Sauce Walka is undoubtedly one of the most impactful rappers to emerge in recent history, showcasing his rising talent in the Hip-Hop industry. He’s dropped album after album recently and is set to drop another, New Sauce City 2. The release date keeps changing, so we’ll just release our interview and wait. But the Houston native has more than left his mark.
When it comes to Houston natives—from Geto Boys and Beyoncé to Travis Scott—their love for their city knows no bounds. Sauce is no different’; he proudly represents his hometown wherever he goes. He went so far with his love, he crafted a diss track aimed at Drake for allegedly appropriating the culture there. He openly discusses with Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur that outsiders have borrowed liberally from H-Town.
Aside from his undeniable talent, Sauce Walka has found himself in various situations. When the tragic death of Takeoff occurred in Houston, Sauce Walka spoke up, causing tensions with J. Prince’s sons. Moreover, he managed to evade a significant RICO case that resulted in the imprisonment of his associate, Sancho Saucy of the Sauce Twinz. He was offered a deal with JAY-Z’s Roc Nation but ultimately declined. That’s how deeply he trusts in himself.
The “Amazing AllHipHop Podcast” with Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur dives deep into Sauce Walka’s journey, covering everything from his upbringing by his father, Al Rage, a 12x-wrestling champion, to his experiences as a pimp and his embrace of the art of rap. This interview is a must-listen for present/past/future fans of Sauce Walka.
Sauce Walka: It’s an honor. It’s an honor. It’s an honor. It’s a pleasure to be here.
AllHipHop: Yeah, definitely. That’s a fact. Now, I want to talk to you music and everything. I mean, one of the main things that I’ve noticed about you is I get the impression that you love to rap, and that you rap because you love it. And sometimes it just seems like you just keep going. What’s that about in this day and age? And what does that mean? What are you trying to portray or convey to people?
Sauce Walka: I wouldn’t say that I love to rap anymore. I would say that it’s all I know. I’ll more or less say that. It’s one of them things that I’ve been doing for so long, so well. And I’ve always exceeded at it that I’m numb to it, but I still understand the power, and I still respect the gift that I have to do it. And I understand the responsibility that comes with it, being in the position that I am as a person with my background, and my success, and my story, and the people that look up to me, or that maybe idolize me or motivated by my story and my accomplishments and the way or the style that I chose to go on my journey. I understand the same way I got strength and motivation and closure through music and being a fan of the art and a student of the science of hip hop. I know what it did for me in my life and my struggles.
AllHipHop: Yeah. Now, your dad was a professional wrestler. How did him being a performer or an entertainer and sports like that factor into your success? Because you’re very entertaining.
Sauce Walka: Yeah, for sure, for sure. My character and my stage presence and my personality, it’s a mixture of a lot of s###. But my dad definitely gave me a lot of my comfortability on camera, and definitely prepared me to do interviews, and prepared me to, you know what I’m saying, not be afraid to be loud and outrageous on camera in front of people. Because just naturally in the house in our family, that’s just how we is. We loud, we talk a lot of s###. You know what I’m saying? Me and my daddy be calling each other b###### and hoes and all that. That’s just how we always been. And as far as my dad’s sports career and s###, my dad was an athlete, but he never really made it to the top. My dad was never on WWF Smack Down, video games, or he was never on the T-shirts at Walmart. He never had an action figure toy. He never been in a super championship match where he was making not even a substantial amount of money off of professional wrestling.
But what my dad did do was work hard and traveled around the world and hustled.
AllHipHop: Let’s talk about Houston a little bit. I still love Houston, but back in the day with the Geto Boys and the whole Rap-A-Lot movement, I was front and center. I was buying anything they did, from the Geto Boys, obviously, but they had other groups too, even obscure groups like The Terrorists and all that. It was crazy, but I remember Willie D used to always riff about New York being arrogant or self-centered, whatever you want to call it, cocky. But you have embraced… So first of all, you’re Houston through and through, but recently, you’ve also embraced New York a lot. What for? And is any of that stuff in the background a part of why too?
Sauce Walka: For number one, New York being the mecca of hip hop and the origin of hip hop and me being a person that just respect history in itself, I’ve always had a certain level of value and respect for New York for creating the thing that gave me power in the world and gave me hope in my darkest times. And that’s hip hop, you know what I’m saying, rap. But also, if rap didn’t exist and I didn’t have rap at all, I was going to be a star, regardless. Because the character and the person that I am, that was regardless. I could have been an actor, I could have been a boxer, I could have been a bunch of different things in entertainment and I would’ve succeeded. Obviously, everybody know that. You just heard earlier. It’s a lot of people that know me just for my personality and who I am, and nothing about the music.
AllHipHop: First of all, you’re Houston through and through, but recently, you’ve also embraced New York a lot. What for? And is any of that stuff in the background a part of why too?
Sauce Walka: For number one, New York being the mecca of hip hop and the origin of hip hop and me being a person that just respect history in itself, I’ve always had a certain level of value and respect for New York for creating the thing that gave me power in the world and gave me hope in my darkest times. And that’s hip hop, you know what I’m saying, rap. But also, if rap didn’t exist and I didn’t have rap at all, I was going to be a star, regardless. Because the character and the person that I am, that was regardless. I could have been an actor, I could have been a boxer, I could have been a bunch of different things in entertainment and I would’ve succeeded. Obviously, everybody know that. You just heard earlier. It’s a lot of people that know me just for my personality and who I am, and nothing about the music.
So yep. We respect free styling, you know what I’m saying, battle rapping and free styling. New York is known very much for free styling off the top of the dome right then and there, them good hard lyrics that make sense. And it’s the same thing with battle rapping. And Houston always respond to that about New York lyricism, that y’all can freestyle off the top of the dome right then in the moment, turn the beat on and go off. Houston people do the same thing just in our way, in our format. So me just being a student of the game and loving hip hop itself, that was just a combination of the fashion, the origin, the lyrical capability. If a New York person wanted to make a fun song but still be lyrical or still be heartfelt or still talk about real life, then they going to do that.
And I feel like that was something that Houston always had from the beginning, but we never got our just due and our respect for it.
AllHipHop: Well, that’s a lot of what I feel is criticisms because it seems like to me, people take from Houston.
Sauce Walka: Yes, they do.
AllHipHop: But don’t give credit back. Yeah.
Sauce Walka: That’s why, because they know we don’t have any gatekeepers there to defend for it. The gatekeepers that will actually care about you, what is it called, appropriating. Is that the word?
AllHipHop: Yeah, yeah. Cultural appropriation. Yeah, it happens in Hip-Hop.
Sauce Walka: Okay. So the people, the Pimp Cs, the DJ Screws. I’m trying to think of somebody else that would really go hard and advocate against some s### like that. It’s only so many. Maybe Slim Thug or somebody.
AllHipHop: Oh, he would definitely do it.
Sauce Walka: That’s why Sauce Walka was so important to everybody. That’s why people love me so much, outside of all the other s### they love me for, because I’m one of the only people that has a voice, that has the respect, that has the history that can say certain s### is being done unjust or not right to the Houston culture or the Houston scene. And people wish and wish and would’ve been had said it if they had the platform or the respect or the opportunity to say it, but they don’t, or some of the people that do have that platform choose not to say it because they want to be friends and they don’t want to take any risk of being blackballed, of having controversy or bad taboo in the music industry.
I’m just one of the people that just don’t give a f###. I never gave a f### about that s### because I rap for money. And not only do I rap for money, I rap for legacy. And part of my legacy is that I feel I should not have to lean on another artist’s stardom or another artist’s momentum for me to be who I am. I mean, that showcases a lesser level of talent, in my opinion. And I could be wrong, but-
AllHipHop: Yeah, I noticed that about you, that outspokenness, respectfully, when the Takeoff situation happened. And I was like, “Hey, he’s talking back to people that people don’t normally talk back to.”
Sauce Walka: I mean, I’m different. You know what I’m saying? In my city, my family that I stand for and I credit is very highly respected in the same way any other powerful family is respected in my city. In my city, we all got a lot of respect and honor for each other, and it’s a real law and organization that goes around in Texas. And we all can shake each other hands, we all can touch each other, we all can see each other. We all live like cowboys. So at the end of the day, it’s a different line of respect and honor and salute amongst each other. And certain people on certain levels in statures only can even talk to each other in this type of format.
And certain s### not even meant for the internet. So that was just some family s### that just got addressed on the internet the way it got addressed. But we all men, we all gangsters, we all kings and legends. And everybody in my city, in my state can’t do that because they don’t have that relationship with the old man. They don’t have that love and relationship with the streets. I’m really that. And I respect the old man.
AllHipHop: Yeah, the old man said J. Prince.
Sauce Walka: Yeah, I love the old man. He love me. You see this man go on the internet and talk s### and speak on my name highly every time he ever speak about…
Sauce Walka: In there and talk s### and speak on my name, every time he ever speak about me, he speak highly. But he really that, he one of them, he was like, I’m really that. I’m one of them. You know what I’m saying?
AllHipHop: That’s respect all right. Another person, another man of respect. You mentioned him in, let me see, let me see, what song was that? You mentioned Jay-Z in “Westheimer” with WestSide Gunn.
Sauce Walka: Man, salute to house, salute to JAY-Z, salute to Roc Nation. Salute to my boy Danny too, from Roc Nation, shout out to my bro. Solange ex-husband.
AllHipHop: Oh, yeah. Oh, he work at Roc Nation?
Sauce Walka: Yeah, he still work for Roc Nation. That’s JAY-Z, like one of his best friends too.
That’s his boy. So when I had did that “Ghetto Gospel” song or whatever, Jay Z had took notice to it and he put it on his app (Tidal), his top songs of the year list that he did on title at the end of every year, he used to do it. At the time, that list was a big thing, it was a big subject when JAY-Z would put your name on that list.
And that was kind of how, I think Tee Grizzly got his jumpstart was he was on the first one. The first original list that JAY-Z did, Tee Grizzly had his favorite pick of that year, and then the following year after that, my song was his favorite song on that list, and that song was “Ghetto Gospel.”So when that song came out and their write-up came out or whatever, a huge wave of momentum and streams and new fans and interviews and record labels having interest in me wanting to sign me or whatever.
And Jay had his people reach out to me and we all got on the call and s### and we all talked about it and they sent me over some contracts and we were Roc Nation, it was a cool deal. It was $5 million dollar management deal, but they still wanted ownership with the catalog too though.
They just didn’t want to strictly do management and touring and shows and other source of publishing, that type of revenue without the catalog. They wanted my entire catalog to be moved over. And that’s just something that I always never been comfortable with because I’m an artist that came in guns swinging. I recorded a lot of albums every year that I released, like you said, we talked earlier off camera, I came out as the Sauce twins and we dropped a lot of albums together and then I got my record label TSF. I dropped a lot of albums up under that, and then I have my own extensive catalog of my own.
AllHipHop: So they was going to bring all of that in? Not just what you do going forward?
Sauce Walka: No. Yeah, usually when you sign a record deal for a huge substantial money, even if it’s a management deal with record label services with a major, or it’s a record deal with major services or a partnership, if you don’t have the leverage and the conversation or the respect from the label to wage your catalog out of the contract, then that’s going to be required to be within the contract for them to have a safety net to recoup. Because if they don’t have no skin in, then they don’t no guarantee that they’re going to be able to recoup their investment. And I just never agreed with doing business like that. Because in music, when you are rapping and you making music, the real purpose of making music is for the catalog, not to do a concert.
AllHipHop: Yeah, no, that’s a fact.
Sauce Walka: ‘Cause there’s going to become a time in life where your body is not going to want you to get on stage and do concerts anymore. And your fan base and your crowd is going to age, people are going to pass, life goes on. New music, new artists, you’re not going to have the same velocity and momentum or amount of shows and concerts that you had in your peak or in your heyday, or in your youth. Even if you’re still a touring artist, it’s not the same as when you’re younger. I never wanted to be a artist that just because I can’t perform or I can’t show up to places, I’m not making real money off of music.
And I just understood in business what they meant, so I just stayed away from major deals my whole career. There’s a lot of deals that was tempting or that may have made sense, but my whole goal in life was just to get to six figures a month off of streaming. You know what I’m saying? Once you making six figures a month, you’re generating well over a million dollars every year, for however long you can sustain that amount of streaming and income.
AllHipHop: That’s a great goal.
Sauce Walka: That’s what led me to signing more artists, compound interest.
More from Sauce Walka coming soon.
