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Vic Mensa On Drake, Lil Yachty an Talks Religion, Medication & Freestyle with King Moosa
May 22, 2023
Vic Mensa is at a new stage in life and has immense clarity on his position in life. He stopped by Sway In The Morning to talk about music, religion, health and wellness and much more.
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Vic Mensa On Drake, Lil Yachty an Talks Religion, Medication & Freestyle with King Moosa
https://youtu.be/Zr_r8gwf8rg
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0:00
I want to welcome him back to the show
0:01
give it up for my brother Vic Mensa
0:04
appreciate y'all for having me as always
0:06
man it's an absolute pleasure good
0:10
Mission man it's an absolute pleasure
0:11
I've been a consummate fan of
0:14
you as an individual
0:17
Swing King Tech show between the morning
0:20
so try to be the whole gang the whole
0:22
time I grew up studying what you do I
0:24
grew up studying my favorite MCS doing
0:26
what they do next to you yes and
0:29
dreaming that I would be one of those
0:30
guys so it's always a true blessing yeah
0:33
I get to come be one of those guys oh
0:34
man it's good to see you man and see you
0:36
in the States but when I saw you let's
0:37
talk Ghana can we talk Ghana first for
0:40
sure is that okay
0:44
um I came back and told all folks that
0:47
you need to go to Ghana especially black
0:49
folks go to Ghana
0:51
go to Africa go
0:53
go put your feet in the soil I took my
0:56
shoes and socks off and made sure I
0:59
walked on that soil of Africa tell me
1:02
um your experience in Ghana
1:05
but how has it transformed you because I
1:08
mentioned something when we were when
1:09
y'all sent for me to go to Ghana there
1:11
was a lot of personal things that's been
1:13
happening in my life and that was right
1:16
in the height of it in Ghana for me was
1:19
like therapy
1:22
um and it was a very transforming
1:23
transformative experience what was the
1:26
Ghana experience like for you when you
1:28
first went
1:29
I first went when I was 11 years old
1:31
okay and so at that time I think it gave
1:33
me confidence it gave me perspective
1:35
because it wasn't cool to be African
1:36
then you wear an African booty scratcher
1:39
y'all remember that yeah African booty
1:42
scratch
1:43
it wasn't cool to be African then you
1:45
know and it was just obscure you know I
1:47
mean most people thought my pops was
1:49
Jamaican if they thought about it at all
1:52
and
1:53
Me growing up in between these two
1:55
worlds an African parent a white
1:57
American parent from a rural area in New
2:00
York being on the south side of Chicago
2:02
was just like to be a black sheep and so
2:05
when I went to Ghana and I met my family
2:08
for the first time and I heard my
2:11
language being spoken by more than just
2:13
my pops on the phone with his brothers
2:15
it gave me a confidence in oh no I I do
2:20
belong somewhere yeah you know I mean
2:21
I'm from somewhere yeah and at the time
2:24
my passion was soccer
2:27
obviously football is huge in Africa so
2:31
I developed my skill heavily while I was
2:33
there and I came back with a different
2:34
skill level I came back with a different
2:36
confidence
2:37
and it changed me you know what I'm
2:39
saying who were you when before you went
2:41
what were you dealing with at that time
2:43
well that was when you was 11 when you
2:44
went back when when did you go back when
2:47
I went back again at age 17 that I went
2:51
back again at age 21 maybe 22 but it
2:54
wasn't until I went back in 2020. okay I
2:59
really started to appreciate
3:02
the privilege I have and I call it a
3:04
privilege because the vast majority of
3:06
our people on this side do not know
3:09
where they come from and we suffer for
3:10
that we suffer for not knowing our
3:12
languages our names and our gods and for
3:15
me to have this direct chain of
3:16
communication with my ancestry is a
3:19
privilege so when I went back in 2020 I
3:21
started to recognize that and I started
3:23
to realize that when you have privilege
3:25
you also have responsibility not only do
3:28
you have responsibility but you have
3:30
opportunity and that's when I started to
3:33
imagine how I could be creating a bridge
3:36
between America and Africa and the
3:39
islands and our people globally to take
3:42
advantage of that opportunity and to
3:44
answer to that responsibility
3:46
Fake Messages here for me
3:49
um
3:51
I got a chance to go to the elmina
3:55
castles
3:55
[Applause]
3:57
um I got a chance to just kind of travel
3:59
around the countryside of Ghana
4:02
and before I went I was full with a lot
4:05
of um
4:10
I was going through a lot let me say
4:12
that all right I was going through a lot
4:13
of some personal things in my personal
4:15
circles
4:17
for some reason man Vic I felt like
4:19
Ghana gave me a cleansing you know you
4:23
know I came back there with some some
4:24
habits I had developed that I let go you
4:27
know yeah you too okay so I didn't even
4:30
think about those habits no more I
4:32
thought those habits were helping me and
4:34
I realized they were hindering me right
4:37
it's crazy you say that yeah
4:40
and it was um
4:42
I found my eye refound what I told you
4:46
outside I found a frequency that I had
4:48
lost
4:49
right I was able to uh tap into a
4:52
frequency that I had lost recaptivated
4:54
that frequency and I felt that cleansing
4:57
what you went through a parallel
4:59
experience 100 in many ways I think that
5:06
we normalize abnormal [ __ ] okay in
5:09
America in the black community this
5:12
constant fear of gun violence of police
5:14
brutality that's not normal that's an
5:16
abnormal normality and when I go to
5:18
Ghana this weight lifts from my spirit
5:21
because I quickly realized that
5:24
nobody is going to kill each other I
5:26
won't have to kill or be killed so this
5:28
constant cortisol Spike that we have and
5:32
these fight-or-flight responses that we
5:34
experienced on a 24 7 basis starts to
5:37
shed and fade away because that's not
5:40
the reality there in another way I was
5:43
also on antidepressants when I was
5:46
heading to Ghana in 2021 and I was
5:49
realizing similarly to what you
5:51
expressed that
5:52
these medicines that I thought were
5:54
supposed to help me were actually making
5:57
it worse I wasn't suicidal when I
5:59
started taking the medication but I
6:01
stopped taking the medication for a week
6:02
and there you go I'm driving the car
6:05
like oh maybe I should drive this off a
6:06
bridge I'm like that thought is not mine
6:08
this doesn't belong to me I didn't feel
6:10
this when I started taking this
6:12
medication this medication is making me
6:13
dependent on it and if I lose the
6:15
medication then it's making it worse so
6:17
when I was going to Ghana I lost that
6:20
habit I just was like I'm going to
6:22
intentionally lose this habit I'm gonna
6:25
leave those medicines in America and I'm
6:28
gonna tap in with myself and that's what
6:30
happened the work that you have to wean
6:33
yourself off or do something
6:35
supplementary to make up for not taking
6:38
those medications actually I did I was
6:40
um I was micro dosing mushrooms okay and
6:43
I was really like treating it clinically
6:46
so I was taking the recommended micro
6:49
dose every day two days on one day off
6:53
and it helped a lot you know it's a
6:56
plant medicine it's from the earth it's
6:58
it's of the soil and it was far more
7:01
beneficial for me that and meditation I
7:03
would say meditation is the primary
7:05
thing that I replaced the medicine with
7:08
the meditation has become my medication
7:10
but the micro dose mushrooms helped that
7:13
is of course until I was coming back
7:15
into America with them in my luggage
7:17
okay and then I went to jail no that's
7:20
how that happened okay crazy how America
7:22
works right
7:24
that's how that went down so it was
7:26
helping until it was hurting but you
7:27
know ultimately I was in such a good
7:29
mind frame already and I was meditating
7:32
for hours on end every day that when I
7:35
did get locked up I instantly just set
7:38
that mental discipline in Action a
7:40
mental discipline started being grateful
7:42
for the situation even though I couldn't
7:44
see what there was to be grateful for
7:46
yet so I was just repeating in my head I
7:49
thank God for this blessing in the form
7:51
of a lesson they like hands behind your
7:53
back I'm like I thank God
7:56
and I went into jail cell and you know I
7:59
just I instantly started meditating and
8:02
they're like well you ain't got no court
8:03
day for three months I just started
8:05
meditating yeah and
8:07
I feel like it really made the
8:10
experience so much more manageable and
8:12
also you know it's like I turned around
8:14
in maybe four months later five months
8:17
later launched the first black owned
8:19
cannabis company legal right in Chicago
8:22
and Illinois okay and
8:25
so I just saw this three boys 93 boys
8:27
and I was like
8:28
this isn't this is a full circle moment
8:31
I was incarcerated for plant medicine
8:32
something that's going to be legal we're
8:34
being honest and five months later I
8:38
come out on top so
8:40
thickness is here
8:41
um we're not saying that his route for
8:44
those who may be on meds it's not a tool
8:48
it's a tool it's a tool the tool has
8:50
worked for me at times but the vast
8:52
majority of the time it didn't work for
8:54
me I mean from age 15 to what's that age
8:57
28 uh 27 I was on every medication Under
9:01
the Sun from Prozac to Zoloft to
9:04
Wellbutrin to Effexor to you know so
9:07
many of them probably about one a year
9:10
maybe 10 to 15 medicines around 15 years
9:13
and I had one year when it worked it
9:15
worked like a dream for one year but
9:17
overall
9:19
it just wasn't the most effective tool
9:21
that's a dismal efficacy rate one year
9:24
out of 15 years that it works and so I
9:27
started to look for new new medications
9:29
because this stimuli that we're
9:32
experiencing that are spiking this
9:35
increase in mental health disorders are
9:39
omnipresent it's the telephone it's TV
9:42
it's the radio it's subliminal messaging
9:45
that we're experiencing as we swipe and
9:48
as we scroll
9:50
you can't fix that externally man you
9:52
got to fix that from inside yeah the
9:55
problem is outside you got to find a
9:58
solution inside straight up and the
10:01
medicine can be a useful tool if you are
10:05
in a suicidal space and you don't know
10:07
if you're gonna make it to tomorrow I
10:09
definitely think you should medicate
10:10
yeah I think you should you should use
10:12
that medication as a tool but don't
10:14
think that it's going to be your
10:15
ultimate solution because it can't be
10:17
you got to do other work outside of that
10:19
right uh and let's just say for the
10:21
record his experience is his everybody
10:23
else yeah yeah that's for him anyone
10:26
else might be on Madge you have to you
10:28
know evaluate those things uh for
10:30
yourself everything is different you
10:32
know what I mean like I got people in my
10:33
family that experience things that are
10:34
more similar to bipolar disorder and I
10:37
can't really I can't say what's the
10:39
answer for that I could just say for me
10:41
what has worked has been more of a
10:44
holistic approach what's your diagnosis
10:46
what are you what was your diagnosis
10:48
well I first got diagnosed with
10:50
generalized anxiety disorder in high
10:53
school and then major depressive
10:56
disorder in like my early 20s or maybe
11:01
late teens okay and um that's been the
11:04
diagnosis I don't think I kept getting
11:06
diagnosis because they started saying
11:07
other stuff well maybe yo that's bipolar
11:10
I'm like man y'all just y'all got it you
11:13
don't need no more diagnosis
11:15
Vic missus here so what do you do now do
11:18
you uh are you totally off of everything
11:21
or how do you function day to day now
11:23
yeah man I'm sober man I've been sober
11:26
like come on coming up on two years now
11:28
Mr sober man completely sober and uh
11:31
yeah it's been amazing for me I feel
11:33
Limitless I feel like there's nothing
11:34
that could stop me you know what I'm
11:35
saying I feel like I'm not running from
11:37
anything
11:38
I'm not hiding from anything the reason
11:41
why I became so addicted to so many
11:43
things
11:44
because I was trying to mask the pain
11:45
yeah I'm trying to Band-Aid something
11:47
that is so much deeper than a cosmetic
11:50
cut you can't just put a Band-Aid over
11:52
and think it's gonna heal and so for me
11:55
the process of going into sobriety has
11:59
been
12:01
dealing with it head on facing all the
12:04
facts facing the issues and not trying
12:06
to run in alcohol not trying to run in
12:08
women or Molly or cocaine you know the
12:12
whole Gambit I did it all and that's a
12:15
failure method for me I love it man
12:17
Tracy G you want to talk to me oh my
12:19
gosh yeah I'm so grateful for all of
12:21
your transparency you know hearing you
12:24
know um plant medicine meditation
12:26
ancestral reverence it's just making me
12:29
think about spirituality in general and
12:32
although
12:33
um I have yet to get to Ghana and I will
12:35
but I have been to South Africa and
12:39
during that trip the way it widened my
12:41
lens on spirituality I used to see it as
12:44
something that was separate you know I
12:46
had my spiritual regimen and then I went
12:48
into my career or I had my relationships
12:50
but I was able to see that as a part of
12:52
everything for you were you did you
12:55
always consider yourself to be a
12:58
spiritual being and what has your
13:00
relationship how has it evolved in terms
13:03
of you and religion and the difference
13:05
between that and spirituality
13:08
I've always been a spiritual person I
13:10
come from an African tradition called
13:12
vodun actually which is the original
13:14
Voodoo that was transported across the
13:17
middle passage to places like Haiti and
13:18
Louisiana to become our modern Voodoo so
13:21
we worship the ancestors even my uncles
13:24
that are so Christian that they're like
13:26
no no to all of Odun they still poor
13:29
Libations and worship the ancestors
13:30
constantly so I think that's a deeply
13:32
spiritual practice as far as religion
13:35
though I was really so agnostic for so
13:37
long yeah and so anti-religion so
13:40
anti-christianity because I was repulsed
13:44
by the white jesus idea and I was so mad
13:47
that this religion had been used in the
13:51
process of enslaving us that I was
13:53
completely closed off to its value and
13:57
spirituality embracing it for me has
13:59
been another main source of medication
14:01
and to actually study the Bible and
14:05
internalize the lessons in there because
14:08
human beings are flawed you know I was
14:10
blaming the religion for the flaw of
14:12
human beings not just one religion but
14:14
all of them right when ultimately human
14:16
beings are flawed human beings will find
14:19
a way to justify their evil whether it's
14:21
through religion whether it's through
14:23
politics whether it's through economics
14:26
this is a human trait Christianity
14:30
is such a valuable religion and studying
14:32
the Bible has been
14:34
just ultimately impactful for me and
14:38
then
14:38
I started to study the Quran and that's
14:40
where I really found something that
14:42
really speaks to me is Islam so me
14:45
becoming sober really coincided with me
14:47
beginning to practice Islam and when I
14:50
started practicing Islam
14:52
it made me disciplined and I think that
14:55
there's nothing I can't accomplish when
14:57
I'm disciplined amen so the first time I
15:00
was in that mosque and I was ready to
15:01
change and I'm going through these
15:03
things and somebody's trying to kill me
15:05
in Chicago my money's [ __ ] up I'm
15:08
fighting the case and I'm just you know
15:10
praying in the mosque crying asking God
15:13
look if you could get me through this
15:15
I'm going to change and I caught a
15:18
blessing just a week later I was still
15:20
carrying on my [ __ ] drunk driving
15:23
crashed this Range Rover with a dirty
15:26
pistol in the back seat and I got two
15:28
gun cases already so I was gonna sit
15:32
point blank yeah I was gonna sit and
15:35
I caught a blessing from God my friend
15:37
came
15:38
patched it up I didn't have to pay I
15:41
didn't have to go to prison
15:43
and that's when I just decided to change
15:46
and embracing spirituality embracing
15:49
religion
15:50
it was everything for me because it gave
15:53
me language to the discipline that I was
15:56
seeking and it's like you do this and
15:58
you receive that I know that sounds
16:00
selfish but I feel like human beings are
16:02
pretty selfishly motivated creatures
16:04
yeah so for me it works to say
16:08
stop when you see somebody by the side
16:10
of the road with their car broke down
16:11
because if you help this person then
16:13
Allah or God is going to help you
16:15
tenfold that helped it helps for me to
16:19
say you leaving the store right now they
16:21
didn't ring you up for that 500 pair of
16:24
glasses don't just walk out tell them
16:27
and pay them because if you resist that
16:29
Temptation you will be rewarded
16:31
exponentially that helped me because I
16:34
had to revolutionize my thought
16:36
processes and my actions so I was caught
16:39
up in a cycle of I'm trying to get over
16:41
whenever I can you know that's how I
16:43
grew up that's always what I was on yeah
16:45
and that's not a successful method
16:48
though if you want little money like me
16:50
and my man was talking about it last
16:51
night in the pandemic
16:54
I was stressed all my [ __ ] was hitting
16:57
on them PPP loans yeah
17:04
I'm talking about first it was 10 bands
17:06
and it was 20 Bands then it's 50 bands
17:07
now [ __ ] in a multi-million
17:09
dollar crib I'm like yo I gotta be a
17:12
part of this every time I try somebody
17:15
run off on us now my friend's mad at me
17:19
we beefing never got no money off them
17:22
loans I tried like two or three times
17:24
before
17:25
Vic Mister tried to get them loans
17:30
I tried I couldn't resist it at the time
17:32
but then I had to come and realize that
17:34
man that's not my path my path is not to
17:36
get something for nothing yeah you know
17:38
I mean like I've worked hard to be where
17:39
I'm at in life now and cutting corners
17:42
and trying to finesse you know what I
17:45
mean trying to scam some [ __ ] is not my
17:47
path Vic man says here man I'm loving it
17:51
we're gonna open up these phone lines
17:55
888-742-3345 how do you feel now
17:58
um when you reflect on your relationship
18:00
with the music scene in America
18:02
how do you assess it
18:05
music scene in America is complex yeah
18:08
hip-hop it's troubling and it's bubbling
18:12
and it's beautiful and it's disastrous
18:13
and it's also reflective of us as a
18:16
people
18:17
I love what most def said man people
18:19
treat hip-hop like it's a giant in the
18:21
Hills if hip hop is I we're gonna be all
18:25
right if we doing bad hip-hop gonna be
18:27
doing bad and
18:29
I talk about it a lot that
18:31
it's conflicting to be a hip-hop fan
18:33
right because it's taught me everything
18:36
I studied you I studied the artists you
18:40
would bring on I studied Mc Juice being
18:42
on your show wow
18:43
you watch the illness like and I learned
18:46
so much from these guys I learned
18:47
history from these guys you know I
18:49
learned about diamonds and Sierra Leone
18:51
from Kanye West and Lupe fias you know I
18:54
learned about asada Shakur from common
18:57
the Black Panther Party went on to be
18:58
one of the most influential theologies
19:01
in my life and Hip-Hop has given me that
19:04
it's given me Tupac which also taught me
19:07
revolutionary politics and you know the
19:10
beauty in that at the same time hip-hop
19:13
is like
19:14
deep bleed deeply misogynistic it's like
19:17
very self-hating is there's a lot of
19:20
just perpetuation of violence amongst
19:22
our own community in hip-hop
19:25
so it's conflicting you know but that's
19:28
the experience of being of us yeah and
19:32
so ultimately I reflect on my
19:34
relationship with hip-hop in America the
19:37
music scene in America lovingly you know
19:39
I love it I love to make the music I
19:42
love to listen to the music I love the
19:43
people that make the music and I also am
19:47
critical of the music and I'm critical
19:50
of the ideas in the music and the
19:54
talking points yeah you know [ __ ] your
19:56
[ __ ] pull up in whip kill a [ __ ] with
19:58
a switch Yeah you gotta get a [ __ ]
20:00
grip
20:02
I'm critical of that [ __ ] too but I'm
20:05
also a part of it you know I'm not above
20:08
or beyond the problem yeah I do the same
20:10
[ __ ] sometimes but I do try to be
20:12
conscious though that's why I do
20:13
consider myself a conscious artist I
20:16
know that sometimes that's a smear but I
20:19
consider that to be me even though
20:21
sometimes I might make something ratchet
20:23
for the strip club but overall I'm a
20:25
conscious human being yeah so I consider
20:28
myself a conscious rapper and I'm
20:31
conscious of
20:32
the good and the Bad and the Ugly yeah
20:34
but you pointed out too though like I I
20:36
commend you you know because you you
20:39
know you'll you'll speak out against
20:40
music or you speak out against media
20:42
that perpetuates the music that that
20:44
that uh seems like it could be cancerous
20:47
at times but and you consistently have
20:50
done that when you've done that did you
20:52
do you think you benefited from it or
20:55
did it hurt your career at all
20:58
I think I had to learn that not all
21:00
truths need to be told all the time okay
21:02
and something that is in the Bible judge
21:05
not lest he be judged condemned not lest
21:07
ye be condemned that was important for
21:09
me to learn because I was always caught
21:11
up in a pattern of calling somebody out
21:13
you know and I think it's possible to
21:15
attack the issue and address the problem
21:18
without pointing the finger because when
21:20
you point one finger three fingers is
21:22
pointed back at you and ultimately I
21:24
experienced that yeah so every time if
21:27
you comment about an artist you've
21:28
commented about artists or a media
21:30
person
21:31
something always came back to you it
21:33
always comes back because I'm not
21:34
perfect yeah you know I mean I make just
21:36
as many mistakes
21:38
maybe I didn't at the time think my
21:39
mistakes were as bad as your mistakes
21:41
but who is that who am I to really say
21:43
that ultimately and so that's why I just
21:46
feel blessed though to be able to grow
21:48
up and recognize that [ __ ] because Young
21:52
Artists don't get that chance they dying
21:54
at 20 years old they're dying at 21
21:56
years old doing the same [ __ ] that I was
21:59
doing rapping about depression and
22:02
suicide and overdosing and I want to die
22:06
young burn bright you know
22:09
that [ __ ] will come back to you you've
22:11
been watching the Tupac documentary look
22:13
at how Tupac sold this pattern in his
22:18
words music has a resonant frequency not
22:21
only do the words that we speak carry
22:23
energy and have the power to create
22:25
manifest physical reality when you add
22:28
it to music that's what Musa was saying
22:31
that's why we worship through song
22:33
that's why we learn our ABCs through
22:36
song Because when you add that Melody to
22:39
it that really you adding that Rhythm to
22:41
it you add a powerful energy to it so
22:44
when we put that [ __ ] out in the air
22:46
whether it's me with judgment you know
22:49
and I'm calling out this person calling
22:51
out that person or it's Tupac you know
22:53
with that as well but really with some
22:55
like visitors of my enemies killing me
22:58
in my sleep
22:59
you know I mean or or it's artists
23:02
talking about how they want to overdose
23:03
and die like man that will come right
23:05
back to you so I don't trip on the fact
23:08
that I've been damaged by some of my
23:13
decisions you know to call out things
23:15
when I felt like I was standing for
23:17
right but I don't trip because I got the
23:19
blessing of getting to wake up today yes
23:22
and you know if I was gonna give you a
23:24
hundred million dollars tonight you'll
23:27
want it for sure what if I said you
23:30
couldn't wake up in the morning I
23:31
wouldn't take it yeah so it's more
23:33
valuable to wake up in the morning than
23:35
to have 100 million dollars there you go
23:37
so I can't be mad about
23:39
any missteps or any wounds I've taken
23:42
because I got something more valuable
23:44
than 100 million dollars that I could
23:46
wake up today and I got my head on
23:47
straight and I know how to get me some
23:50
money that's a big man so get this man a
23:52
round of applies we're gonna open up the
23:53
phone lines
23:56
888-742-3345 for all berries
23:59
am I saying it right here to Louis
24:00
Vuitton
24:04
I've never owned it
24:12
you
24:17
were legend for a lot of reasons man but
24:21
one thing that I think
24:24
was so legendary that you said
24:27
was when you told Kanye
24:29
why don't you just go do it on your own
24:32
and then 10 years later he was like
24:35
sway was right
24:42
because we got to build our own things
24:44
you know I mean you know that's my
24:45
brother too you know what I mean y'all
24:46
both my brothers but like
24:48
I appreciate you for preaching that
24:51
doctrine of ownership you know what I'm
24:52
saying and building our own structures
24:55
and having our own uh chains of
24:58
production we got to be vertically
25:00
integrated man or else we're just being
25:02
manipulated and we'll move in inertia
25:05
which is chasing our tails and even in
25:07
that moment saying that to him that came
25:09
from somewhere you know that was a
25:12
conduit to get that was a message he
25:14
needed to hear not so much I needed to
25:17
say
25:18
you know what I mean it wasn't open to
25:20
hearing it wasn't open to hearing it at
25:22
that time and if I never said one thing
25:24
to him that stuck I'm kind of happy that
25:27
one did you know and you you recognize
25:29
that a lot of people focused on the the
25:32
the energy of the interview the yelling
25:35
and all of that no way around that and
25:36
if you know Kanye as well as Vic and his
25:39
inner circle does it's not often you're
25:41
gonna hear him say
25:43
you were right
25:50
things
25:55
here that song What you you that's a
25:59
love song
26:00
yeah it's one of the first ones I've
26:01
made in so long yeah and I was inspired
26:05
by a Virgil in in the creation of that
26:07
okay so I sampled a Virgil film called
26:09
the I'm in break
26:11
starring Saul Williams Charles Williams
26:16
absolute goat shout out to saw Williams
26:18
in so that Drew me in and I was watching
26:20
the film
26:21
and then this beautiful piece of music
26:23
came on and I just sampled it right on
26:26
the spot and added like some Moog bass
26:30
some light layering but it's really just
26:31
a sample chop for the most part and
26:34
wrote the song and then I got into a
26:37
relationship that's really like the
26:38
first healthy relationship I've been in
26:41
and what is that like maybe ever an
26:43
effort
26:50
yeah it's amazing it's the first
26:52
relationship that I can say I've really
26:55
been fully honest in and is devoid of
26:58
cheating and lying and
27:02
it coincides with all of the growth that
27:04
I've been experiencing yeah and it's a
27:07
beautiful experience because I'm not
27:09
hiding I'm not trying to hide my phone
27:12
I'm not you don't turn your phone upside
27:14
down no more I don't I don't even got a
27:17
passcode on my [ __ ] because I don't got
27:18
nothing to hide I'm not I'm not [ __ ]
27:20
around you told you so I lost my phone
27:22
one time and sway was like well it's
27:25
locked nobody could get anything and I
27:27
was like no my phone is not locked I
27:30
don't have anything to hide I mean it's
27:33
just that's what happens and I think
27:34
that's part of the healthiness of a
27:36
relationship when you know you don't
27:38
have anything to hide anymore it's just
27:40
kind of that like
27:42
it's healthy money
27:45
it's a way better Vibe but I think yeah
27:48
man we don't recognize that all of the
27:52
programming we've been given of
27:53
masculinity and cheating being so
27:57
commonplace is damaging to ourselves
28:00
when when you're in this constant
28:02
pattern of lying then you will be the
28:04
victim of what you've dealt out and
28:08
we're not setting out like I want to
28:10
create Bad Karma for myself but that's
28:13
what you do when you're caught up in
28:14
this and that's just commonplace though
28:16
it's like as [ __ ] we don't think twice
28:18
about cheating most of the time yeah I
28:21
mean [ __ ] is like well [ __ ]
28:23
the problem is getting caught yeah
28:25
probably may actually that she's
28:27
cheating ain't a lion and it's not that
28:29
I'm like subscribing wholeheartedly to
28:32
monogamy because I do believe that
28:35
that's a white European concept but I am
28:37
subscribing wholeheartedly to honesty
28:39
that's what I'm subscribing to
28:41
him no judgment on anybody's form of
28:44
relationships but I do think that
28:46
honesty is that's a successful practice
28:49
it makes it healthy who is this woman
28:51
that won your heart
28:53
her name is Melanie Melanie salute to
28:55
you Melanie I don't know what she got
28:57
some sisters
29:06
you never had a healthy relationship oh
29:08
come on Heather if you don't do that
29:14
yeah
29:16
I mean I don't think I've been healthy
29:19
you know what I mean all right 100
29:21
healthy so I don't think I was capable
29:23
of giving 100 healthy relationship and I
29:27
think anybody I've been with will
29:29
probably agree yeah
29:31
[Music]
29:33
you looking for Words thank you heather
29:36
I appreciate you walking me through this
29:38
uh but yeah probably they probably would
29:40
agree Vic you've been under the weights
29:41
too man
29:42
yeah everything yeah I mean I definitely
29:46
definitely been working look at me
29:48
differently I noticed that it's to be
29:50
hugging me with a lot of aggression
30:01
no no no I was mad skinny when you first
30:04
met me though because you probably met
30:05
me 10 years ago I did but you know man
30:07
but that's a part of the whole
30:09
regiment right hell yeah I mean for me
30:12
working out is mental health care for
30:16
sure I mean it scientifically it's
30:18
proven that that releases endorphins it
30:20
releases dopamine and serotonin into
30:22
your body those are the feel good
30:23
chemicals so working out helps me stay
30:26
on top of those things to be in good
30:29
shape physically to be in good shape
30:31
mentally to be in good shape creatively
30:33
and artistically that's all coming
30:35
together for me and that's what I'm
30:37
focused on I'm just at a place where
30:40
I've identified the difference between
30:42
fun and joy is it necessarily fun to
30:46
wake up at 4 30 in the morning and go to
30:49
the gym
30:50
that's arguable
30:51
but is it joyful does it bring me joy to
30:55
be healthy and be in good shape and to
30:57
have those chemicals released in my body
30:59
that's definite yeah it's not
31:02
necessarily fun that I don't pop out
31:05
when my homies want to go to the club
31:07
and I don't drink Etc
31:09
but do those things bring me towards joy
31:13
in my life or do they take away joy for
31:15
my life
31:16
I realize that those things are taken
31:18
away from my joy the things that bring
31:20
me joy are success
31:23
health
31:24
realizing my potential
31:26
growth
31:28
being of service
31:30
being dope being rich being creative
31:34
drinking and like doing drugs and [ __ ]
31:37
never made me know more of those things
31:40
it's very fleeting and joy has a much
31:42
longer impact yeah joy as well joy is
31:45
what I seek and I also feel like funny
31:48
enough I feel like I maxed out what I
31:51
could do as a [ __ ] in this tax bracket
31:54
for fun [ __ ]
31:57
millions of dollars and [ __ ] like I'm
32:00
like the fun [ __ ] I want to do is more
32:02
like having my own chat and [ __ ] you
32:05
know so I'm for going the things that
32:08
are over here yes
32:09
elevation it doesn't serve me anymore
32:11
doesn't serve them every time he say
32:14
something you look at me we in two
32:15
different stages of our life why are you
32:17
doing this
32:19
yeah
32:21
I think he's like 29. you're trying to
32:24
get swayed off the couch back that's all
32:25
it's just they look good thank you Vic I
32:28
appreciate that
32:29
potato man they did this every day for
32:32
me bro sway didn't already lived a very
32:34
legendary life you know what I'm saying
32:36
like sway is inspired so many and
32:40
how long you been doing this version of
32:42
the show since 2011. like bro yeah yeah
32:45
it's another chapter brother and it's
32:48
something bro ain't it something because
32:50
when I was first studying you it was you
32:53
and King Texas playing Tech and that was
32:55
in the we started that in the early
32:57
night early 90s
32:59
freestyles on there people was [ __ ]
33:02
on there yeah you wise come on Eminem
33:06
come on oh man
33:09
I could just keep naming them you're
33:12
gonna get off the couch I'm trying to
33:14
get bit got me inspired man I'm not
33:16
gonna lie uh I'm trying to get get off
33:19
the couch Vic man says here we got some
33:21
special surprises too retro is on the
33:23
line from Rochester retro go ahead speak
33:25
to him hey
33:33
right here
33:35
okay but I just wanna
33:37
I just want to speak the victims about
33:39
uh how did I manifestation of your words
33:41
is a powerful thing
33:43
I used to rap so back in 2016 before
33:47
like it was 2015 I made a song called
33:50
All in One known
33:51
basically saying all about all about
33:53
who's around me I wonder how lawyer that
33:56
was
33:57
Etc
33:58
slow down because we're having a hard
34:00
time understanding you so just take a
34:01
deep breath and take your time
34:04
all right my fault so back in 2015
34:08
well in 2016 I used to I was a rapper
34:11
in 2016 type of year
34:14
January 7th I was hit by a commas lost
34:16
my life but 2015 I mean this song in the
34:20
year called all in one no
34:22
it was actually all I wanna know who
34:25
going to say Lord we're gonna do this in
34:26
that third
34:28
but for that to happen to me time of the
34:30
year was like many sensation of a lady
34:33
be careful what you're speaking your
34:34
words you know what I'm saying
34:41
no it's critical man I mean the things
34:43
you put in your wraps bro are
34:47
a magnet for what you will attract in
34:50
your life and also the thoughts that you
34:52
allowed to live in your mind it's like
34:54
if a thought has the power to create
34:56
something how much power can a spoken
34:59
word or a song that you record and you
35:01
repeat constantly and you listen to
35:03
that's got so much power
35:05
hey retro now you know what to write
35:07
about okay your super citizen brother
35:10
this way in the morning okay use your
35:12
words with your kid don't spank them all
35:13
right we got J Rock on the line from
35:15
Ohio J-Rock what up James
35:19
hey man say what up to Vic
35:23
yo what up Vic yo what's up God
35:26
man yo check it out man uh love and
35:28
blessing to all of y'all man thank you
35:30
thank you
35:32
this is a real touchy situation for me
35:34
man I'm a father of four
35:36
I have a beautiful young lady she's not
35:39
a Victorian of a high school dope send
35:41
it to a uh send her to Ohio State on a
35:45
uh full ride academic man she getting
35:48
ready to go off this summer to uh Rwanda
35:52
the stutter abroad you know what I'm
35:54
saying that's dope
35:57
um but it's really hard because
36:00
you know she struggles with you know I'm
36:02
saying confidence and you know uh mental
36:05
health issues as far as that goes you
36:06
know your body shaming and all this you
36:08
know these cats out here they ain't
36:09
worthy they don't really see the stuff
36:11
that we see you know I mean but but my
36:13
comment for Vic is like what was your
36:15
what was your moment when you were over
36:17
there that allowed for you to have some
36:19
clarity and some understandings like all
36:22
right what your purpose is and you know
36:23
what you what your value is without
36:27
um I don't know how you say it without
36:29
without going overboard with the
36:31
medication and all that stuff because we
36:33
try not to do that you know when you got
36:34
somebody who's incredibly intelligent
36:36
and beautiful and all that
36:38
you know I don't I don't feel like the
36:39
right thing to do is to dope her up and
36:41
blah blah blah you know what I'm saying
36:42
I think that's going to take away from
36:44
her her greatness but
36:46
the struggle from the for from the
36:48
parents perspective from a father's
36:50
perspective like what was it what was
36:52
your aha moment when you was over there
36:54
because I tried I tried I want her to to
36:56
gain so much from this little study you
36:59
know what I'm saying
37:00
I think to just see yourself in a
37:02
perspective of an ancient lineage
37:05
is valuable for all black people
37:08
because we've been taught black history
37:10
that it begins at slavery and
37:13
that's in order to make us feel inferior
37:16
so when you go spend time on the
37:18
continent in a Ghana or or Rwanda which
37:21
I hear amazing things about by the way I
37:24
just hear people that tell me oh I don't
37:25
even want to come back like people that
37:27
are major in America that have reason to
37:30
be here
37:31
um and yeah you know to see yourself in
37:34
that light to see yourself as part of
37:36
something that's so much older and and
37:38
more significant for me I had an ill
37:40
moment not too long ago when I realized
37:43
the power of my name so I was named
37:47
Victor for the victories of my most
37:51
famous ancestor he was a warrior named
37:53
Bradman who fought against the British
37:55
in probably the 17th or 18th century and
37:59
I was named Victor for his victories and
38:02
it dawned on me recently as I considered
38:07
the role in life that I've been given to
38:10
be providing freedom to people through
38:12
not just my words but also with actual
38:14
prison release I was like yo this is
38:17
ordained this is what I was meant to do
38:21
my great great great great great great
38:22
great great great great great
38:23
grandfather that I'm named after was
38:26
fighting for freedom from the British
38:28
here I am fighting for our freedom from
38:31
our oppressors which I really still like
38:33
the British business you know man I
38:36
ain't gonna name them by skin tone yeah
38:39
yeah
38:41
[Laughter]
38:44
they flagged but yeah yeah and you know
38:47
that's that's for me but I think that I
38:49
think your daughter will have an amazing
38:50
time with Rwanda and I do believe that
38:53
it'll give her perspective and
38:54
confidence in herself because just going
38:56
to Ghana for the first time gave me a
38:58
lot of confidence in myself because it
39:01
made me understand where I come from
39:02
James Baldwin says know from whence you
39:05
came then there are absolutely no
39:06
limitations where you can go Jay Rock we
39:09
appreciate your call congratulations
39:11
with your child man and I know you're
39:12
gonna do the right things brother you're
39:14
a citizen okay okay Jay I appreciate
39:16
y'all man hey salute man all right God
39:18
bless God bless you know what's
39:20
interesting man I got a chance to meet a
39:22
guy who I consider a little brother too
39:24
because I'm adding through Vic and the
39:26
first time we met him um he was and he
39:29
was incarcerated correct am I mistaken
39:31
here Vic no that's the truth that's the
39:32
truth when he called in on the show
39:34
right yeah 2019 2019. yeah so in 2019 we
39:39
have my brother Musa call in from Dixon
39:42
prison in Illinois I had met him in
39:44
perhaps 2018 or 2017 and Musa was
39:49
sentenced to 25 years when he was just
39:52
14 years old yeah and he thought of
39:54
travel station yeah man he got an
39:55
aberration of justice and at that time
39:58
he had been incarcerated maybe 11 or 12
40:01
years and I had him call in with our
40:05
brother James shout out to James Warren
40:07
and I had them spit yeah on the phone I
40:11
was sitting right here
40:15
that was surreal the interview is on
40:17
sway his Universe you can see it for
40:19
yourself I was sitting right here and
40:22
you know then fast forward to 2020
40:26
I was working on bringing some programs
40:27
into the prison pandemic hit everything
40:30
crashed and I was like damn what are we
40:33
gonna do because I thought if I bring
40:34
the programs in then I could help the
40:36
guys get good time and
40:39
out of the blue Musa asked me he was
40:42
like can you get in touch with this law
40:45
group called The Uptown People's Law
40:47
Center I ain't known from a can of pain
40:50
but he said they're working on some
40:51
prison release for people with covet and
40:55
old people and things like that and he
40:57
wasn't even neither of those things but
40:59
I was like I could I could try to find
41:01
them you know and I did end up finding a
41:05
guy named Alan Mills
41:07
played Moose's case to him basically
41:09
told him you know this is what happened
41:12
this is what he's done he's been in a
41:15
graduate and developed poetry programs
41:17
and theater programs and he's just an
41:19
exemplary human being yeah and he said I
41:20
can't make no promises but I'ma send it
41:22
to the governor and um
41:25
three days later I got the call that
41:27
Musa was coming home also was coming
41:30
home man
41:31
12 years early yeah 12 years early and
41:35
just to bring It full circle because he
41:38
had wrapped on the show Vic Mensa called
41:40
me on FaceTime
41:42
and introduced me to Musa for the first
41:45
time man he didn't look nothing like I
41:47
thought he was gonna look man I promise
41:49
you I thought this dude was going to be
41:51
a hog with heavy arms and you know a
41:53
thick ass neck you know and I looked at
41:55
him
42:00
too old for pause
42:02
because what's fascinating because I
42:04
where I'm in a program called The Last
42:06
Mile we teach people who are residents
42:08
of a prison
42:10
um how to code and we have zero
42:12
recidivism rate but when I go into these
42:15
institutions and you thinking you're
42:16
gonna see these hardcore dudes man it'd
42:18
be a lot of young folks like young
42:21
youthful faces it's like our this
42:24
forgotten Generation
42:26
Um in these spaces and he's a young
42:29
vibrant man you know you'll be surprised
42:31
who was um who who's been locked up and
42:35
so now we got to complete the 360
42:37
citizens from the telephone Behind Bars
42:40
uh to being free on FaceTime during the
42:43
pandemic to being live right here in the
42:46
studio citizens for the first time we
42:49
want to introduce you to Musa Musa come
42:52
over here
42:53
man
42:55
look at it
42:57
what's up man what's up
43:01
man welcome welcome to sway in the
43:04
morning bro I would have to be Tracy BB
43:06
torch and Kalani on the phone he's new
43:09
man nice to meet you yo how you doing
43:11
man how does it feel to be in that seat
43:13
right now
43:14
a dream man and feel amazing for sure
43:16
man it feel like like it's like it was
43:18
meant to beat up yeah let me be honest
43:20
you know like you know I said and
43:22
pondered on this morning many many many
43:24
nights you know yeah it feels good for
43:26
sure moments like like having those kind
43:29
of pondering moments as you as you call
43:31
it uh when you behind bars is that does
43:34
that serve as inspiration just dreaming
43:36
like for sure for sure because it's like
43:39
this you gotta you gotta think I had 25
43:41
years so even at that time I still had
43:43
like 13 years left yeah so I gotta
43:45
imagine something that's not real I
43:47
gotta imagine something that's not my
43:49
reality you know what I'm saying I gotta
43:50
I gotta manifest you know what I'm
43:52
saying so even at that time I had uh I
43:55
saw to all my remedies so I couldn't I
43:57
couldn't win in the courts I had no way
43:58
out like I got denied at every step you
44:01
know I'm saying so I had to write out a
44:03
new reality you know what I'm saying I
44:04
had to believe in something that's
44:05
unseen and so
44:06
like definitely that's the purest form
44:08
of motivation yeah I only had that to
44:10
believe in so yeah for sure like if it
44:13
it's needed like anybody that's behind
44:15
them bars listening man
44:17
create your reality as possible it was
44:19
something you taught me that was so
44:21
profound in that moment because I'm
44:24
talking to you constantly and you're
44:26
telling me man I can't even I can't
44:29
write he's an amazing painter as well
44:32
he's like I can't even draw nothing all
44:34
I could think about is coming home and
44:37
so in my mind of reality I'm like man
44:40
that's all you could think about you got
44:43
12 years left you know
44:46
um but then when that Stroke Of God just
44:49
hit and that lightning bolt impacted and
44:52
you came home out of nowhere I learned
44:56
that we gotta have the courage to
44:58
believe in what is unseen if we're gonna
45:00
create a world worth looking back you
45:03
know yep you taught me so much in that
45:06
moment because I was too caught up in
45:08
the realities of what appeared to be but
45:12
God doesn't work on that type of time
45:15
it's funny when you came in here to
45:17
today Vic you said something about
45:19
growing up studying Sway and it's
45:21
interesting because we kicked off the
45:23
show this morning talking about Janet
45:25
Jackson and how today is her birthday
45:27
and I was like do we all realize she's
45:30
been in this for five decades
45:32
you know when you sit and think about
45:34
someone with that type of career I know
45:37
and on tour right now five decades
45:41
looking as good as hell looking good as
45:43
hell still blessing and we were just
45:46
talking about having these encounters
45:49
with her first time sway met her and you
45:51
said it was such joy in your eye like I
45:53
was so happy to be here I remember
45:55
dreaming and thinking and this is for
45:58
both of you guys like what is it like
46:00
because I remember like dreaming about
46:02
certain situ like manifesting almost and
46:05
even you being here today even though it
46:07
feels like family what what does it feel
46:09
like for you I'm gonna start with you
46:11
first because we heard you over the
46:13
phone for sure so this is like a reality
46:15
for us a dream come true for us as well
46:17
yeah like I don't know like I can still
46:20
hear your voice she was like Musa that's
46:24
that's how you came like and uh like
46:27
even hearing that hearing that like
46:29
after I spit like
46:30
it gave me like damn I'm that good you
46:33
know like like it gave me a sense of
46:35
confidence that I didn't have before
46:37
don't get me wrong with hip-hop You
46:38
Gotta Be You Gotta Have that confidence
46:40
in yourself at any platform but like
46:43
listening to the the way that I was able
46:45
to move y'all through a phone you know
46:47
I'm saying it gave me a sense of
46:48
empowerment that I still possess right
46:50
now you know what I'm saying I feel like
46:51
I feel like like he said you accomplish
46:53
anything so yeah man so yeah I just feel
46:56
like I feel like it was meant to be you
46:58
know so I feel like uh for the people
47:00
that's watching for the youngest that's
47:01
watching yeah for my story to come from
47:04
the mud like the mud you know what I'm
47:07
saying I was 14 years old I was since
47:09
the 25 years in prison uh at 100 so all
47:13
of the good things that I did do it
47:14
while I was incarcerated was for
47:16
technically for nothing and like I
47:19
couldn't earn no good time so you know
47:21
what I'm saying like me going to school
47:22
getting my uh education
47:24
um me staying out of trouble me creating
47:26
programs theater programs for was all
47:29
for just like good wheel I just wanted
47:31
to make my environment better you know
47:33
to make me better for this miracle you
47:35
know what I'm saying so for people
47:36
that's watching I just it feel it feel
47:39
like it was meant to be you know amen
47:41
God bless you yeah enough you want
47:43
victims today
47:47
how I feel for me it's incredibly
47:50
surreal
47:52
from a selfish perspective it's like
47:55
I've been through so much in the past
47:57
for or so years you know I mean and so
48:01
much character assassination and being
48:04
categorized as you know a villain in so
48:07
many situations and
48:09
to be able to see the fruits of a seed
48:13
that I just planted out of love
48:17
in that same time come to life
48:21
is unreal it's like me being able to
48:24
play that role just in helping musa's
48:27
clemency and his freedom get across the
48:30
Finish Line it's the most impactful
48:32
moment of my life because it's the thing
48:33
that like it taught me
48:36
that I have an immense power on this
48:39
planet and it's like it could get easy
48:41
when you're going up against so much
48:43
[ __ ] you know to feel like damn are they
48:46
right you know what I mean are they
48:48
right am I really a bad person
48:51
um and then that's being black in
48:53
America that's being black in this world
48:55
you know what I mean so for me to see
48:57
this it's honestly it's making me very
48:58
emotional because
49:01
I ain't even think that we was going to
49:03
be able to do it like and to see it come
49:07
to life it changed my life because I was
49:09
like oh no I could put something in the
49:12
universe and I have a god behind me I
49:15
got ancestors behind me there to make
49:17
these things just come to life facts
49:19
regardless of what anybody says anywhere
49:22
like this this is real I'm purposed I'm
49:26
a part of a bigger plan yeah and that's
49:29
what I feel In This Moment
49:34
in the power of thought
49:37
the power of your mind we're not taught
49:40
that in school
49:41
we'll we'll untaught that yeah they
49:44
don't want us to know that they don't
49:45
want you to know that time no meditation
49:48
was behind he was in a prison
49:52
with no way of getting out physically
49:54
everything he did he traveled mentally
49:57
he saw it mentally that mental
50:00
discipline is a word that Vic used
50:02
earlier it's important to practice that
50:06
mental discipline be the master of your
50:08
fate right through your mindset facts
50:12
this is how this all manifested he
50:14
didn't know me when he was watching j.u
50:16
ice on the Wake Up Show right right for
50:19
whoever yes you know and but he probably
50:23
imagined one day I'm gonna be in that
50:25
chair and he been in this chair a
50:28
multitude of times right and so to the
50:30
people tuned in and listening this is
50:32
these are the gems these are the lessons
50:34
we hope stick with you you know and no
50:37
matter where you travel or where you go
50:39
or what you experienced as we've seen
50:42
Musa has experienced a lot and Vic has
50:45
experienced a lot
50:47
when you come to the Valley of the
50:49
hyenas
50:52
you didn't come up here just to talk
50:55
your story not at all not at all but uh
50:59
come on man
51:01
I promise you I'm here better than ever
51:03
okay
51:04
it's not like the controversy ain't hurt
51:06
me but I I'm back in the game like James
51:09
Worthy
51:11
[Music]
51:13
to show every time man
51:18
eight young introspective Revelations of
51:22
a disaffected generation trying to learn
51:24
heal we ill from its education we lost
51:26
body mass due to mass incarceration I'm
51:29
open-hearted like a cardiac operation
51:31
diss me I write a dissertation I don't
51:34
need no Jerry I've been on trial for my
51:36
tribulations identify chapter 11 when
51:39
bankrupt [ __ ] was hard I let it drive me
51:41
now I'm back up suburban homes
51:43
chauffeurs and black trucks you see us
51:45
in a ladder don't cross that is bad luck
51:47
[ __ ] with me yay Through the Wire cause
51:49
I crashed out publicly but I survived
51:51
cause I was strapped up I dealt with
51:53
murders on my head Bounty situations
51:55
County visitation psych ward inpatient
51:58
Suicidal Thoughts was just my
52:00
imagination I felt like David Ruffin
52:02
battling Temptations I found solace
52:04
through my meditation I started balling
52:06
serving Ace of cannabis to the cancer
52:08
patients it's kind of crazy when you put
52:10
it together a ball and cancer how can I
52:13
be this clever my aunt got a skin tumor
52:16
from lightning cream she fighting them
52:18
demons I'm just writing my grievance
52:19
when a Hennessy EXO in my belly can't
52:22
help me I just need to get away and
52:24
write for the weekend they rewrote
52:26
history but whiteness in Egypt erased
52:28
ethnicities and stifled our freedoms
52:30
really lynching me made [ __ ] hate
52:32
[ __ ] till Infinity that's even if you
52:34
making eight figures a figure eight I
52:36
figure skate my wrist to Crystal Lake I
52:38
fell victim to addictions in my mental
52:40
state stupid [ __ ] like this and Drake
52:42
that was a big mistake but when you
52:44
raised in a cage all you know is MMA a
52:46
discardy this act this triple X it was
52:49
disrespect it made the fans disinvest I
52:52
lost M's like a Dow Jones regression but
52:54
every L taught me an invaluable lesson
52:56
I'm back now with intention help make
52:59
Musa a free man he was a child in
53:01
detention it's a gang in the field
53:03
trying to drill like yoshima suit from
53:05
Tech and they spin around with a weapon
53:07
in a shot and criticize how we live and
53:10
die till we eat each other alive cause
53:12
they better slides just think of Judas
53:14
in a black Messiah how the FBI murder
53:16
Mountain using Shooters in the noi
53:18
[ __ ] Playboy bunnies I'm re-energized
53:21
now she wanna come home with me I ain't
53:23
carrying Giles though I'm wealthy and
53:24
I'm well endowed I don't need to ask
53:26
Miss I need an address to send these
53:28
pounds I lost 20 P's at UPS yeah I'm on
53:31
the TV screens and I'm thinking about
53:33
the movies next rappers talk fouling
53:35
them Subs online and then they'd be
53:37
surprised when my team starts shooting
53:39
texts Victor album now man Samantha
53:41
moves the next spit too sick to kill
53:43
with some Mucinex I embrace [ __ ] with
53:46
open arms I put Faith in them they turn
53:48
around and nail me to the crucifix I
53:50
resurrected though I'm truly blessed I
53:52
found new success I'm using my music
53:54
checks to invest now I own my own
53:56
businesses I let my light shine and make
53:59
green that's photosynthesis
54:08
nah I'm still going
54:12
I'm still going it's cool that's that
54:16
photo sentences
54:20
yeah yeah
54:23
[Music]
54:24
big missa Musa Sway in the Morning
54:27
Valley of the hyenas shade four five I
54:30
let my light shine made green
54:32
photosynthesis I know that oh so
54:34
sensitive I don't even need a pill on
54:36
the real because the flow's so Limitless
54:38
I'm on some Bradley Cooper [ __ ] I beat
54:40
the mushroom case and now I'm back on
54:42
their head that's a Koopa kick with
54:44
Mario and alibario that cartel connects
54:47
Benicio del Toro sicario I almost set
54:50
adios to audio got addicted to sniffing
54:53
cause I seen that as a snotty nose huh
54:55
listen to me sway
54:58
that's what I seen as a snotty nose she
55:00
OD'd and her body froze they banging the
55:03
six in my city grown men killing
55:04
five-year-olds me I took the higher Road
55:08
I'm just the Immigrant in the foreign
55:09
I'm bumping Fabio swear you came to my
55:12
country you've been a gunner yo you've
55:13
seen the way the mothers are struggling
55:15
in my father's home no clean water some
55:17
green coming out the spokes I spread my
55:19
heart in these bars I don't make art to
55:21
choke I was a teen trying to be dope my
55:23
mentor from high school is now feeding
55:25
for a rock to smoke so you think for me
55:28
succeeding is optional pops came from
55:30
poverty did the impossible I stopped
55:32
blaming the industry cause the Enemy
55:35
Inside the mirror that's the only thing
55:36
stopping you no red octagon that's just
55:39
the optical they incarcerate our profits
55:41
cause it's profitable that's why I'm
55:43
popping this [ __ ] this for the jet
55:45
without the pot to pissing or Papa to
55:47
pick him up from school so they popping
55:49
tools leaving Copper's Clues on the
55:51
ground like detectives ain't watching
55:53
their moves leaving confessions in
55:54
popular tunes and it's cracking on the
55:56
tube so that's the music that we rock it
55:58
to you just a product to a label so they
56:00
Market you and persecute you like prize
56:02
Well when it's time to prosecute
56:05
you see the things we experience in our
56:07
world man that we think are normal
56:09
it's abnormal Musa was sentenced to 25
56:12
years in prison as a 14 year old child
56:15
that's an abnormal normal normality but
56:18
what we preaching is that
56:20
you put your faith into this reality
56:23
we can recreate this [ __ ] in an instant
56:26
you know what I mean my my mind starts
56:28
to think oh my mind flows to the night
56:31
then my [ __ ] Jordan day was slaying in
56:33
a shootout with his brother in his
56:34
mother's house the way we raise
56:36
Shakespeare couldn't create the stage a
56:38
million dollars down the drain and I
56:40
couldn't wash away this pain that's why
56:42
I take a private plane out to Punta Cana
56:44
I'm in a puta like a monster a
56:46
chupacabra the shoes is proud of the
56:48
suit buy a new designer flew by in a
56:50
green spaceship Futurama I'm meditative
56:53
like the Dalai Lama she was a one-night
56:55
stand somehow she won a night in shining
56:57
armor I need a pan to rewrite my karma I
57:00
got a Lemon Squeeze if [ __ ] think it's
57:01
sweet that's an Arnold Palmer I'm over
57:03
the drama like when Uzi was out his deal
57:05
I'm in a black noun people have positive
57:07
feel just by my background I survived
57:10
the environments y'all would have
57:11
drowned in like a fish in the water with
57:13
gills suicides in the field we was
57:15
taught to do drills so we got sick in
57:17
the brain from society's ills and we
57:19
treat Beats by Dre like anxiety pills
57:21
cause basically you take a plea when you
57:23
sign into deals 25 the life of the later
57:25
recruitment they consolidate my rights
57:27
like they made a [ __ ] music they trying
57:29
to deal my light like J Dillon from
57:31
lupus they murder Fred Hampton using
57:33
traders in the movement I'm cognizant of
57:35
culture vultures and it's Helter Skelter
57:37
I drop a deuce and a soda like it's
57:39
Alka-Seltzer far from a saint I resonate
57:42
with Franklin but I rather make the
57:43
changes in the hood like Alton shelter
57:45
I'm straddling the line between love and
57:47
hate the street is just a circus so
57:49
[ __ ] learn to jug away you gotta tuck
57:51
a nine when you coming up in section
57:53
eight I never met Logan Paul I'm still
57:55
yelling [ __ ] the Jake still dealing
57:57
millions of dollars a dope legally the
57:58
best kept secret I'm trapping with no
58:00
secrecy I'm in a different way class
58:02
[ __ ] can't compete with me starting
58:04
fake ass beef with me I call it vegan
58:06
meat I'm beyond it it's impossible
58:10
so freaking How Could You hoes hurt me
58:13
they be starting all that fake ass beef
58:15
with me I call it vegan meat I'm beyond
58:18
it it's impossible to make me bite never
58:20
a bite to check my writing credits the
58:22
judge caught me with a 40 Cal I bet he
58:24
wish she gave me life had me in a Cell
58:26
doing calisthenics yet I prevailed cause
58:28
my talent weathers every storm my back's
58:31
strong you can see it in my deadlift
58:32
form I shine bright even when I got no
58:34
necklace on and she gave me necklines so
58:37
I call her stegosaurus yeah I had an
58:38
article next I need a spreading forms I
58:41
took my L's fell back and developed more
58:43
fighting for my life I could have signed
58:45
with Bellator but I signed a 360. I wish
58:47
they were spending more [ __ ] it's all
58:49
crazy I'm sicker than Wayne meets John
58:51
Gacy look America I'm the monster the
58:53
child made me I dipped to Africa like
58:55
Daisy at the Chappelle show cause if I
58:57
stayed in this hell a whole lot of gone
58:59
crazy I gotta be victorious that's what
59:01
my mom named me facing in some multiple
59:04
odds I climb daily putting pen to paper
59:06
trying to block out the haters act like
59:08
it never happened like lights out in
59:10
Vegas but the fact is sometimes we gotta
59:12
fight to find greatness sins of my past
59:14
is Multiplied now I'm famous they wanna
59:16
know who I'm dating to drive engagement
59:18
and clickbait headlines out of my
59:20
conversations
59:22
it's outrageous
59:25
you give me that next week cause we just
59:27
getting started
59:35
we're just getting started I promise you
59:37
swear you know it's movies every time we
59:39
come up here man
59:44
[Music]
59:50
[Music]
59:59
had to go and get my dollars back but
1:00:01
I'm back with a sense of urgency more
1:00:03
than the sum of my mistakes but they
1:00:05
advertise my adversity caught a case but
1:00:07
I capitalized took it legal on the
1:00:09
Cannabis side started off with the stash
1:00:11
then made it on the news Ryan burgundy
1:00:12
County blues that was January 2022 I was
1:00:16
sitting in a jail cell 12 on my heels
1:00:18
like Jimmy Choo I just treated like an
1:00:19
interlude fast forward 20 23 50 000
1:00:22
people at the Black Star Line Festival
1:00:24
was it 53 remember me not just for these
1:00:27
words but for the way I impact the
1:00:29
culture became a legend in Chicago for
1:00:31
the giving back [ __ ] like Oprah I did a
1:00:33
million in shoes that was like five
1:00:34
minutes off of Old block I really took a
1:00:37
message to the streets like Malcolm X on
1:00:38
the soapbox bulletproof vest on Word
1:00:41
those shots on post no location in the
1:00:43
moment cause that's how they smoke pop
1:00:45
folks now got machine guns like Kelly
1:00:47
they'll put you on Fox no mega Lane
1:00:49
trying to go park I Don't Wanna Die
1:00:51
Young cartoon gun cases there was both
1:00:53
blocks knowing [ __ ] from my old block
1:00:54
he was selling dope nice smoke rocks
1:00:56
that's ironic I don't smoke but I buy
1:00:58
chronic then sell it high that's
1:01:00
hydroponic worry about a lot I'm Islamic
1:01:02
I'm a Kingston I'm bumping chronix
1:01:04
bumper [ __ ] you are around with a rude
1:01:07
boy I let a dove go today I lost my plug
1:01:09
don't like true going my sound wave cuts
1:01:12
through noise my pin speaks straight to
1:01:13
the souls of black folks like dude boy
1:01:15
my instincts show True North deep inside
1:01:18
of my inner conscience the key to life
1:01:20
lies in abundance I was the future in
1:01:22
the past like navadius in a dungeon the
1:01:24
radius of the inner city multiplied by
1:01:26
big circumference show you how many O's
1:01:29
I could cook up out of single onion
1:01:30
chopping trees like Paul Bunyan overseas
1:01:33
got abroad in London mention me put
1:01:35
knots on the [ __ ] mouthpiece that's a
1:01:36
sore subject tits all their shows put
1:01:39
these in the air like the your luggage
1:01:40
still round with bro like three stacks
1:01:43
near me and four brothers Still rhyme
1:01:45
with uh you either loyal or not lean on
1:01:47
the floor ain't pulling a block I made a
1:01:48
bet on myself and I'm watching the money
1:01:50
dunking like Jordan stuck I manifested a
1:01:52
mansion out of a dream I had in the
1:01:54
Florida cot your favorite artists start
1:01:55
throwing still a lot maybe that's why
1:01:57
I'm doing it maybe the dream I'm really
1:01:58
pursuing is something that's deeper than
1:02:00
Music is More in our heart baby it's
1:02:02
touching the people and movement motor
1:02:03
performing on charts do say we pulling
1:02:06
the Rocks I don't drink but I'm ordering
1:02:07
shots on a jet with the boys from the
1:02:09
Block you see we celebrate like
1:02:11
birthdays cause I made the best out the
1:02:13
worst days me rapping on swears like
1:02:15
Mahalia jack on a church stage this my
1:02:17
Arena look John Cena I got models out of
1:02:19
Willamina no surprise that I'm on point
1:02:21
my sister used to be a ballerina my pops
1:02:24
work for the state school I was selling
1:02:25
fire trying to play cool see shot Iraq
1:02:28
not the Middle East but the violence is
1:02:29
like Beirut me I'm Langston when I paint
1:02:32
cues what happens to a Dream Deferred on
1:02:34
trapping selling peas or herb that
1:02:36
yellow bag Tweety Bird a jealous man get
1:02:39
paid in colleges and do no undergrad
1:02:41
because most of my professors was
1:02:43
selling smack call it Breaking Bad my
1:02:45
zone [ __ ] keep machete face wrapped in
1:02:47
a Haitian flag you think it's a potato
1:02:49
sack race by the way they chase a bag
1:02:51
that bar was kind of cliche these rap
1:02:53
[ __ ] frogs I call them deep fakes if
1:02:55
it's beef Street sweep you're blocked
1:02:56
that's the sweepstakes I saw you was
1:02:58
plowed by GD rakes a center I just sat
1:03:01
down with TD Jake stay with that Smith
1:03:03
like I was Stephen A
1:03:05
and I brought a shooter with me
1:03:08
as I explained I brought a shooter with
1:03:10
me hey King Musa was incarcerated at the
1:03:12
age of 14. for 25 years we had him on a
1:03:15
show back in 2019. 2020 I was able to
1:03:18
play a role in bringing him home from
1:03:20
prison and we got him here today yeah to
1:03:22
do what he do do what he did speak his
1:03:24
story tell his story tell his story
1:03:29
I wanna first uh
1:03:31
shout out to Jesse man shout out to
1:03:33
Jesse G man she uh she started all this
1:03:36
without her there's no meat there's no
1:03:38
this moment there's no Vic I don't even
1:03:40
meet Vic without her but look
1:03:43
in a thought tank with vision it's a
1:03:46
Shawshank Redemption a stillborn yet I
1:03:48
was still Born to Be spitting my granny
1:03:51
called me Musa she knew something my
1:03:53
mama did it treated like I was dead had
1:03:55
to be going off the sentence but Deepak
1:03:58
and Tupac kept me warm with the distance
1:04:00
got me closer to God than I ever came
1:04:02
with religion happy 50th to Hip Hop for
1:04:05
me the new edition not Bivins but Mr
1:04:08
Telephone Man when I was in prison look
1:04:10
just 14 was facing 25 to life I copped
1:04:14
to the 25 cause I was scared of getting
1:04:16
light by 17 it's Menard they making 20
1:04:19
knives a night Orange Crush came a thick
1:04:21
little tick Tink was running for his
1:04:23
life whoa there's so much behind that
1:04:25
bar behind the boss beating on my chest
1:04:28
my first shows was on the yard it was me
1:04:30
Louis
1:04:36
[Music]
1:05:15
Arsenio or Drake Hold On
1:05:24
junk
1:05:30
[Music]
1:05:44
[Applause]
1:05:51
[Music]
1:05:55
I'm not even gonna talk to the whack
1:05:57
MC's today because
1:05:59
you don't even get the you ain't got to
1:06:02
you can't even afford the admission to
1:06:04
this Cipher that happened right here it
1:06:05
ain't qualified only to the Real the
1:06:07
true MCS I want you to go back and
1:06:10
analyze everything that Vic Mr said wow
1:06:13
Vic deep both rounds I want you to go
1:06:16
back and analyze there wasn't a wasted
1:06:19
syllable in anything that he said it
1:06:22
wasn't a wasted bar somehow that man
1:06:25
rhyme photosynthesis
1:06:27
I've been trying to get people to do
1:06:29
that for decades ha
1:06:31
I love my light shine to make green as
1:06:35
photosynthesis
1:06:38
all right uh stegosaurus I used to study
1:06:41
prehistoric animals
1:06:45
that was
1:06:49
[Music]
1:06:49
good
1:06:52
you got to put him in the rankings now
1:06:55
y'all you had that Freestyle right there
1:06:58
if that ain't in your rankings your
1:06:59
rankings don't mean nothing and they
1:07:01
don't mean anything and I love the truth
1:07:04
in it man was that an apology to Yadi
1:07:06
and Drake and um act and all these
1:07:08
different folks I've actually spoken to
1:07:10
all of them man really yeah man I saw
1:07:12
Drake at uh
1:07:14
Virgil's funeral okay wow and have some
1:07:18
words with them and you know he was
1:07:20
receptive too yeah he was he's like man
1:07:22
honestly I didn't even understand it you
1:07:23
know and when I when I recall to think
1:07:26
back it was like I was just gassed up
1:07:28
being young you know what I mean like
1:07:30
Kanye Jay-Z They bickering so I want to
1:07:33
jump in it's unnecessary you know I mean
1:07:35
I spoke to him when we was working on
1:07:36
Kanye's album
1:07:38
um
1:07:38
spoke to Yadi and it was all love what
1:07:41
y'all these are cool
1:07:46
yeah it was like man it's all love bro
1:07:48
like we grown man that was forever ago
1:07:51
you and academics that one was really
1:07:54
um that one really spread it did y'all
1:07:56
talk academics is one person that I have
1:07:58
not spoken to okay you know what I mean
1:08:01
but
1:08:01
I'm at the space where
1:08:04
I don't got room in my spirit for no
1:08:07
beef no problems with nobody I'm beyond
1:08:10
that you know what I'm saying and so I'm
1:08:13
gonna sit down with academics I'll go on
1:08:14
a show I'll go on the show and speak to
1:08:17
them because me and academics thing was
1:08:19
really it was more ideological too yeah
1:08:21
you know what I'm saying
1:08:22
and
1:08:24
a lot of those problems still exist but
1:08:26
the point is how do we address them now
1:08:29
yeah and we communicate with each other
1:08:31
I like that man we ain't got to tear
1:08:33
each other down that's because maybe I
1:08:36
felt he was tearing us down now I want
1:08:37
to tell him that but ultimately it's
1:08:39
like that does that solve the problem
1:08:40
okay you know what I mean all right I
1:08:42
love it man I love the growth I love the
1:08:45
evolution King Musa man get that man a
1:08:47
round of applause yo you just spent bars
1:08:50
on the show
1:08:51
[Music]
1:08:56
[Applause]
1:09:01
if I could man
1:09:03
Jessica yeah Jessica got to get talked
1:09:06
about bro yeah yeah Jesse is absolutely
1:09:09
responsible and so that's why I will say
1:09:11
man it's like at the end of the day
1:09:14
it always comes back to a woman there's
1:09:17
always a woman at the Genesis of every
1:09:19
great thing that has happened yes and
1:09:22
musa's woman Jesse was the one who was
1:09:25
riding for him like that to go find my
1:09:28
sister Aja Monet who also is the reason
1:09:31
for this because my sister AJ Monet came
1:09:34
to me with musa's story told to her by
1:09:37
Jesse and asked if I could help shed
1:09:39
some light on it so it was all behind
1:09:41
Jesse and Aja Monet honestly all right
1:09:44
every greatness is a great woman I love
1:09:47
it man yo Vic
1:09:48
um thank you for this conversation yo
1:09:50
thank you man man Hey listen man we've
1:09:53
been seeing we've been healing on each
1:09:54
other when I came to Ghana I came to a
1:09:57
party he was DJing I don't even know if
1:09:59
you knew I was coming I had no clue yeah
1:10:01
and it was a poolside party
1:10:04
it [ __ ] him up but he was looking like
1:10:06
yo look so I'm DJ all they want to hear
1:10:09
in Africa is afrobeats yeah you know
1:10:11
it's all these girls dancing but then
1:10:13
sway pop up
1:10:15
so I started playing some hard-ass
1:10:17
hip-hop music you know my sister was
1:10:20
like [ __ ] can you play something I can
1:10:22
dance to I'm like
1:10:30
it was an amazing experience and I I
1:10:33
can't thank you and chance and and your
1:10:35
families uh Chance's family was there I
1:10:38
can't thank you I can't thank you enough
1:10:40
in all my years
1:10:42
um that I've done that I worked in this
1:10:44
industry there's never been a gesture
1:10:46
that has done that's been done for me
1:10:48
like that and uh I'm forever grateful
1:10:50
for you and the things that you're doing
1:10:52
the work that you're doing bridging that
1:10:54
Gap getting um artists from over here to
1:10:56
perform over there as much as they do in
1:10:58
Europe and other places yes sir I think
1:11:00
that's amazing that's uh social econ
1:11:02
that social empowerment economic
1:11:04
empowerment that you two you exhibited
1:11:07
by putting this concert on it was for
1:11:09
free over 200 000 uh people in Africa
1:11:12
was able to receive water because of
1:11:14
that concert over 50 000 people showed
1:11:16
up because of that concert there was not
1:11:19
one incident of anything because of that
1:11:21
concert and it ran a long time and I say
1:11:24
kind of [ __ ] was exhausting
1:11:27
and we deeply appreciate you man because
1:11:30
it's you being who you are and
1:11:33
constantly providing for the Next
1:11:36
Generation like I'm multiple Generations
1:11:38
on yeah and you've been taking care of
1:11:40
me showing me love let me come spit my
1:11:43
whole career the whole time you've been
1:11:46
showing love going out of your way to
1:11:48
show love and people like you doing that
1:11:51
has imbued us with the spirit to
1:11:55
continue that Legacy because this is
1:11:57
hip-hop at the same time as we was
1:11:59
talking about how corrosive hip-hop can
1:12:02
be but hip-hop is also this hip-hop is
1:12:04
also the best of us there it is man I
1:12:06
love it hip-hop is us man I love it
1:12:09
fellas man enjoy your time I don't know
1:12:11
how long you were in New York we go man
1:12:13
we just came to get busy
1:12:16
Mike's Rob Mills we need new mics we
1:12:19
need Hey listen listen to these bars Vic
1:12:23
messages hit you on the head you don't
1:12:24
even have a cranium King Musa just
1:12:27
scared you you close your eyes you're
1:12:29
gonna have nightmares and the man just
1:12:31
jumped on the mic for his first time and
1:12:33
was Flawless how does that happen
1:12:38
all right
#Arts & Entertainment