Vic Mensa

Mensa later performed "Wolves" alongside West and Sia on Saturday Night Live's 40th Anniversary Celebration three days later.

Mensa would later release an official collaboration with Kanye West, titled "U Mad" on April 10.

Eleven days later, Roc Nation announced that Vic had signed to its label, and a video of Mensa signing the deal alongside Jay-Z backstage at his On the Run Tour in Chicago was released on Tidal.

Victor Kwesi Mensah (born June 6, 1993), known professionally as Vic Mensa, is an American rapper.

Victor Kwesi Mensah was born on June 6, 1993, in Chicago, Illinois.

His father is from Ghana and his mother is a white American.

Mensa grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

He attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School.

Mensa began his career when he formed a band called Kids These Days in 2009.

The band would eventually release two projects, an extended play titled Hard Times in 2011, and a mixtape titled Traphouse Rock in 2012.

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.

Following the band's split up in May 2013, Mensa performed with Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn at Albarn's 2014 performance at the Governors Ball Music Festival, where he performed the track "Clint Eastwood", filling in for MC Del the Funky Homosapien.

On September 18, 2013, it was announced, that Mensa would be joining J. Cole and Wale on the What Dreams May Come Tour.

Mensa would eventually release his debut mixtape, Innanetape, which was released on September 30, 2013.

Mensa's 2014 debut single, "Down on My Luck" experimented with hip house, while his 2015 single, "U Mad" (featuring Kanye West) adopted a drill sound.

Following the end of the What Dreams May Come Tour, he toured Europe with Danny Brown, for the beginning of February 21, 2014 and ending on March 8.

To cap off his rise to stardom, Mensa was chosen to be on the cover of XXL for the Freshman Class of 2014.

Mensa's debut single "Down on My Luck" was serviced to urban contemporary radio in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2014.

On the same day, the music video for the song was released.

"Down on My Luck" was then released for digital download in international markets on June 6, 2014, by Virgin EMI Records.

When announcing a tour for 2015, Mensa said that he has plans to collaborate with Albarn sometime in the near future.

On February 12, 2015, Kanye West debuted a song, titled "Wolves" at his Adidas Originals showcase.

The song featured Mensa himself, along with Sia.

Later on in 2015, Mensa received a nomination for Best Rap Song at the 58th Grammy Awards as a songwriter for co-writing Kanye West's single "All Day".

On February 8, 2016, it was announced that Mensa, along with Travis Scott and ILoveMakonnen, will be a part of Alexander Wang's "WANGSQUAD" campaign.

On February 19, Mensa released a single, titled "No Chill" onto iTunes with Skrillex.

It was produced by Skrillex and Jahlil Beats.

Mensa's collaboration on Kanye West's "Wolves", would eventually be released after West updated the album's Tidal track list off his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo with a reworked version of "Wolves", which included previously removed guest vocals from Mensa and Sia, and separated Frank Ocean vocals into a separate track on March 16, 2016.

On June 3, 2016, Vic Mensa released his second extended play titled, There's Alot Going On.

With only one guest feature from Ty Dolla Sign, the EP tackled issues such as the Flint water crisis, the murder of Laquan McDonald, and self-inflicted wounds.

Mensa's EP debuted at number 127 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

He and his friends were stopped by police for assumed stealing after his spending spree at Barney's of $4,000.

He has performed as the opening act during Justin Bieber's Purpose World Tour in Europe.

His debut studio album, The Autobiography (2017) was met with critical praise and moderately entered the Billboard 200, while his second album, Victor (2023) failed to chart.

Despite limited mainstream success himself, he has collaborated with high-profile artists including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams, Pusha T, Wyclef Jean, and Skrillex, among others.

Mensa has been involved in political activism and charitable efforts in his hometown of Chicago, being heavily outspoken on the issue of gun violence.

He also is the founder of the SavemoneySavelife foundation, whose mission is to use art and entertainment to foster sustainable change, and funds three programs in Chicago centered on health and the arts.

Leading up to the release of Mensa's debut studio album, he released his third extended play, The Manuscript on June 8, 2017.

Three days later, Mensa announced and revealed the album's title of his debut studio album titled, The Autobiography.