Vic Mensa has released “$WISH,” his second major song of the year, via Roc Nation. The single, which reunites Vic with long time friends and collaborators Chance The Rapper and G-Eazy, is a braggadocious banger in which the three MCs trade increasingly elaborate boasts about their respective successes.
“$WISH came from a writing camp me & Chance did in LA working on a bunch of music together,” states Vic, “it was really just a fun, spontaneous vibe. Me & Bongo were freestyling and then Chance said he had a line so I just recorded him putting his verse together. G-Eazy is one of my best friends in the industry and someone I’ve known for probably 12 years, so it just all made sense.”
The single follows the release of January’s “Strawberry Louis Vuitton (feat. Thundercat and Maeta),” a soulful love jam that was accompanied by an awe-inspiring music video in which Mensa performed the song while skydiving in a custom recreation of a Virgil Abloh suit. The single yielded a release week performance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert for which Vic was accompanied by Maeta and Phony Ppl.
Upon the release, Vic released a statement on the track. “I made Strawberry Louis Vuitton while watching one of Virgil’s last LV films; the one with Saul Williams,” says Vic. “When I heard the sample it just spoke to me, so I chopped it, made the beat, and wrote the song on the spot. It was really a freestyle. I always imagined Thundercat doing the bridge… we recorded it when he was on tour and I was doing my art show in Chicago. When Virgil passed away I kind of felt like he had given this song to me; the gift that keeps on giving, in a way.”
Both new tracks are rumored to be featured on Mensa’s forthcoming album, which he is reportedly currently working on.
