Screv6 - INNANETAPE: Vic Mensa Unconsciously Channeling Andre 3000 and Calculus [tekst, tłumaczenie i interpretacja piosenki]

Hip-hop is over-saturated. Over-saturated with a lack of creativity, a lack of inspired works, and a lack of innovation. And the worst part about the over-saturation of hip-hop is that the general public accepts and even promotes it. Or at least the people that I’m around do

People at my school praise your typical releases as something legendary, when they contain largely the same things we’ve heard from most rappers for the past few years, while at the same time refusing to listen to something fresh and new, like, say, Run the Jewels; or, worse, while at the same time rejecting a sonically ambitious project from a wildly popular artist like Yeezus. My peers always ask me what I think about this or that popular new release, and I give the same response every time, nearly without fail: “It’s what I expected.” Because there is a shocking lack of creativity in hip-hop

Of course, this is because the over-saturated music is easy to listen to, while the ones breaking the mold are often difficult to digest. But, that’s where Vic Mensa’s INNANETAPE comes in

Vic Mensa first jumped onto both my radar and the radar of much of the hip-hop world with release of Kid These Day’s 2012 free album “Traphouse Rock.” Kids These Day’s were an indie band whose front man was none other than our Mr. Mensa. The album was beautiful, crisp, new, and left me ready for new Kids These Days. The only problem was that they split in May of 2013

But Vic wasn’t done, assuring everyone that he will release a solo tape, INNANETAPE, in 2013. To be honest with you, I was skeptical. I felt like the live instrumentation and creative vision of the band was what made Kids These Days special, and that, although Vic was certainly a good enough rapper, their front man could have been potentially replaceable, and I really couldn’t see him being successful with a solo project

I was wrong

INNANETAPE is unique, innovative, creative, feel-good, and definitely not what I expected from Mensa five months ago when Kids These Days broke up. Vic stays in his pocket with this project, but his pocket is obviously deeper and more stylish than I could have predicted

From a raw rapping perspective, Vic Mensa does not follow a classical bar structure, stretching his lines and blending them together in a way that’s nearly reminiscent of Andre 3000 - the commonality there being that neither artists’ flow is easily reproducible. Hip-hop artists had begun to follow what has almost been a formula to find the “perfect flow” (something I blame on battle rap), and that’s fine, but the equation they follow is linear: logical, consistent, predictable, and boring. INNANETAPE is calculus: can change at any moment, has potential for exponential growth, unpredictable, and intelligent

In order for this flow to be successful, Vic also doesn’t rhyme over the typical production we find in hip-hop - he is not scared to take risks sonically, and it pays off in a big way. And the beauty of this all, is that it doesn’t sound like he is trying too hard to be different. He is simply expressing himself artistically, and that is unique in this over-saturated industry. And it so happens to be easy to listen to, and I can see it connecting with anyone who gives it a chance. It is unique and beautiful. It is music in its purest form. It is art