Dead Prez and Vic Mensa

It was in 1990 when M-1, journeyed to Florida’s state capital, Tallahassee, to enrol at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, which is where he met stic.man. They became close friends and had a common interest in music and leftist political ideology. It was a couple of years after finishing university that the two hip-hop artists came together in New York where they would later be discovered by Lord Jamar and signed to Loud Records. On board this platform, they built up a fan base from their over the top performances, where they’ve been known to ignite dollar bills and toss apples into the audiences, declaring that they must eat healthily. Before the released of their debut album in 2000, they had already contributed songs to film soundtracks and featured on high profile albums. It was their very first recorded song “The Game of Life (Score)” that appeared on the 1997 soundtrack to the film Soul in the Hole.

Their debut album “Let’s Get Free” was released on March 14th 2000, on Loud Records & Columbia Records. Critical acclaim described it as a return to politically conscious rap and the most politically conscious rap since Public Enemy. Rolling Stone gave the album four stars and lauded its equation of “classrooms with jail cells, the project with killing fields and everything from water to television with conduits for brainwashing by the system” The album peaked at #72 on the Billboard 200 and #22 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Charts.

Between their first and second albums, they released two mixtapes “Turn Off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol.1” in 2002, and “Turn Off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 2: Get Free or Die Tryin’”. Taking a new direction with their second album under Sony Records, they released “Revolutionary But Gangsta” on March 30th 2004, which peaked at 14 on the US R&B chart.

Both M-1 and stic.man, were pursuing their own careers alongside dead prez with stic.man releasing an album called “Manhood” on October 23rd 2007, and “The Workout” on April 12th 2011” and M-1 releasing “Confidential” on March 21st 2006. They have also collaborated with a number of artists such as Outlawz, Young Noble, Bonnot, Kentyah, Brian Jackson & The New Midnight Band.

On Mother’s Day 2010, they released a remix entitled “The Beauty Within” which is a remix of B.o.B and Bruno Mars’ #1 single “Nothin’ on You”, and most recently released an album called “Information Age” on October 16th 2012.

Mensa was born Victor Kwesi Mensah on 6 June 1993 and was raised by a multi-racial family in the Chicago Area. Both of his parents are involved in the education system. His mother is an employee of the the Chicago Public Schools System and his father is an economics teacher at the University of Illinois. Mensa has been described as a dextrous student who excelled in his studies; however, he eventually became entangled in hocking weed and the occasional shoplifting spree. This all soon came to end once Mensa pursued his music career.

During his childhood he grew up listening to iconic classic rock artists like the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix and influential jazz virtuosos such as Miles Davis. Mensa’s music does not exhibit a direct relay of any of these sources, at least in the sense that he is not considered a jazz or rock musician; however like these artists he taps into several different genres while never being bound to the conventions of any particular one. Mensa also cites AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, and Nirvana as influences outside hip-hop. Concerning this genre he lists Nas, Eminem, 2Pac, Jay Z, UKG, Missy Elliott, J Dilla, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Pharcyde as major sources of inspiration.

Towards the beginning of Mensa’s career he founded the rap collective Kids These Days alongside Liam Cunningham, Lane Beckstrom, Greg Landfair, Macie Stewart, Nico Segal, and J.P. Floyd. The group lasted from 2009 to 2013 and within that span of time they took 1st place in the Next Big Thing competition, made an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s talk show, recorded their studio debut with the production guidance of Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and performed at several high profile festivals such as South by Southwest, Lollapalooza, The Roots Picnic, and Milwaukee’s Summerfest. In addition to his work with Kids These Days, Mensa also frequently collaborated with Chance the Rapper and started the group SAVEMONEY with him. While Mensa made a strong impression with both these groups he particularly left a mark on the hip-scene with his guest feature on Chance the Rapper’s song “Cocoa Butter Kisses”.

Following the break up of Kids These Days, Mensa initiated his solo rap career. On 30 September 2013 he issued the mixtape “INANETAPE”, which included guest spots from Rockie Fresh, Ab-Soul, Chance the Rapper, and Thundercat. The mixtape was a huge successes for Mensa, receiving over 35,000 downloads.

Mensa toured extensively in support of this release and has since shared the stage with prominent artists like Danny Brown, J. Cole, Wale and Damon Albarn. In 2015 it was made public that Mensa had collaborated with Kanye West on the track “Wolves”, the opening song on West’s 7th studio album.