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Inside Vic Mensa’s Listening Party for I Tape
Vic Mensa’s new I Tape project drops this Friday, March 26th. MusicXclusives caught up to him during his album listening party to get an inside scoop on the album and the details surrounding it.
The Zoom room contained dozens of notable names. Vic gave personal shoutouts to the likes. of writer/producer Malik Yusuf and Sullivan Doh, global brand ambassador for Dusse cognac, which sponsored the event.
Jail calls and struggle were a common theme on the project, as many of the tracks either started or ended with audio from a jail phone. Struggle was apparent as well, as Vic spoke on his father’s struggles growing up in poverty-stricken Ghana. Vic mentions that his uncle doesn’t even have a bathroom in his home.
The album leads with the single “SHELTER” which features Wyclef Jean and Chance the Rapper. Wyclef was in attendance, seated next to Vic as they performed the record.
Though the track under-performed as a single, clocking in just under 600k views on YouTube over more than a month after its release, the track has a very deep message and contains extremely hard-hitting and thought provoking lyrics. The video was a visual metaphor for the impact that Covid-19 had on the Black community.
I TAPE follows last year’s V TAPE, which is the latest in a series that fans think will eventually spell out Vic’s name.
The Chicago rapper previously performed FR33DOM on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The performance was directed by Andre Muir, who also directed the music video for “SHELTER.”
Vic also gave a special shout out Lenny S, who brought Vic to roc nation in 2013 off of Vic’s debut mixtape, Innanetape. The project was released as a free digital download and featured appearances from Chance the Rapper, Boi-1da, and Hit-Boy, amongst others.
Some of those names re-appear on this project, as well as a special guest appearance from TDE’s Zacari famously known for his hit song Love with Kendrick Lamar.
Check out Vic Mensa’s I Tape on March 26th on all streaming services.
