Vic Mensa showed up for a performance on Colbert with Wyclef Jean and Peter CottonTale on Thursday, and he has a new project on the way soon, too.
The Chicago rapper, who recently recruited Wyclef and Chance the Rapper for his striking new track “Shelter,” performed a medley on the Late Show. Accompanied by the Fugees alum and CottonTale, Vic offered up a live take on both the recently released “Shelter” and a new song, “FR33DOM.” Taking something of a stripped-back approach for the show, Mensa and director Andre Muir delivered a dimly-lit visual featuring plenty of subtly surreal imagery.
Vic Mensa also revealed his new project I Tape is coming soon. A “formal follow-up” to last year’s V Tape, the release is expected to include both songs he performed on Colbert. The five-track project is set to feature production from Just Blaze and Smoko Ono among others. As with V Tape, Mensa will tackle multiple crucial topics; a press release promises a focus on “injustices that Vic has long addressed in his social activism work, both as an individual and through initiatives of his nonprofit organization SAVEMONEYSAVELIFE.”
Check out the art below; I Tape hits March 26:
In an interview with Bianca Gracie for Uproxx, Mensa spoke about his extensive efforts through his nonprofit organization SAVEMONEYSAVELIFE, which helps fight against racial injustice, overcriminialization, and other issues that impact minority communities in the United States.
“I was in Palestine and I met a kid who was part of an organization that was doing the exact same program. They raised X amount of dollars and were able to train and provide equipment for, I don’t know, 50 medics in Gaza because the Gaza Strip is obviously a fucking war zone,” Mensa explained. “It made me think instantly of another warzone: Chicago. I want to bring this program back to Chicago.”
He also said America has a fascination with hip-hop, both interested by and fearing Black creatives. “The Black man has been this violent criminal and the Black woman is this hypersexual deviant,” he said. “I was listening to Mystikal the other day and oftentimes what the lyrics are portraying is what white America has been afraid of the whole time.”
Watch Vic Mensa’s performance on Colbert above, and look for I Tape when it drops March 26 via Roc Nation.
