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Vic Mensa

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Vic Mensa
Vic Mensa Live in 2014
Vic Mensa Live in 2014
Background information
Birth nameVictor Kwesi Mensah
BornJune 6, 1993
OriginChicago, Illinois, United States
Occupations
InstrumentVocals
Years active2009–present[1]
Labels
Websitevicmensa.com

Victor Kwesi Mensah,[3] better known by his stage name Vic Mensa, is an American hip hop recording artist & Grammy nominated songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. He is currently signed to Roc Nation and was a member of the group Kids These Days, which broke up in May 2013. Following their breakup, he released his first major mixtape INNANETAPE. Vic Mensa is also founder of the hip-hop collective Save Money which includes frequent collaborator Chance the Rapper. His debut single "Down On My Luck" was released in June 2014 by Virgin EMI and it achieved international success.[4]

Life and career

1993–2012: Early life and career beginnings

Victor Kwesi Mensah's father is from Ghana and his mother is an American. Vic grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. [5]

2013–14: INNANETAPE

Main article: INNANETAPE


Mensa performed with Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn at Albarn's performance at the Governors Ball Music Festival, where he performed the track "Clint Eastwood", filling in for MC Del the Funky Homosapien.[6] When announcing a tour for 2015, Mensa said that he has plans to collaborate with Albarn sometimes in the near future.[7]

On September 18, 2013, it was announced, that Mensa would be joining J. Cole and Wale on the What Dreams May Come Tour.[8] Following the end of the tour, he toured Europe with Danny Brown, for the beginning of February 21, 2014 and ending March 8, 2014.[9] To cap off his rise to stardom, Mensa was chosen to be on the cover of XXL Magazine for the Freshman Class of 2014.[10] On May 12, 2014, his first official single "Down On My Luck" was serviced to urban contemporary radio in the United Kingdom.[11] On the same day, the music video for the song was released.[12] "Down on My Luck" was then released for digital download in international markets on June 6, 2014, by Virgin EMI Records.[13] It was released as his first single from his debut EP, titled Street Lights.[14]

2015–present: Traffic

On February 12, 2015, Kanye West debuted a track, titled "Wolves" from his upcoming album, The Life of Pablo. The song featured Vic Mensa, along with Sia at his adidas Originals showcase. It was also revealed, that the song will be number one on the track listing, however this has since been changed to number ten. Mensa later performed "Wolves" alongside West and Sia on Saturday Night Live's 40th Anniversary Celebration on February 15, 2015. On April 10, 2015, Vic Mensa released another collaboration with Kanye West, titled "U Mad" on SoundCloud. The song is said out to be his second single for his upcoming debut album, titled Traffic. On April 21, 2015, Roc Nation announced, that they had signed Vic Mensa to its label, a video of Mensa signing the deal alongside Jay Z backstage at his On the Run Tour in Chicago was released on TIDAL. Jay also tweeted an iTunes link to Mensa's new Kanye-featured single in the process. He has stated, that the album is around 80-90% done and should be released in the upcoming months. [15] In July 2015, Mensa released a new song, titled "No Chill" onto Apple Music. It was produced by Skrillex and Jahlil Beats. On the same month, he released a remix of "Codeine Crazy", by Future, titled "Codeine Crazy (Icarus Story)" on SoundCloud. On August 14, 2015, Mensa released a new song, titled "I Been" on his SoundCloud.

On February 8, 2016 it was announced that Mensa, along with Travis Scott and iLoveMakonnen, will be a part of Alexander Wang's "WANGSQUAD" campaign.[16]

In 2015, Mensa received a nomination for Best Rap Song at the 58th Grammy Awards as a songwriter for co-writing Kanye West's single "All Day".

Artistry

Influences

In interviews with XXL and Complex, Mensa cites hip hop artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, A Tribe Called Quest, Timbaland, Eminem, Biggie Smalls, Missy Elliott, Lupe Fiasco, UGK, J Dilla, The Pharcyde, Nas, 2Pac, and Hieroglyphics as well as rock artists like Jimi Hendrix, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Gorillaz and Nirvana among his influences.[3][17]

Musical style

Mensa has received a wide range of recognition for his lyrical ability. In 2013, XXL called his breakthrough mixtape Innanetape "lyrical nourishment" and commenting on his ability to "bend words at will, cramming syllables into lines with obvious glee."[18]

Discography

Studio albums

  • Traffic (TBA)

Mixtapes

Singles

As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US US
R&B 		US
Rap 		AUS BEL
(FL) 		BEL
(WA) 		UK
"Down On My Luck" 2014 — — — —[a] 55 62 37 Traffic
"U Mad"
(featuring Kanye West) 		2015 — — — — — — —
"No Chill"
(featuring Skrillex) [20] 		2016 — — — — — — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Peak chart positions Album
US US
R&B 		US
Rap 		AUS BEL
(FL) 		BEL
(WA) 		UK
"Fast Life"
(Asher Roth featuring Vic Mensa) 		— — — — — — — RetroHash
"Have U Eva"[21]
(Leather Corduroys featuring Vic Mensa) 		— — — — — — — Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Notes

  1. ^ "Down On My Luck" did not enter the ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles, but peaked at number 16 on the Australian Top 40 Urban Singles chart.[19]

Awards and nominations

Year Awards Category Nominated work Result
2015 mtvU Woodie Awards[22] Best Video Woodie "Down On My Luck" Nominated
2016 58th Grammy Awards Best Rap Song "All Day" (as a songwriter) Nominated

References

  1. ^ "Vic Mensa — 25 New Rappers to Watch Out For". Complex. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  2. ^ http://www.closedsessions.com/releases/#/innanettape/
  3. ^ a b "Vic Mensa - XXL". Xxlmag.com.
  4. ^ Top Of The Year: The Deans List (Top 25 Artists of 2013). OK-Tho (January 2014). Retrieved on 2016-01-08.
  5. ^ Spanos, Brittany. "How Rap Phenom Vic Mensa Cheated Death and Charmed Kanye". Rolling Stone.
  6. ^ Young, Alex. (2014-06-09) Watch: Damon Albarn performs with De La Soul, Vic Mensa at Governors Ball. Consequence of Sound. Retrieved on 2016-01-08.
  7. ^ Moskovitch, Greg. "Vic Mensa Confirms Early 2015 Tour". Music Feeds. Music Feeds. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  8. ^ "Vic Mensa Joins J. Cole's 'What Dreams May Come Tour'". Illroots. September 18, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  9. ^ C. Vernon Coleman (January 11, 2014). "Vic Mensa Joining Danny Brown For Upcoming European Tour - XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  10. ^ Sia, Nicole (May 5, 2014). "XXL Freshmen 2014 Cover Revealed - XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  11. ^ "BBC Radio 1Xtra Playlist". Archived from the original on May 12, 2014.
  12. ^ "Isaiah Rashad - XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  13. ^ "iTunes - Music - Down On My Luck - Single by Vic Mensa". Itunes.apple.com. June 6, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  14. ^ Montanez, Eric (May 12, 2014). "Vic Mensa – Down On My Luck". Hypetrak. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  15. ^ Grefe, Cliff. (2015-04-21) Vic Mensa Signs To Jay Z's Roc Nation. HipHopDX. Retrieved on 2016-01-08.
  16. ^ Smith, Trevor. "Vic Mensa part of Wang Campaign". Hotnewhiphop. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  17. ^ Vic Mensa: Who is the New Chicago Rapper?. Complex (2014-02-06). Retrieved on 2016-01-08.
  18. ^ Xxlmag.com. Xxlmag.com. Retrieved on 2016-01-08.
  19. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 40 Urban Singles Chart". ARIA. Archived from the original on June 14, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  20. ^ https://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/no-chill-single/id1083241232?ign-mpt=uo%3D8
  21. ^ Nostro, Lauren (May 15, 2015). "Leather Corduroys and Vic Mensa Drop a New Banger, "Have U Eva"". Complex. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  22. ^ "mtvU Announces '2015 mtvU Woodie Awards' Nominees". tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
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