Vic Mensa delivers new “Breathe” freestyle
The Chicago emcee puts his twist on a Fabolous classic.
It’s been a few months since Vic Mensa made a big return to music with V TAPE, a seven-track EP that saw additional features from SAINt JHN, BJ The Chicago Kid, Snoh Aalegra, and more. This week, the Chicago emcee returns with a new freestyle over the instrumental from Fabolous’ 2004 classic “Breathe,” delivering clever, socially conscious raps over Just Blaze’s production:
“Make it hard for niggas to breathe when V come through in that V12, Spinter outside the club for the females, invite them in the slot, then let them take shots no B12, and see who end up on they Sprewell/
Choking on the dino, she only drink vino not Tito’s, Dries Van Noten tuxedo pockets on Don Vito, he broke, he don’t get no bread, he gotta be keto, how I grapple with tragedy they thought I’d do Hapkido/”
Accompanying the freestyle is a quick-strike visual courtesy of Troy G., which shows Mensa in different locations around Chicago, which somewhat matches the aesthetic created by Fabolous in his own visual for the original track.
It’s been about three years since Vic Mensa released his debut album The Autobiography, which saw 13 tracks (15 including bonus cuts) and features from Weezer, Syd, The-Dream, Chief Keef, Joey Purp, Pharrell Williams, Ty Dolla $ign, and more. More recently, he dropped off a project with his punk rock band 93PUNX, which boasts collaborations alongside the likes of Tom Morello, Francis and the Lights, and Good Charlotte.
As one of hip hop’s most outspoken activists, Vic Mensa recently spoke to REVOLT about what he feels the Black community needs to do moving forward in regards to the fight against oppression:
“I think we need to maintain pressure and we need to educate ourselves, cross-pollinate, and learn from the successes of our comrades around the nation and around the globe. And be intentional. Be intentional with the things we fight for. Be international with the things we march for. Be international with the things we loot for and we riot for.”
Press play on “Breathe (Freestyle)” below.