Twenty-one year-old Vic Mensa is the kind of musician you can't get too comfortable with. One minute he's channeling his inner N.E.R.D. on the hazy "Orange Soda," and the next he's putting two middle fingers up to the rules of genre with his dancey, Disclosure-beats-meets-Twista-flow banger, "Down On My Luck."
Hailing from the music-centric city of Chicago—an area that has churned out hip-hop greats such as Common, Lupe Fiasco, and Kanye, as well as house legends Frankie Knuckles and DJ Rashad—Mensa is set to add his name to your playlist, with a flow that's in turn syrupy and aggressively in your face. Since emerging onto the scene with his highly praised mixtape Innanetape last year, Mensa has climbed the ranks of the online music-media world and has established himself as a Chicago rapper to watch, garnering a spot on the coveted XXL Freshman 2014 cover.
Last Friday, as he was gearing up to open for Iggy Azalea here in New York, we caught up with Mensa to talk about the music he grew up on, his first gold Nikes from Opening Ceremony, and that one time he got to perform with Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn.
CHLOE DEWBERRY: Give us a little bit of background on what first inspired you to get into music.
VIC MENSA: The first music I got into music was the sound of African drums because my pops is from Ghana. I remember being 5 years old, whilin’ out to the drums in my kitchen. Before I was into rap music, I was a huge fan of Nirvana; that’s one of my favorite bands to this day. When I started listening to rap music like Jay Z, I was still listening to rock music like Arcade Fire and The White Stripes, so it’s always kind of been combined to me.
How did growing up in Chicago influence your sound?
I take inspiration from every city, everywhere I go. I think that the idea of a city is inspiring. There are so many people from different backgrounds all thrown on top of each other, and it’s inspiring because everyone and everything has a story, a texture, and a sound to it. You put it all together in a city like Chicago and you end up with something unique, so that’s why my music is different. Chicago is bigger than the sum of all its parts. It’s just a real magical vibe to me; it’s in the cement, the air, and the water.
There’s been a lot of spotlight on the hip-hop talent coming out of Chicago lately. What do you think separates Chicago's hip-hop scene from the rest?
We have something to say that’s different from a lot of people. I think there’s a way that I put things across and the music that I combine my words with that transcends boundaries that a lot of people are limited to. I can relate to hood shit because I’ve been around that, and I can also relate to private school kids and music school kids and bring that all together. My music reaches people that gravitate toward real shit more than anything. It’s also for the kids that just listen to the radio; it’s for everybody.
Do you remember the first CD that you ever bought?
Probably some bullshit like Bac
Hailing from the music-centric city of Chicago—an area that has churned out hip-hop greats such as Common, Lupe Fiasco, and Kanye, as well as house legends Frankie Knuckles and DJ Rashad—Mensa is set to add his name to your playlist, with a flow that's in turn syrupy and aggressively in your face. Since emerging onto the scene with his highly praised mixtape Innanetape last year, Mensa has climbed the ranks of the online music-media world and has established himself as a Chicago rapper to watch, garnering a spot on the coveted XXL Freshman 2014 cover.
Last Friday, as he was gearing up to open for Iggy Azalea here in New York, we caught up with Mensa to talk about the music he grew up on, his first gold Nikes from Opening Ceremony, and that one time he got to perform with Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn.
CHLOE DEWBERRY: Give us a little bit of background on what first inspired you to get into music.
VIC MENSA: The first music I got into music was the sound of African drums because my pops is from Ghana. I remember being 5 years old, whilin’ out to the drums in my kitchen. Before I was into rap music, I was a huge fan of Nirvana; that’s one of my favorite bands to this day. When I started listening to rap music like Jay Z, I was still listening to rock music like Arcade Fire and The White Stripes, so it’s always kind of been combined to me.
How did growing up in Chicago influence your sound?
I take inspiration from every city, everywhere I go. I think that the idea of a city is inspiring. There are so many people from different backgrounds all thrown on top of each other, and it’s inspiring because everyone and everything has a story, a texture, and a sound to it. You put it all together in a city like Chicago and you end up with something unique, so that’s why my music is different. Chicago is bigger than the sum of all its parts. It’s just a real magical vibe to me; it’s in the cement, the air, and the water.
There’s been a lot of spotlight on the hip-hop talent coming out of Chicago lately. What do you think separates Chicago's hip-hop scene from the rest?
We have something to say that’s different from a lot of people. I think there’s a way that I put things across and the music that I combine my words with that transcends boundaries that a lot of people are limited to. I can relate to hood shit because I’ve been around that, and I can also relate to private school kids and music school kids and bring that all together. My music reaches people that gravitate toward real shit more than anything. It’s also for the kids that just listen to the radio; it’s for everybody.
Do you remember the first CD that you ever bought?
Probably some bullshit like Bac