Live Through This

Young rapper Vic Mensa has already cheated death more than most of us will in a lifetime, and his debut album tells a thrilling story of survival.

- Jeff Weiss

By most actuarial metrics, Vic Mensa shouldn’t be alive. He shouldn’t be collaborating with Pharrell, Kanye West and Weezer. And JAY-Z, his Roc Nation label boss, shouldn’t be raving to roomfuls of industry VIPs that the 24-year-old from the South Side of Chicago is an “incredible once-in-a-lifetime artist”.

But Mensa, born Victor Mensah, isn’t supine in a pine box, as stiff as the Joey Ramone leather jackets he sports. He’s vibrantly alive, prone to swift, panther-like movements and spasmodic festival-crowd incitement. He’s passionate enough to publicly indict YouTube star DJ Akademiks for mocking the violence that has plagued his hometown of Chicago. After half a decade of hype, the biracial son of two educators is finally on the verge of stardom, and his debut, The Autobiography, chronicles the obstacles that nearly caused permanent derailment.

“I don’t feel lucky as much as I feel predestined”, Mensa says. “I’ve been putting energy into the universe for some time from an honest place, and I’ve done it with good intentions and a lot of determination.”

The South Side native’s talent has taken him further than almost anyone could have predicted back when the teenage Mensa formed the Save Money Crew alongside childhood friends Chance the Rapper and Joey Purp. But whether you call it destiny, providence or just random chance, Mensa survived a streak of freak accidents that could have laid Rasputin to rest.