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Name: Vic Mensa
Occupation: Rapper/Activist
Location: Chicago
How We Know Him: Signed to JAY-Z's Roc Nation, the 26-year-old proudly echoes his hometown musically and culturally.
Why We Chose Him: Never mincing his words, Vic is never afraid to call attention to the socioeconomic issues plaguing Chicago and the nation while doing something about it.
What's next: Through his organization Save Money Save Life he plans to train 11,000 children as street doctors, gives shoes to the community and still puts out music.
IG: @vicmensa
In mid-September, Public Enemy frontman and cultural activist Chuck D sent out a tweet to the world. He didn't use many characters, but his message was firm and direct: “Support @VicMensa.”
Vic Mensa, 26, has fans from all walks of life. In 2013, he released his first solo mixtape Innanetape. Since then, he's worked with everyone from Pusha T to Chance the Rapper and, of course, Kanye West. Perhaps one of the features that Mensa is most famous for is its ability to evolve without much explanation. Most recently, he released a rock album with Travis Barker on drums, titled Punx93. LP shares its name with Mensa's clothing line which recently hosted a show at New York Fashion Week this fall. When he talks about his pieces, his voice rises and falls with passion.
“The harsh reality of Chicago is something I express through 93PUNX, although you might not automatically associate it with rock and roll fashion, at the end of the day it's street culture,” Vic Mensa tells Hip-Hop Wired.
He adds, “93PUNX is the brainchild of myself and Conrad Muscarella. We both grew up skateboarding and attribute a lot of our sensibilities and style to that culture. We tried to incorporate people of all shades and backgrounds into our look to show that this outfit and movement really is for everyone, black, white, Latinx, straight, trans & whatever! We wanted to recreate the energy of the legendary New York club CBGB. It was so amazing to see everything come together the way it did.”
Mensa has remained open to growth, both musically and personally, especially in terms of community efforts. His foundation SavemoneySavelife is dedicated to fighting racism and injustice in the United States, and Vic Mensa is nobody's face. Two weeks before Chuck tweeted out his 16 characters to the public's praise, the rapper made good on his word and appeared in Los Angeles to perform an Anti-ICE concert from the flatbed of a truck.
His nonprofit, along with NFL player Nick Kwiatkoski, is currently collecting shoes for a drive later this fall to benefit Chicago's youth affected by gun violence and the city's homeless . “I do the things I do in Chicago because the city has given me so much,” he tells Hip Hop Wired. “I understand that it is right to return the support. Chicago means everything to me, it's the ground that grows my creative expression, the foundation of my being.”
The sneaker event, in its second year, is aptly titled The Anti-Bait Truck—not to compete, but to make a pointed point about the Chicago Police Department and their alleged willingness to trap the underdog.
“One of my primary goals with my nonprofit moving forward is to provide free mental health services for people in the community,” shares Mensa. “We're working with a school in town called Camelot that takes in all long-term suspended and expelled students, so I plan to hire medical students to provide therapy at the school for these kids.”
If nothing else, Vic Mensa is a musician riding for his city against petty comments from internet DJs and politicians. He says he's holding Chicago close to him and planning innovative moves that promote change, while TV talking heads make the city's woes their headlines. His fans from day one have had to accept that Mensa won't fit anyone's limitations, and why should he? There isn't much growth out of a box.
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