VIC MENSA

Drawing from an eclectic mix of influences that includes ’90s hip-hop and rock, rapper Vic Mensa makes impactful music that's both introspective and politically charged. • Mensa got his start with the hip-hop group Kids These Days, who released one album before breaking up in 2013. • He also founded the hip-hop collective SAVEMONEY, which includes his friend Chance the Rapper. In 2013, Mensa guested on Chance’s breakthrough Acid Rap mixtape and issued his own solo project, INNANETAPE. • In 2015, Mensa earned major buzz by appearing on the Kanye West single “Wolves”. That same year, he signed with Roc Nation and nabbed a Grammy nomination for co-writing Kanye’s song “All Day”. • Mensa’s 2017 debut solo album, The Autobiography, is filled with the rapper’s personal reflections on issues like police brutality, violence and drug use. Guests range from Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo to rapper Pusha T. • Mensa also fronts the rap-rock side project 93Punx. Their 2019 self-titled debut album features Good Charlotte and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello.