Vic Mensa: Rowdy for a Reason

March 13, 2019

Chicago born-and-bred rapper Vic Mensa's voice has reverberated not just throughout his hometown, but across the globe, due in large part by the fact that he cannot be labeled as simply a "rapper"—he's a modern day renaissance man, through and through.

Having emerged on the scene in 2013 with his explosive Innanetape, and having grown up with fellow Chi-Town hero Chance the Rapper, Mensa's conviction and husky voice immediately filled a space that needed to be filled: punk and gritty, a dark-sided breath of fresh air, versatile in rapping style yet always singular in the message. And as the rapper's popularity inevitably grew, he realized that the message was perhaps the most important part.

Interview by Ivan Guzman
Production by Alex Kazemi @ Void Collective
Photos by Iconika
Styling by Jordan Boothe
Hair by Sebastian Rosen
Models: Lilith Levisis & Zoe Wood

It's not just that he started the SaveMoneySaveLife foundation, which combats racism in America and funds three Chicago programs focused on health and the arts, but Vic's importance lays even more so in that he prioritizes being on the frontlines of these movements and has been since he was a teenager less than a decade ago, before all the fame. In 2019, it feels modern to turn concern into action, and having used his influence to actualize life-saving initiatives throughout the country, Vic Mensa seems like a pretty appealing ambassador for modernity.

office sat down with the rapper to see what he's been up to recently. From releasing an EP late last year to honing in on his growing presence in the fashion world, it seems that he's been up to a lot.

Jacket by 93 Punks, pants by Ann Demeulemeester.

You’re very involved in the fashion world. Where does your relationship with fashion stem from? Have you always been into it?

I mean, I’ve been into fashion since I was about 11 or 12 years old, collecting a lot of Nike SP’s and Jordans. I started to customize my clothes and acid wash my Levi’s and shit like that, cut up my denim jackets and do that to sweaters I bought off Ebay and shit. Right around that era is when I started to be into fashion.

Do you think your perspective of the world, or even how people look at you, changed when you cut off your famous locks?

My perspective on the world didn’t change, not in an overall micro sense. I think my perspective on the world changes as the world changes. But the way people started to see me, potentially. All that superficial shit is not what matters to me, though. Girls like it, so that’s cool to me.

You’re relatively young and early on in your career, but it seems like you’ve got your hands in so many different areas—from being heavily involved in the fashion world to your foundation SavemoneySavelife. It feels very modern. Do you think this all happened naturally?

I’ve always been revolutionary-minded and politically inclined. So, as I’ve been able to gain more of a broad sphere of influence, and also get more resources, some of the community outreach initiatives that I stand behind and that I spent time actualizing naturally fell into place. I was already involved in things, at all the marches, and being in Standing Rock and being in Flint, Michigan when the water crisis first began. It was a national story that I was aware of. From spending time in Palestine to being in Baton Rouge when Alton Sterling was killed out there, you know, it was just a natural evolution because these were already things that were important to me. I was reading Malcolm X and shit when I was 16 years old, so now I’m just a bit older and more capable of implementing the revolutionary politics and mindframe that I was inundated with from a very young age.

Vintage top & pants by Jean Paul Gaultier (left); Top by AMIRI, vintage pants by Maison Margiela.

Has your ability to enact change grown as you’ve gotten more popular?

100%. As an example, at the event that we did last summer there was an action that we put together called the Anti-Bait truck. Chicago police send bait trucks and bait cars in general into low-income, ghetto neighborhoods to catch people stealing. There was the highly-publicized case of that type of bait-and-switch community that happened on the most violent weekend of last year. We were able to put together the Anti-Bait truck event where all my friends and collaborators and everyone who works with the foundation were able to come together, and we received tremendous support from the global community. Sean King helped us to put together an Amazon link where people from across the globe could buy shoes and donated them for us to give away in Inglewood where these bait trucks had taken place. That’s something that completely wasn’t possible for me years ago when I didn’t have some type of platform.

Are you addicted to being busy?

Yeah, for sure. I’m working on a lot of different projects all the time. I’m inspired by them and I’m interested in them. So, if I’m not working on something, then I feel like I’m wasting time and that I’m not fulfilling when I feel to be my purpose or just doing the things that bring me satisfaction and happiness. Everyone has things that they enjoy to do, and what I enjoy to do is not to be “working,” but I enjoy accomplishing and creating things. When I create something that I like, it’s an unparalleled feeling—to bring something into manifestation that didn’t exist before. I’ve been able to express myself and create, and in a way that impresses me. When I impress myself with what I’ve done, I feel good about that, you know? I don’t feel that good when I’m not doing anything.

Have you seen the Michael Jackson documentary?

I watched about an hour of the first installment. I doubt I’ll continue to watch. I’m okay.

Top by We Are Confederacy, vintage pants by Maison Margiela (left); vintage jacket by Tom Ford for Gucci (right).

I mean, it’s such a big topic of discussion in the music industry right now—this question of how you separate the art from the artist, or if you even can What do you think?

The way I feel about the Mike shit, man, is like, I have no doubt in my mind that Michael Jackson committed heinous crimes, and he point blank raped little boys. That’s a hard pill to swallow, no pun intended. He is also the greatest performer, 100%. He has one of the greatest music catalogues of all time, on a short list at that. I personally have always been way more of a Prince fan than a Michael Jackson fan, and I know they had a rivalry.

But I do love Michael Jackson’s music. At this point in time, I feel that I still would listen to it. I still wanna listen to it. Who knows if that will change in the future? I don’t listen to R. Kelly anymore. I just don’t feel comfortable or even feel like listening to R. Kelly. I do think the things that Michael Jackson did were even worse. I don’t listen to R. Kelly anymore, but when I was a kid, I used to vehemently defend R. Kelly. I don’t even know what my arguments must’ve been. It’s like, I’m from Chicago, I idolize this nigga. At this point in time, I’ve never had such a specifically deep connection to Michael Jackson’s music although I do love it. I’m obviously a huge fan of his music, so I don’t know if it makes sense that that’s why I don’t necessarily feel compelled to cancel it, because I was never that emotionally invested.

Separating the artist from the art goes on a case by case basis, I think. The way I see it, I highly doubt it’s possible to mute Michael Jackson. I don’t think that the biggest musician of all time--and I’m pretty sure that shit is a fact--can be cancelled because the music is so interwoven into the fabric of global society.

He is pop culture, in a way.

This is the king of pop. It’s engraved into so many different areas of culture, from film to fashion. This nigga can dance. There’s nothing that this nigga didn’t heavily influence as far as pop culture goes. How do you just get rid of him? Can we still posthumously hold him accountable and consider him to be the child rapist that he is? 100%. I guess only time can tell if it’s even possible to try and silence him. Even in that, he’s omnipresent.

You released your EP, Hooligans, in December. What are you working on now?

I’m doing a side project called 93PUNX. I’ve been working on that day in and day out, night in and night out. That has an accompanying clothing line, which I wore some of in the shoot for office. It has a lot of heavily customized leathers, that’s our specialty. We’ve been working for two years now just making the clothes because we started off just making them for me, and then people would ask, where did you get this and blah blah blah. So, we decided to make it into a line. We’re working on the 93PUNX album and clothing line simultaneously. I’m also writing and producing and cultivating an artist project that is really, really dope. It’s far different from the shit that I do. It’s straight fucking’ face-tatted, gang banger, hard ass, murderous bank robbing music. So, I’m working on that as I do the 93PUNX album and clothing line, all to be released quite imminently. All of these things will begin to be released in the spring going into the summertime.

Listen to ‘Hooligans’ here.

Music

office x Apple Music: SAUSHA

December 17, 2024

Our second mix with Apple music is brought to you by the one and only Sausha de la Ossa. Born in Colombia and raised in Miami before making her way to the Big Apple, Sausha has made an indelible mark on New York’s underground nightlife scene.

From taking office along her recovery from surgery for issue 14 to chatting with fellow DJ Memphy for issue 21, Sausha has a special place in our hearts — and so does her cheekily-titled set “Freak Hoe Seminar.”

Bringing you nearly two hours of Sausha’s signature gritty techno and sexy Latin club influences, “Freak Hoe Seminar” is guaranteed to teach you a thing or two about a thing or two. Stream the mix below, exclusively on Apple Music.

Image courtesy of Sausha de la Ossa
Graphic Design/Art Direction by W-E Studio, Claudine Eriksson and Piera Wolf
Graphic Design by W-E Studio, Hannah Nathans
Digital Production by Brook Aster Studios

Music

Real as Can Be with Cooper B. Handy

December 16, 2024

Since 2009, Cooper B. Handy has been releasing music as LUCY, a project that feels more like an experiment than a static identity. Along the way, he’s formed and collaborated on a multitude of other ventures, deviating wildly from any one genre: Club Casualties, The Taxidermists, and Safe Mind. The most incredible work flows out of him at an amazing rate, and not without a throughline: his ability to instill his spirit into melodies that stick with you, lingering in the quiet moments, like a tune you hum absentmindedly but can’t quite shake.

I caught up with the long-standing DIY enigma and Cape Cod native over the phone the day before his latest record’s release to talk Vol. 9, his many collaborations, discovering melodies in unexpected places, and naturally, digging holes.

Interview Sofia Castillo
Photography Guy Kozak

A lot of words come to mind when I think of his music—boundless, relentless, choppy, alluring, profound—all of them reminiscent of the ocean. It’s an apt comparison for Vol. 9, his latest record, which opens with Strange As Can Be. On it, he sings about a tale as old as time: conflicting desires. He begins with a reference to Adam and Eve, and follows it with the lines: “Try to be wholesome/We all have different ideas/We have different ideas/Of what it means to be wholesome.” That’s the magic of Lucy. He’s totally out there, and as real as can be. He paves his way charming together aphorisms, cautionary tales, and flashes of wry wisdom, all delivered with a disarming ease. They’re the kind of tracks that have me zoomed in on Bandcamp lyrics, or rapping over a Titanic sample he’s tweaked out. It’s liberating, you should try it. There’s a lot of laughter here, but not the ironic kind. It’s the kind born of genuine awe, of being hit over the head with something at once familiar and wholly unexpected. I recommend getting battered.

So, it's been almost a decade since Vol. 1 came out.

Yeah, pretty much.

Very exciting. Congrats on Vol. 9.

The first single you released is called 2nd Wind. Does that have anything to do with the decade mark?

Thank you. I don't know. I hadn't really thought about that. (Laughs) Yeah, I think that can be thought of like that for sure.

You're from Massachusetts, right?

Yeah, I grew up on Cape Cod, so I’m definitely around the ocean a lot.

Can you sail?

I actually could not sail. I went out sailing one time. I had some friends in high school who were instructors for a kid's sailing camp, so we had access to the boats and took one out. But aside from that, I wasn't really in a sailing family.

Do you like the ocean?

Yeah, yeah. Totally.

How do you think your Vol. albums delineate from the other projects you’ve released?

I think it's almost just a way of naming them without putting too much emphasis on one idea or something. I feel like most of the projects that I've put out solo are these volumes. I've made a bunch of other records with other people that are called different things and I've put out a few projects that are called other things, but most of my releases have been these nine volume albums. And I feel like it's mostly just an easy way for people to know what order they're in.

Do you like to go back and listen to them? You have a massive body of work out.

Yeah, I feel like I do. Every now and then there'll be certain projects I kind of forget about for a while. It's hard for me to listen back to music I made a really long time ago, like from when I was in high school. It sort of cringes me out. But with the Lucy project, I still like how it sounds. I don't feel cringed out listening to stuff from 10 years ago, which is good. I'm glad that I feel like that because I think that means I'm doing something right.

Can you pinpoint the cringe?

When I listen back to stuff that isn't even out, stuff from when I was, I dunno, 14, 15, 16… Obviously no one knows really what they're talking about at that point.(laughs) I definitely listened back to music I was making in high school and I'm like, ‘why was I talking about this stuff?’ Also, I think I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to sound like and it's hard to listen to that process.

Would you say you're a nostalgic person?

Yeah, for sure. But not in a way where I want to relive the past or something.

[Laughs] Right. Do you have any particular artists you’re listening to or are there any other mediums that inspire you at this moment?

I don't know. Not really. I sort of feel like there was a bunch of music I listened to when I was, I don't know, in between 10 and 16 that sort of still feels influential. I'm always influenced by new things, but I don't really listen to as much music as I should. I'm working on music all the time, so I'm listening to all these different things I'm making. I used to listen to music with headphones, but I’ve overdone it a little bit [laughs]. I need to listen to less music or something.

I recently lost my headphones and just let that be a catalyst for me listening to not nearly as much music as usual. I miss it, but it’s nice to actively listen to your surroundings sometimes. And if you're not really taking a ton of outside influences in, it’s easier to deeply connect to yourself as a source. The Lucy projects and a lot of your other collaborations feel very immediately recognizable to me as you.

Yeah, it's true. I feel like also things are- at least for me- things I hear when I'm out and about definitely play a big role in ideas of stuff I make and things I want to make. Even if I’m at the grocery store, a lot of times I get inspiration to either sample something that I hear in a store or by the self-checkout sounds and stuff. There's so many funny little melodic things around.

You love the store.

Yeah, there's definitely a lot to learn at the store.

Your sound is persistent, and self-assured. I love it just as much as when I first encountered the earlier volumes a few years ago. I’d like to know more about your approach to songwriting and if it’s morphed over time?

Thank you. Yeah, a lot of the time I'll have a melody or some ten second vocal melody. Sometimes it doesn’t have words, but most of the time it’s a phrase I’m singing to myself. I'll just make a voice memo and then go to the piano and see how I can make it work. Most of the stuff that's not sample based music that I make is pretty much all written on the piano. And then on this new record, there's definitely a handful of songs that have samples in them. Usually with those, I'll be making the beat before I have an idea for what the vocals will do. Making beats with samples has been a lot more fun for me in the past few years and it's good. But I sort of hope to move along from that after this record and have it be more of my own compositions, not just beats with clips of old songs or whatever.

So this is probably not the most evolved version of your sound so far?

Yeah, I wouldn't say that. I feel like I've been sitting on some of these songs. Some of the ones on this album are almost three years old, and then some that are four months old as well. So there's a bunch of new stuff and there's a bunch of stuff that feels really old to me. I think there's 17 songs on it, and usually I put six or seven songs on a project. It feels sort of mixed tape-ish to me. I'm just so used to it and I've been sitting on it for so long that it's hard for me to think of it as evolved or something. Friends who I showed it to seem to think it's more cohesive than I thought it was, so that's good.

I almost didn’t notice that there were 17 songs on it. I really like that it’s a 30 minute listen. And I agree with your friends, I wouldn't have guessed that you made them across different timelines. It’s a cohesive purge.

Yeah, totally. I feel like it'll be good to get it out and kind of move along.

You use a lot of aphorisms and story-book style language in your lyrics. It’s all very sincere. I really love it, and I think that might be why I've had such an affinity for it for so long too. At the end of the day, it's dealing with those things that never really go away, take as old as time.

Yeah, thank you. That is what I'm always going for. I feel like there's never going to be a shortage of content about those kinds of topics.

Were you in love when you wrote a lot of these songs?

[Laughs] Yeah.

Yeah.

Probably, probably all of 'em in different ways. I don't know. I feel like I try to infuse the music with that. When I think of the songs on there, I feel like you can hear that energy in the happier songs. Then there's a bunch of sad songs, or songs that sound sad- to me. And I don't think I'm showing an in-love side on those, but I don't know. That's kind of a tricky question.

I hear that. It’s not that you’re specifically singing about love, but the melodies on a lot of your tracks kind of lift my heart in that certain type of way. It’s all clearly involved, and there’s humor in it. It puts me in this perfect mood, that comes with good communication. Even the sadder songs.

Alright- Easier question. What are you working on right now?

I guess things are feeling a little bit more chill right now than they’ve been, just because I think I have three projects finished. I have this solo record coming out, and then I have a record with the Taxidermist band that's done and going to come out in March. And this Safe Mind project record that’s also going to come out. So right now everything's lined up and I'm just sort of waiting.

And we wait.

Yeah, I'm excited to start on a new batch of music and try to…I don’t know. I feel like I need to be learning more than I'm learning right now. I want to take the next bunch of months to try to maybe learn something.

What do you want to learn?

I'm not quite sure. I want to learn some new skills. I should be reading more.

For some reason I assumed you read a lot.

I really don't. Honestly, I really enjoy it when I’m into it, but getting to that point isn’t always easy for me.

Right, makes sense. You’re working on a ton of music projects.

I mean, I'm definitely trying to continue to focus on music as much as I do now. I'm just in a position where everything's about to be a clean slate, it’s been a while since I’ve not had files that I keep going back to.

Do you like being outside?

I like being outside, yeah. I walk a ton.

Do you have a favorite walk you do?

There's this range in Western Mass called the Holyoke Range. There’s a bunch of different mountains, and I sort of bounce between a lot of them. I go hiking almost every day, and a lot of the hikes out there only take an hour or two. I feel like that's as consistent as music for me for my life in Massachusetts. I spend a lot of time outside.

Do you have a typical “day in the life” right now?

It's always different. I feel like I'm really bouncing around. I'm in New York now and I'm going to go back to Massachusetts, and then I have another show in New York on the 10th.

Oh really?

With another project, Club Casualties. It’s me and my friend Nick Atkinson. He's completely off grid. Never was on social media or smartphone or anything. And he's a producer, but he's on the mega outskirts of the scenes. We're opening for that group Kassie Krut. Then a couple days later, I’m coming back to New York to do another show with the Safe Mind project.

Lots of movement. Have you ever made a time capsule?

Yeah. When I was a kid, I did one.

What did you put in it?

I put my school picture and some little Legos or something. I just put a bunch of toys that I liked. At the time, it was in a peanut butter jar. I think it had one of those wallet size school pictures, and I don't know what else was in it. I feel like I put some little notes, but I dug a really deep hole because I was obsessed with that book Holes.

Legendary book.

Yeah. My dad was like, you can dig a hole in the yard if you want to. I really wanted to, and I wanted to make it the same depth as the ones in the book, which were, I think they were six by six foot holes. So I was out there with my neighbor digging for weeks, and then it was deeper than my head, and then I buried the capsule in there.

I'm obsessed with that. That's so cool.

Yeah. It was before the movie came out, but the trailer was out, and I think I was like, this looks really cool. But the book was a big inspo.

What would you put in a time capsule now?

Probably some, probably like a flash drive. I don't know. It's hard to know. I feel like lots of stuff is going to be obsolete, so it's sort of hard to know what would be good to leave in there.

Yeah, that's true.

[Laughs] But maybe a more contemporary school picture.

Sweet.