The Rise of Former Kids These Days Frontman, Vic Mensa
Victor Mensah better known as Vic Mensa came from high expectations to higher expectations. The South Side Chicago kid grew up in a home that was high on education, his father with a PhD in Economics and mother a physical therapist in a public school. But he was the negative of two positives, a troublemaker in school and a soon to be critically acclaimed Hip-Hop artist of Chicago. Even in the Hip-Hop world he had to compete with his friend and peer Chance the Rapper who was climbing to the top while he had to stay afloat in the expectations of his family and now the rest of the Hip-Hop Industry.
The South Side rapper was not alone in the beginning of his struggle to fame. In 2009, he was in the Hip-Hop band Kids These Days, which was critically acclaimed, winning first place at Congress Theater’s Next Big Thing Competition and performing at Lollapalooza. The groups’s mixtape, Traphouse Rock was well received to say the least. But the band slowly began to drift as they were making their own individual success. Vic as their frontman was doing his own thing and so were the other bandmates. Not surprisingly, the group’s break-up didn’t stop Vic Mensa’s grind.
The Innanetape dropped in 2013, the first solo mixtape for Vic Mensa after the band’s break up. The vibe for the mixtape was closely related to his roots in Kids These Days, but more of the Hip-Hop was shown within the mixtape as a whole. The mixtape gained him recognition from plenty of artists. His 2014 single “Down on My Luck” solidified his name and presence as an artist on the rise.
Even Kanye West and Jay Z saw this young Chicago rapper as one of the best next up and coming talents in the rap game. Kanye enlisted Vic to feature on his “Wolves” track for his album Life of Pablo. The track was released in 2015. West returned the favor featuring on Vic’s hit single of 2015 “U Mad”. Jay Z signed Vic Mensa onto his label Roc Nation and Vic’s highly anticipated, but yet to be titled album is nearing it’s release date. In the Summer of 2016 Vic dropped another single with Skrillex titled “No Chill”.
In this year of 2016, Vic Mensa has not only made a name for himself but has also risen to the occasion as an artist with his rivals and peers in the Chicago music scene. He may not have been the educator of his parents expectations, but he became one of this generation’s next voices.
With his eagerly awaited album on the way and his latest 7-track EP, There’s Alot Going On—the prelude to his debut album, Vic Mensa is well on his way to being one of this generation’s next aspiring Hip-Hop artists with his aesthetics and his willingness to beat the odds.
Watch the video for Vic Mensa’s EP title track, “There’s A Lot Going On” below:
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