VIC MENSA “93′ to 23′ : VICTOR” Album Review

93′ to 23′ : VICTOR

VIC MENSA

• Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
• Date: 06 Jun, 2023
• Content: explicit
• Region: NGA
• Track(s): 18
• ℗ 2023 UMG Recordings, Inc. FP

Vic Mensa returns with his new playlist album “93′ to 23′: VICTOR” after a four-year absence. The album includes the recently released “$wish” featuring Chance The Rapper and G-Eazy. This is a playlist album comprising previously released songs to commemorate the rapper’s 30th birthday, and it is a follow-up to 2021’s “I Tape” EP.

The Dream, Pusha T, SAINt JHN on “2Honest,” Pharrell Williams, Wyclef Jean, Chance The Rapper, Charlie Wilson, Ty Dolla Sign all make iconic appearances on the new compilation album.

Album Cover Art

Different stills of Vic from different angles, engaged in different activities, all get jumbled up into one photo becomes the idea for Vic Mensa’s new compilation project.

Tracks and Features

“Didn’t I (Say I Didn’t)” from his 2017 album, The Autobiography, begins the compilation album with confident bars and eloquent rapping about his come-up journey and how much he believed himself and his future even before the stardom. And since success is one of the best ways to shut haters up, the rapper was about that life on this song. He features Rivers Cuomo in “Homewrecker,” where the rapper displays his storytelling abilities as narrates to us how things got heated between two of his babes meeting each other for the first time.

Songwriting and production genius The-Dream joins the rapper on “Heaven on Earth,” a tribute song made for his elder brother who had lost his life to the streets. The song’s moving lyrics and the guest artist’s contribution make the track an easy classic. For “OMG,” Vic features Pusha T, the right fit for a song dedicated to elite showoff and talk about their superstar lifestyle.

In “2HONEST,” he features the eccentric singer SAINt JHN, who relates to Vic’s pain and struggles of growing up with deep childhood trauma wounds and how they’ve been coping with its associated psychological and emotional warfares. A similar theme plays out in “Wings,” featuring Pharrell Williams and Saul Williams. Vic opens up about his mental health and describes how chaotic things seem to get, his moving lyrics giving listeners a mental picture to work with.

In “Shelter,” featuring Chance the Rapper and the OG singer Wyclef Jean, whose presence on the record was enlivening! Both artists were picked carefully for this song because they work well together and understand the theme of the song, which hinges on love and reassuring one’s lover of unwavering love. “$wish” features Chance the Rapper again and G-Eazy. For a track hosting this much heavyweight, you would expect something grand and befitting, but we get shortchanged with something borderline mid. Their deliveries were ok, but the flow and lyrics were too cliché.

Maeta and Thundercat appear on “Strawberry Louis Vuitton,” one of Mensa’s most trippy jams. It’s a song dedicated to Vic’s love interest, as the rapper expresses how he feels about his lover. Another OG singer Charlie Wilson, makes his presence felt in “The 1 That Got Away/No Shoes,” a mashup of two songs presented as one. The first-half of the song narrates how badly a relationship ended because the rapper would rather pick money over love, while in the second-half of the song is about betrayal that led to a failed relationship. In addition, the transition was seamless.

With love and light, Mensa ends the album with “We Could Be Free,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign. In the song, the rapper encourages fostering unity among people despite the varying beliefs and skin color.

Tracklist

Song Title	Artist(s)	Duration
Homewrecker	VIC MENSA feat. Rivers Cuomo	4:09
The 1 That Got Away/No Shoes	VIC MENSA feat. Charlie Wilson	3:33
MACHIAVELLI	VIC MENSA feat. Eryn Allen Kane	3:33
STRAWBERRY LOUIS VUITTON	VIC MENSA feat. Thundercat, Maeta	2:39
OMG	VIC MENSA feat. Pusha T	3:52
SHELTER	VIC MENSA feat. Chance the Rapper, Wyclef Jean	4:22
Wings	VIC MENSA feat. Pharrell Williams, Saul Williams	4:03
Heaven On Earth	VIC MENSA feat. The Dream	5:18
2HONEST	VIC MENSA feat. SAINt JHN	3:58
We Could Be Free	VIC MENSA feat. Ty Dolla $ign	4:56
$WISH	VIC MENSA feat. G-Eazy, Chance the Rapper	3:46
16 Shots	VIC MENSA	5:46
Coffee & Cigarettes	VIC MENSA	4:31
New Bae	VIC MENSA	4:22
Down On My Luck	VIC MENSA	3:30
Say I Didn’t	VIC MENSA	5:16
Liquor Locker	VIC MENSA	4:19
There’s Alot Going On	VIC MENSA	5:52

Album Theme

The compilation album displays the rapper’s skills and rich music catalogue through a selection of some of his best songs.

Production Credits

No I.D., Vic Mensa, Malik Yusef, Mike Dean, DJ Dahi, The-Dream, Keith Marcos, “Kosine” Palacios, Papi Beatz Smoko, Ono Tricky Stewart, Pharrell Williams and other producers contributed to the production of songs on the project.