This week, the world continues to mourn the passing of Louis Vuitton artistic director and Off-White founder Virgil Abloh, who quietly succumbed to cancer at the age of 41. Yesterday (Nov. 29), Vic Mensa decided to pay tribute to his fallen friend with “What You Taught Us,” a “posthumous letter” to Abloh that he produced alongside Juseesh. As such, the Chicago emcee reflects on the huge loss to our culture while reflecting on others:
“Tomorrow ain’t promised, if I could borrow an honest opinion of myself, I know I’ve been lookin’ for help that could only come from within, patience been runnin’ thin for external validation, you showed us we could all be designers of our own destinies, of our legacies, our environments from Chicago streets to Paris fashion weeks, above and beyond, the limitations that they placed on us, that’s what you taught us…”
Last year, Vic Mensa blessed the masses with seven-song EP V TAPE, which saw notable contributions from Eryn Allen Kane, Snoh Aalegra, SAINt JHN, BJ The Chicago Kid, DIXSON, and Peter CottonTale. Mensa then followed with last March’s I TAPE, another seven-song offering with collaborations alongside Kane, Tish, Zacari, Jeremih, Wyatt Waddell, Chance The Rapper, and Wyclef Jean. His only official album, The Autobiography, made landfall back in 2017 — the Roc Nation signee has also delved into the alternative genre via his 93PUNX outfit, with the band liberating a self-titled body of work in 2019.
Check out Vic Mensa’s “What You Taught Us” below. In related news, Louis Vuitton has also announced that they will be live-streaming the designer’s final show — a presentation of his Spring-Summer 2022 collection under the French fashion house that takes place in Miami. Said show, which was reportedly planned by Abloh prior to his death, will also coincide with this year’s Art Basel fair and takes place today at 5:30pm ET.