Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Vic Mensa Poses As A 'Black Skinhead' In Video Shot In Hyde Park Harold's

By Sam Cholke | July 6, 2017 6:10am
 Vic Mensa filmed his new video inside the Harold's Chicken at Kimbark Plaza.
Vic Mensa filmed his new video inside the Harold's Chicken at Kimbark Plaza.
View Full Caption
Tidal

HYDE PARK — Hyde Park rapper Vic Mensa appears as a “black skinhead” in the neighborhood’s Harold’s Chicken Shack in his new video for “OMG.”

The new video for Mensa, who grew up in Hyde Park and is a rising star in the hip-hop world thanks to the backing of Kanye West and others, was released late last week and shows Mensa in a white T-shirt, blue jeans with suspenders and black patent leather boots.

Mensa called the look “black skinhead” on his Instagram.

 

black skinhead

A post shared by ROCKSTAR.VIC (@vicmensa) on

The video brought Shomi Patwary, who has directed videos for Beyonce and others, to Hyde Park to shoot at the Harold’s, 1208 E. 53rd St., and outside in the Kimbark Plaza parking lot.

The full video is currently only available on the Tidal streaming service.

The “skinhead” look would appear to be a dig at racists, which are peppered throughout the lyrics, too.

In his annotations of the lyrics on the Rap Genius website, Mensa said he’s jabbing the Ku Klux Klan, Bill O’Reilly and others in the song.

“I like to add in something that has a little bit of larger societal meaning in my verses because that’s always what I’ve been about. Ever since I read 'Malcolm X' when I was 16. The book changed my life,” Mensa said.

The video also opens with Ethan Cutkosky, who plays Carl on the TV show “Shameless” and is from St. Charles, reciting Pharell’s lines in the song.

The soon-to-be demolished pedestrian bridge to the lakefront at 43rd Street also appears in the video, as well as shots of Downtown.

The video is the first for Mensa’s new album, “The Manuscript,” due to be released later this summer.


Vic Mensa is originally from Hyde Park and is now working with Kanye West and Pharell. [Tidal]