Vic Mensa Is Making His Powerful New Mixtape Free... If You Promise To Vote
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 3, 2016 6:10PM
Vic Mensa
We're still waiting patiently for Vic Mensa's proper debut, but the 22-year-old South Sider just release a new mixtape to hold us over until then. The seven track There's Alot Going On is an incredibly solid and self-assured effort, displaying Mensa's acuity at deft tempo shifts and verbal acrobatics.
There's also a definite political bent to the release, and Mensa has partnered with Respect My Vote to allow anyone who pledges to hit up their local polling place in November to download the mixtape for free. Underage or not a citizen? Then you can still download it for free if you "pledge to work for positive change in my community and encourage as many eligible voters I know to vote."
Of particular note, the mixtape includes "16 Shots," a song Mensa debuted live following the release of the disturbing Laquan McDonald shooting video. And if you download it there's a personal note from Mensa, a calling of arms of sorts, that's well worth reading. We found this passage to be rather compelling:
The world is at a turning point. There are a lot of things going on that we have to either change, or die, to put it poetically. The cars we drive, the food we eat, the phones and computers you’re reading this on, are all literally killing that big blue earth we see in photos taken from the stars. And down on the ground we’ve got a lot of problems of our own, but I don’t have to tell you that. I will anyway. With the eyes of the world at our fingertips, injustices everywhere have been given the world’s stage within minutes of action. A cop shoots an unarmed black man in the back of the head in Oakland, and people will be protesting it in New York an hour later. But protests aren’t going to bring Oscar Grant back to life. or LaQuan McDonald. or Mike Brown. or Tamir Rice. Nothing we say or do can reverse the poison in the brains of the kids who drank lead from their kitchen sink in Flint, Michigan. Those damages cannot be taken back. But they can be stopped from happening again. What I’m asking you is not to give a fuck about me, my music, or my story. What I’m asking of you is to give a fuck about US. Us as a people. Us as ONE. As human beings who laugh, cry, sing, bleed and dream.
Stream the album below, and if you're ready to promise you'll vote in November, download it for free before July 4.