Vic Mensa’s career thus far has seen him pull on and shed styles and subject matter like a starlet on a fashion shoot. He exasperates some fans who love him in one stylistic or lyric-content mode but can’t really fuck with him in another, while it’s that very versatility that so many others love about him. He’s one of the smartest emcees out right now, growing and evolving right before our eyes and ears (see his recent no-half-stepping comments in support of LGBT rights), and both his recent freestyle on DJ Semtex’s BBC Radio 1Xtra show and his accompanying interview illustrate that.
Vic Mensa via Facebook
The freestyle has the Chicago rapper talking about everything from the current state of race relations and how it affects the mental health of black people, to checking racist politicians as well as non-black artists who either fall silent or stick their foot in their mouths on the issue of black lives and what they’re up against in the here and now. It’s an absolutely dazzling performance that reminds even sometime-y fans why they eff with him in the first place. That clip is immediately below, followed by his sit-down interview with Semtex. And be sure to check out his new EP, the aptly named There’s Alot Going On. His “Back With A Vengeance” tour is scheduled to kick off in Atlanta on July 21.
