheMoney arrives amongst the latest wave of producers to go beyond their hit records and turn into superstars of their own reign. “I feel like you just have to be yourself. I don’t feel like I’m a big superstar, I don’t think about it like that at all.” While fame changes many, this St. Loius-native remains true-to-self. Where does he go from here? “More life, more moments, more experiences in life, setting new goals & accomplishing them.”