Victor Kwesi Mensah, known professionally as Vic Mensa, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, he was a member of the regional hip-hop groups Kids These Days and Savemoney prior to releasing his debut solo mixtape, Innanetape (2013). As a solo artist, Mensa has been signed to Virgin EMI Records, Def Jam Recordings, Capitol Records, and Roc Nation.
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"The energy captivated me as a kid and I felt like it's one of those bands and one of those records... shit was just authentic man, it was a real channel of energy, it was like a whole generation's energy coming out of one fucking band. It was just so vitriolic."Watch this moment
"'Live at Jazz Café' probably has all types of vamps and intros and musical bridges that I could sample and that'd be iller than sampling the album proper."Watch this moment
"Slum Village-Fantastic Vol. 2, this is, without a doubt, one of the best produced hip-hop records of all time, because this is Dilla doing an entire album for a group in which he's the principal songwriter. Dilla's really underrated as a rapper, man."Watch this moment
"One of my favorite albums and my favorite Tribe album for sure, y'know? Every song, for the most part, is just drums and bass, y'know, and like double bass stuff. You listen to it and it's just like so simple, but they made it so murderous y'know."Watch this moment
"This record, 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,' is just an apex of hip-hop and one of the high points of music, I feel like. People like D'Angelo or Lauryn Hill gave us so little music overall, but what they did give to the world shifted the course of music's evolution so much that they never lose any relevance."Watch this moment
"I got this also because I'm like, the live version is gonna have all of this fresh musicality that I haven't heard before that I could probably grab loops from and sample. Clash is just one of my favorite bands... Their constant reinvention of their style, musically and visually."Watch this moment
Every picker shows up alone, sits down in front of the camera, and unpacks a bag. The next one is one click away.
