Vic Mensa - V Tape
By: Phil Deutsch, IG: @pbdeutsch
Vic Mensa has been staying relatively quiet in 2020, with only two releases that predate his new EP, V Tape, but it’s clear he’s been plotting the whole time. The tape’s first two tracks, “VENDETTA” and “MACHIAVELLI (feat. Eryn Allen Kane),” take turns showing us the Chicago rapper’s mentality from different angles. Never one to shy away from politics, Mensa doesn’t mince words with his commentary on the state of the world in 2020.
The tape closes out with two melancholy tracks in “2HONEST (feat. Saint JHN)” and “REBIRTH (feat. BJ The Chicago Kid and Peter Cottontale).” Whether Mensa’s busy reflecting on the past or projecting his future, he does so with a steady, confident flow and equally savvy lyrics.
V Tape is undoubtedly a 2020 project, and it uses that to its favor. These last few years have spelled extreme changes in the rapper’s life, which both lends to and complicates his work. In the end, Vic Mensa found his way through the first half of the year and came out with a quality project for reflecting, embracing, understanding.
Lyrics That Stick:
“I should've learned not to mix award shows with Hennessy
Point a finger, that's three fingers back in your direction
Sometimes you gotta take a L or two to learn the lesson
I dissed a mother's dead son, I'm sorry Ms. Jackson
I take the heat, I gotta let it burn with my confessions”