Vic Mensa is taking Hip-Hop beyond the recording booth in Chicago with a new podcast built around culture politics and the conversations that have shaped his worldview.
The Chicago rapper launched “The Vic Mensa Show” on Monday (Aug. 10), with the first episode scheduled to arrive Aug. 26. Chance The Rapper will join his fellow Chicago native for the premiere, giving the new series an immediate hometown connection.
The show will roll out every Wednesday afterward with 24 episodes planned for its first season. Mensa is bringing together guests from music, entertainment, literature and activism, including Rapsody, Durand Bernarr, Lena Waithe, Aja Monet and Van Lathan Jr.
Rather than simply adding another celebrity interview podcast to an already crowded field, Mensa is positioning the program as an extension of ideas that have followed him throughout his career.
Join Us
AllHipHop’s Daily News Service
Delivering news to inboxes since 1999. We break it. They take it. Get it first, straight from AllHipHop.
“Music, culture and politics have always been intrinsically intertwined in my practice and in the larger tradition from which I emerge,” Mensa tells Billboard. “So much of my historical and political lens has derived its impetus from music; whether learning about Assata [Shakur] from Common, conflict diamonds from Lupe [Fiasco] and Kanye [West], or capitalism from Lauryn [Hill].”
Those musical lessons eventually pushed Mensa toward writing and longer conversations about politics, race and society. His work has appeared in The New York Times and Time and those interests also fueled his Webby-winning “Orange Tree” video series.
“As I further unpeeled the ideas that hip-hop introduced me to, the conversation expanded beyond song, finding its way into my writings in outlets like The New York Times and Time, and ultimately into my Orange Tree series. From that evolution, The Vic Mensa Show was born — a space to deepen the dialogue by involving artists, thinkers, loved ones and brilliant minds across mediums in the many discussions I’ve been holding about the human condition.”
“The Vic Mensa Show” is being released through a partnership with Mass Appeal and ORANJ, Mensa’s new multidisciplinary production company. Pickup Media and Blank Square Productions are executive producing alongside Mensa. Episodes are expected to be distributed across major podcast platforms including Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
The project also gives Mensa another outlet for the social and political interests that have increasingly occupied space alongside his music. The 33-year-old has remained involved with grassroots programs, charitable work and community initiatives in Chicago.
“The Orange Tree illustrated for me the transcendent possibilities of conversation: a space for the discussion of radical ideas, humor, honesty and vulnerability,” Mensa said in a statement. “What began as a conversation with my community online is now expanding, through The Vic Mensa Show, to include great minds that I respect across many disciplines.”
Musically, Mensa’s most recent studio album was “Victor,” released in 2023. He later appeared on Chance The Rapper’s 2025 album “Star Line.”
Now the longtime collaborators will meet in a different arena when Chance helps Mensa open his 24-episode run. For an artist who says Hip-Hop helped teach him about history, economics and politics, the microphone is staying on. The difference is that this time the conversation does not have to end when the beat stops.
Related
