Vic Mensa Signs With Roc Nation

Vic Mensa
These past few months have surely been nothing but a high for Vic Mensa. Coming from the streets of Chicago, if you weren’t familiar with Vic Mensa, you’ve more than likely seen his name appear somewhere between the past few months. Having been on the music scene since 2010, Vic Mensa’s breakout moment came with the positive response of his second mixtape, Innanetape. Since then, Vic has continuously worked to perfect his craft ass a rapper and singer, and notes the importance of versatility. Fast-forward to June 2014 and we see Mr. Mensa release the infectious ‘Down On My Luck’ from his EP, Street Lights.

It appears Kanye West took a liking to Vic, whether it’s due to him being from Chicago or because of the music, as Vic is officially featured on Kanye West’s ‘Wolves’, from his upcoming studio album. If that didn’t make it seem as if all of Vic’s ducks were in a row, Jay Z took to Twitter in to officially announce that Vic Mensa is aboard the Roc Nation train.

— Mr. Carter (@S_C_) April 21, 2015

In an inspiring notion on just how the journey was to land Vic, Lenny Santiago, A&R of Roc Nation, shares how he put his pride aside just for the rising star.

A while back, I caught wind of an artist from Chicago who I thought had undeniable talent + lots of potential. I had @spanish_ran get in contact with @codykazarian who was a part of the mgmt team. I flew to Chi to go see this kid perform. As a music exec, I'm excited about traveling to the Chi to meet this guy for the 1st time. Coming from Roc, I assumed he'd be ecstatic. I assumed wrong. He barely gives me a head nod after Cody intros us. Now the show's over, every1 is gone & still nothin'. As I'm leaving, he stops me + says "yo, thanks for coming homie, where u from again?" I'd be lying to say I wasn't slightly offended. Ha. I sarcastically answered "just a lil rec company named ROC NATION". He replies, "oh, who y'all got there?" If u know me & my ROC pride, I'm offended again. Me: "Not sure if you've heard of them, a few small artists like, JZ, JCole & Rihanna". He says, oh cool + keeps it moving. All Good… Fast fwd a few months. Cody keeps me updated on everything they're doing + without question, I show up. Chi, ATL, Detroit, LA, NY etc. Finally, I meet Dan, the 2nd half of mgmt team while they're in NY filming Wildn' Out. Dan doesn't even give me eye contact during our intro. At this point I'm tight.. Who the fuck r these guys?! Who do they think they r ?! Fuck that! Do they not know who I am & the company I rep?! WTF! Days later I convince myself to put my stubbornness/pride aside & reach out. Fuck it, this dude is too dope. Why should I lose out just cause it seems like they're not impressed w/ Lenny S or Roc. I hit Cody..He tells me Vic wanted to holla at me. We kick it for months. They tell me nothin can move if I'm not good w/Dan. I sat w/ all of em in LA & I told them every reason y ROC was perfect for em. They didn't care about the hype, $, offers etc. They cared about making a connection w/ music/culture & partnering with a company who understood their vision/art. Same thing Roc believes in. We shook on it. Last piece of the puzzle: Meet w/ Chaka & J. My 20m meeting lasted 3hrs. We talked bout art/icons/rock/HipHop etc & decided our new business partners were SAVEMONEY! 1 of my most proud signings! VIC MENSA!!

A photo posted by Lenny S. (@kodaklens) on

Mentioned in the tweet is the current single from Vic Mensa, ‘U Mad‘, featuring Kanye West. It’s without a doubt that we will be hearing much more from the talented artist. Until them congratulations are surely in order. Roc Nation may just have a new-found gem on their hands.

Related Topics

You May Also Like

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.