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Finally, someone let Vic Mensa out of his cage. Time for him is something—and he's counting his age. The Chicago MC celebrated his 21st birthday this weekend by joining British auteur-extraordinaire Damon Albarn and his band for a sizzling rendition of the Gorillaz cut "Clint Eastwood." The song kicked off the encore portion of Albarn's headlining set on the main stage at Governors Ball Music Festival last Friday night; a certifiably dope rap moment that was sadly missed by the thousands upon thousands (including me) who opted for that funky Atlanta duo known as Outkast (Albarn and 'Kast played at the same time on opposite ends of the festival grounds). I have to admit that I was getting busy to the ATLiens when it all went down, but thankfully Revolt.tv caught a lovely clip of the intercontinental/intergenerational collab.
Mensa made the most of his sit-in, injecting his own lines into the heavy metal-meets-reggae track's rap sections. By now the couplets that Del the Funky Homosapien laid down on "Clint Eastwood" are beyond classic, so it's impressive to hear Vic get daring and go in with his own verse in front of thousands of Damon Albarn fans. The art-rocker's festival set contained a vast array of Gorillaz tracks including "Tomorrow Comes Today"; "Feel Good Inc."; "Kids with Guns" and "El Mañana"--and with a Jamaican flag draped behind him it was clear that Albarn was dead-set on showcasing the roots and reggae sides of his sound. Mensa for his part has been dropping bars all over the damn place lately, treating XXL Magazine to a new freestyle and a freshman cypher verse. Albarn is in the middle of a massive tour in support of his debut solo LP Everyday Robots and will play the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival later this month.
You can check out Albarn's full Governors Ball setlist here.
