Debut album by Todd "Sauce Money" Gaither, rapper from Marcy, Brooklyn, New York, the same place Jay-Z came from. He made his circuit debut in 1993 guesting on a track on Original Flavor's "Beyond Flavor" album, Ski Beatz group on an album that also features Damon Dash and Jay-Z as guests. The following year he also guested on Big Daddy Kane's album "Daddy's Home", in a posse track with Jay-Z, Big Scoob, Shyheim and ODB. In 1996, Jay-Z featured him on his debut album "Reasonable Doubt": AZ and Nas are expected to guest on "Bring It On", on a beautiful mob-style production created by DJ Premier, but they don't show up and Jay-Z decides to send his friends Big Jaz, his mentor, on the track, and Sauce Money, which destroys the cut with a dope flow. The emcee also guest stars on a bonus track for the Japanese market on the limited edition of the album, later he also participates in Jay-Z's records "In My Lifetime, Vol. 1" (in "Face Off") and "Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life" (in "Reservoir Dogs", together with The LOX and Beanie Sigel).
He also takes part in several film soundtracks, including "Soul in the Hole" with the solo track "Against the Grain", a hidden gem produced by the genius of DJ Premier. In 1997, Sauce Money is credited as co-writer on Puff Daddy's worldwide hit "I'll Be Missing You", in memory of Biggie, and for which the ghostwriter wins a Grammy. In the same year he released two singles after signing with his friend Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella, which released "Action" and the aforementioned "Against the Grain". For some unclear reason, Sauce Money exits Roc-A-Fella and in 1998 releases more singles with MCA, "Middle Finger U" and "What's My Name", as independent ("Luv is Love") and finally with Priority ("Chart Climbing", "For My Hustlaz"), with which he agrees to release a CD. After several high-profile appearances, Sauce Money debuted his own solo album in 2000.
Mr. Rapture produces a third of the record, the rest of the beats are performed by Omonte Ward, DJ Clark Kent, Big Jaz, DJ Premier, Spencer Bellamy, EZ Elpee, Marley Marl, Daven "Prestige" Vanderpool & Sean "Puffy" Combs for the Hitmen. Guests are Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, Maverick, Bam-Bue and Puff Daddy.
The album opens with an intro that actually has a rapping verse over a stuttering, cheap, cheesy beat provided by Mr. Rapture, the guy who handles a third of the production. "We Gonna Rock" was born with a spoken word intro, then Sauce Money descends into rapping with a regular style over a lively, happy and vibrant music, but at the same time cheap, simplistic and bouncy: loud drum, economic sounds, the hook don't work, the boy's rap is good, but he struggles to emerge on a bad rhythm that wants to take the stage and the cut is excessive at five minutes. The third pick has a bouncy and cheap production created by Omonte Ward, with a sparse and skeletal drum in the background and good taut strings: the beat is glossy, gloomy, triumphal and cinematic, it sounds better than that of the previous song. Sauce Money's smooth, slow, fluid rapping seems to be more at home on this kind of music, that approaches, is inspired by or at least looks at the one featured on Jay-Z's first album. The hook works here too.
"For My Hustlaz" is the second single released by Marcy's rapper on Priority, in 2000: Mr. Rapture returns behind the keyboards with a triumphant musical carpet that takes a sample from "Far from Over" by Frank Stallone directly from the soundtrack of "Staying Alive" (1983). There's a sound that repeats endlessly fast and continues to annoy the entire time in the background. The hook is fine, the rap is fine, but it's impossible for me to carry that sound forward for four minutes and it's a pity, because it spoils the piece. "Middle Finger U" was released in 1998 on MCA: bouncy, lively, upbeat production created by DJ Clark Kent, smooth delivery of Sauce Money in a club-intended tune with a simple hook.
In "Do You See" Puff Daddy returns the favor that the Brooklyn rapper did him by allowing him to win that Grammy with the track dedicated to Biggie Smalls: here Combs arrives both as a producer with Prestige and as a guest. The song has the same problem as "For My Hustlaz", there's a ridiculous sound that repeats over and over for five minutes and it' s impossible to go forward with the song, which has commercial ambitions. Sauce is fine, but Puffy destroys everything both with the bad music created by the Hitmen, who will not go down in history as the best production team of their period, and as guest, blandly reciting his weak lyrics and irritatingly executing the hook.
"Face Off 2000" takes on the tone of an apocryphal sequel to "Face/Off", 1997 song included by Jay-Z in "Vol. 1" which features Sauce Money as a guest. DJ Clark Kent signs his second production with an iconic sample, if it weren't for whosampled I wouldn't have gotten there anyway even though it was easy, is "You Are My Sunshine" by Mtume, track you may have already heard in "Wanna Get High" by X-Raided ft. Lunasicc, the finest of his second LP, "Wake Up" by Shade Sheist ft. Nate Dogg and Warren G, "86'" by Raekwon ft. Altrina Renee", Jay Worthy's "Gangslide" and "Thumbs Up!", a song by Richie Thumbs ft. Mo' Money and The LOX, released in 1997 on the less successful Roc-A-Blok Productions. It's no coincidence that the name of this label is similar to that of Roc-A-Fella, the label is a subsidiary of that of Shawn Carter, Kareem Burke and Damon Dash, founded by Jay-Z affiliate DJ Ski together with Damon Dash's cousin, Darrien, who had little luck on the circuit and disbanded when Ski left New York to take a break from music.
The production of the Sauce Money track is solid, the guy delivers bars with a smooth, slow and confident style, killing the beat, the functional hook also sounds good here. Marley Marl is the author of production number eight, however, this stuff don't sound like a Marley Marl beat, the title of this song seems to be referring to the rhythm, and represents my own thought for this scandalous music. There's just no way this thing came out of Marley Marl's hands. It's not acceptable. Embarrassing. "Chart Climbing" is the first song released by the rapper after signing with Priority, in 1999: Big Jaz, who launched Jay-Z underground in the late 80s and whose protégé Hova was, he's credited for the beat in this track, which samples Booker T. & the M.G.'s "Run Tank Run" from the movie "Up Tight" (1968). His solution is minimal, cheap and simplistic for this pop / radio-oriented cut that doesn't have much luck, the rapper's style is slow and sparse on these light organs and piano keys.
A few years later, GZA samples a Ken Sport track, which in turn samples "Run Tank Run", for the track "Did Ya Say That" from "Legend of the Liquid Sword" (2002), which is why the beat of the Wu-Tang Clan rapper's song and this one by Sauce Money sound the same. A skit introduces us to the second half of the project. DJ Premier takes a sample from a late sixties song by Carla Thomas, "Where Do I Go", and makes it a classic for this Sauce Money track, "Intruder Alert": Marcy's emcee delivers with great style, and his functional hook is decent, the rhythm is done so well that it seems to have come out of the last Gang Starr album. "C My 1's" is the first of two productions in a row by beatmaker Spencer Bellamy: the music is accessible and radio oriented, there's a simple hook sung by Bam-Bue, somehow with his talent Sauce manages to keep this cheesy, cheap beat going for four minutes.
There's always Spencer Bellamy behind the keyboards of the next song, "Pre-Game", even if he seems to be a completely different producer: the boom bap that the boy chooses for this piece is excellent, dark and tense, serious and urgent, cinematic, with a cutting bass, perfect drum, interesting and sensational sample from "Aftermath" by Quincy Jones for the soundtrack of "The Slender Thread" (1966), eerie organ keys, beautiful spatial soundscape. Sauce Money enters with a slow, flowing, dope style, making this cut among the best of his only LP, possibly his best. Jay-Z on the second verse, inspired, confident, amazing delivery on a production that would not have disfigured in one of his last records. The song is the B-side of "Middle Finger U", one of the singles released in 1998 with MCA, and is included in the soundtrack of the film "Belly" (1998). Being the best beat and best track of the entire album, logic wants it to end before two minutes, yes. The beat has been going on for only half a minute, deservedly so. There's a version with a third verse of Sauce Money, but even with this additional verse the piece does not reach four minutes, absurd, because the rhythm deserves to travel even further.
The magic disappears with the arrival of the last three productions conceived by Stanley Frazier aka Mr. Rapture: "Say Unkle" is grumpy and difficult, cheap and simplistic, the rapper's performance is wasted on this outrageous music. The fifteenth choice is Sauce Money's tribute to his late mother, smoothness delivery of the New York emcee on melodic, accessible, glossy music, with a light fingerboard and a Maverick rnb hook. The rhythm uses a sample of "Living Inside Your Love" by Earl Klugh, the same song used by 2Pac for "Pain". "What's My Name" is the second single released on MCA in 1999, which has "Foundation 99" as its b-side, a sequel to Big Jaz's track of the same name ft. Jay-Z & Sauce Money, in turn a b-side of his single "Waitin'", released in 1996 originally on the Bulldog label, subsidiary of Freeze Records, and later reissued the same year via Priority.
The updated version of Foundation, ft. Jay-Z and Wais, seems destined to end up on this record, but it's eventually replaced with another single. In any case, it has an unobtrusive beat with a haunting loop, it doesn't go down in history: fortunately, it's the last of Mr. Rapture, who did more damage than good things on this LP. A skit precedes the last track, "What We Do", where Memphis Bleek joins Sauce Money to spit out the last few bars of the CD over melodic, accessible, light and enjoyable music provided by EZ Elpee, Sauce Money's honest and flowing rapping sounds better than usual on these kinds of beats. There would also be an additional bonus track, "Touch Me, Tease Me", with Lil' Kim releasing a vicious hook but no verse, the song pairs with Beanie Sigel's "Mac Man" from the same year, because Puff Daddy places a Super Mario sample for this track, whose production was already bad.
Sauce Money grew up in the same neighborhood as Jay-Z, which landed him on his first three albums and let him fall by the wayside after the guy exited Roc-A-Fella after releasing a couple of singles with the label. Gaither is a nice guy, boasts good lyricism centered on bravado and on humorous jokes, and he has a smoothness flow, silky and refreshing, similar to Hova's early career, but if you don't pay due attention you can not even notice it, because the music is irregular and sometimes weak and often doesn't help the style of the main interpreter, never value his talent, because the man had the potential to be the real driving force behind post-Jay-Z Roc-A-Fella instead of State Property.
The fact that this record has been forgotten is curious, because this is the prototype of all Roc-A-Fella albums made by the State Property guys without actually being a label-released album. The project has no concept or clear direction, its obvious flaws try to hide its merits, which leads to it being a jumpy and incoherent listen in these 67 minutes, pressed between the desire to put some songs in the charts and stay focused on street cuts. Like State Property records, this effort lives in Roc-A-Fella nostalgia, it's a product that comes out with a delay of about two to three years and boasts a production crew that is similar to the one used by Jay-Z in "Vol. 1", with DJ Premier, Big Jaz, Puff Daddy, Prestige and the addition of Clark Kent, one of the main producers on "Reasonable Doubt". There would also be Ski Beatz, but around the end of the nineties he had decided to take a break from music and he was still on break around the time of Sauce Money's debut recording. The disc gets a good response from the public, entering the Billboard 200 and reaching the top 20 among rap records, and it's lukewarmly received by critics, unfortunately, it's not promoted adequately by Priority and the sales result doesn't allow the artist to start his own artistic career, at least in the mainstream, making him hole up in the mixtapes circuit.
Rating: 6.5/10.
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