Vic Mensa's Discusses His Favorite Albums, Police Brutality, and His Next Project on Reddit

Vic Mensa discusses everything from police brutality to his next album to his favorite albums of all time in his Reddit AMA.

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Complex Original

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Vic Mensa did a Reddit AMA on Wednesday to discuss the new visuals for his controversial song “16 Shots." And, as expected, there was a lot of discussion on topics like the 2016 election, the Black Lives Matter movement, and ways to stop police brutality.

“I think as citizens we have to be able to elect officials that prosecute police officers for their crimes,” Mensa wrote on the thread. “No more letting them judge themselves. They are dishonest and hold their code of blue over everything. [We] also have to stop militarizing the police, and stop paying settlements to families of their victims out of tax dollars. Those settlements need to come from their own pockets and zero their pensions if they use wrongful force.”

He also encouraged investment in black communities as well as increasing police sensitivity training. Mensa has been very vocal about his thoughts on police relations with minorities. “16 Shots” was dedicated to Laquan McDonald, who was killed after being shot 16 times by Chicago police in 2014. Since the release of the song’s video, several people have criticized Mensa for depicting law enforcement as the enemy; however, he maintains that he’s just sharing the truth.

“To anyone saying I'm portraying police in a negative light, I would tell them police are portraying themselves in a negative light,” he replied to a person who described themselves as “a white, college educated, affluent, young adult.” “As a white person wanting to make a difference, I think it's important that you spread awareness and critical thinking about the issues to the people in your immediate circle [sic] make them ask those tough questions and see from out of their own experience.”

The discussion wasn’t entirely heavy, though. In addition to tackling social issues, Mensa also answered some lighthearted questions about music. One of which was about his favorite albums of all time.

Mensa’s answers:
The Blueprint - Jay Z
Purple Rain - Prince
The Infamous - Mobb Deep
Voodoo - D'Angelo
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West
Nevermind - Nirvana

He also took the time to tease his upcoming album, which will take cues from his There's A Lot Going On EP.

"My album contains political elements from TAGO but it's a lot more personal, about my own stories and relationships and experiences and feelings," he wrote. "[...] It takes more from the song 'TAGO" than from '16 Shots.' I guess the sound of the production is like a mix of a lot of elements from earlier releases, very focused a lot of real instrumentation."

You can check out the full Reddit AMA here.

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