Vic Mensa is on the comeback trail after releasing his spacey new single, “Strawberry Louis Vuitton,” with Thundercat and Maeta. On Wednesday night, he dropped by The Late Show to perform a dreamy rendition of the new song. While Thundercat had to sit this one out, Vic found the perfect replacement in Phony Ppl, the groovy R&B band that is starting to really discover its niche backing fellow rappers like Joey Badass and Megan Thee Stallion.
The five-piece band picks up the groove, providing a smooth counterpoint to Vic’s rough-edged but tender come-ons. Maeta, who features on the original, also appears here, providing backing vocals and cutting through with her honeyed ad-libs.
Mensa’s 2023 is off to a hot start. In addition to releasing the well-received “Strawberry Louis Vuitton,” he and fellow Chicagoan Chance The Rapper hosted their Black Star Line Festival in Accra, Ghana last month, bringing their message of unity to Vic’s father’s home country. The festival also afforded Vic the opportunity to provide clean water to 200,000 people in Ghana by building new water boreholes in locations that have historically gone without. Could all this activity mean that a new Vic Mensa album is on the way after six years without one? Let’s hope so!
Watch Vic Mensa perform “Strawberry Louis Vuitton” on The Late Show above.
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