Vic Mensa Drops More Wisdom In 3 Minutes Than Most Rappers Do In A Career (Video)

Vic Mensa’s recent EP, There’s Alot Going On, could not be more appropriately titled. In fact, in a year where multiple citizens have died at the hands of the police, terrorists have attacked an independence day celebration, militaries are staging coups, snipers have killed multiple police officers, and countries are breaking off from the European Union–all in the last 30 days–that might be a gross understatement. Mensa’s EP covers a litany of substantive subjects, from police violence to suicidal thoughts to the lead poisoning crisis in Flint, Michigan. Vic’s outspokenness has not been confined to wax, either. He has used multiple platforms to raise awareness, from interviews to TV appearances to standing with the people.

Vic Mensa’s Freestyle Causes Sway To Destroy His Studio (Video)

Mensa’s latest activist vehicle comes in the form of a lyrically dense freestyle for DJ Semtex on BBC Radio. Using Pusha T’s “Numbers On The Boards” as his sonic canvas, Vic makes his intent clear from his opening bars. “We in the middle of a wartime. I ain’t spittin’ no empty punchlines. Nestle with the bars when it’s crunch time.” From there, he goes on to paint vivid pictures of a world filled with police victims, gentrification, poverty, racism, and more. In a potent line about weapons, Vic rhymes “The rest of the world wonder why we shy on gun control. That’s ’cause they cashing in checks on every gun that’s sold. You see the NRA’s just like the NBA. They let niggas play themselves, then white men get paid.”

This is an extraordinary verse for extraordinary times.