Chicago rapper and activist Vic Mensa has officially announced that his new project I TAPE is coming March 26 via Roc Nation. Last night on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert he performed a medley of the recently dropped “SHELTER” and to-be-released track “FR33Dom” alongside Wyclef Jean and Peter CottonTale.
A camera flashes in a dark space between men dressed in inmate uniforms and net hoods, while Mensa raps about the racial inequity of the healthcare system amidst a pandemic, police brutality, and mass incarceration. Mensa shouts out Julius Jones, an Oklahoma man on death row who maintains his innocence and has provided evidence that he was wrongfully convicted. A recorded voicemail from Jones in prison plays. The final minute of the performance bursts into the fierce, resolute “FR33Dom,” where Mensa’s flow turns brisk. The inmates behind him mosh and rejoice.
Both tracks are featured on the forthcoming I TAPE, the formal follow-up to 2020’s V TAPE. Check out the performance below.
