Vic Mensa Explains Viral Vid, Gets Deep on Mental Health in Streaming Era
Vic Mensa Artists Are Going Through It, Y'all!!! Explains Emotional Video
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Rapper Vic Mensa has some deep thoughts on musicians, the industry and creative personalities in the modern world ... after a viral social media clip had some questioning his sincerity and sanity.
We caught up with Vic in L.A., at the Waymaker Men’s Summit event, part of BET Weekend, and asked about the emotional video he posted earlier this week on X, in which he got teary-eyed about the modern state of the industry. He labeled his breakdown, "Mental Health & the Streaming Era."
immense fear in posting this, but it's real.
— Vic Mensa (@VicMensa) June 3, 2025 @VicMensa
i know so many of you make music, & all of us love music. are we caring for the people that create it? pic.twitter.com/lMxqeBZNBS
The "Dark Things" rapper told us Thursday, he was initially worried about being seen as weak in the video, but now says he's on a mission ... and no longer "allowing fear to make my decisions for me."
In fact, he's advising fans to seek out fear and discomfort, because that's where the breakthroughs are.
For instance, Vic says he got overwhelmed recently thinking about how creative arts are so devalued and depreciated ... specifically citing James Blake's Vault.fm platform launch for musicians to feature unreleased work. Someone's comment on that launch was essentially -- why pay $10 for an artist, when I can pay $10 for every artist ever?
Watch the video ... Vic delves deeper into this train of thought, talking about the mental taxation of being a creative person, combined with what he calls the experience of "oppression."
Now more than ever, Vic says, artists need to develop direct channels of communication with fans -- and with the tools of technology changing faster than ever, he's clearly trying to think big-picture about the rap game and beyond.
