Vic Mensa used a September 25 Instagram post to deliver a sharp critique on racist appropriation in American music.
In the video, Mensa is seen in a jersey reading “Liberation,” walking alongside a pool after picking a grapefruit from a tree. The image is paired with a caption that reads: “Songs about lynching just don’t slap.”
Mensa’s post quickly shifts from personal imagery to social commentary. He takes aim at what he calls “MAGA rappers.” He'd accuse them of creating country or trap songs that glorify racial violence.
“Like, fam, can’t you even get your own genre of music to talk about killing us?” he wrote. Calling the trend “pathetic,” he compared the performers to “Jay and Silent Bob” caricatures. He added, “They want to be us so f***ing bad.”
Vic Mensa On "Lynching Music"
The Chicago native tied his criticism to a broader history of cultural borrowing. “The guilt is deafening, because from a deep, intrinsic place of knowing, they understand that they owe their entire existence to those that they’ve enslaved and oppressed,” Mensa wrote.
He pointed to food, folklore, and even country music, noting, “Their beloved country music, as Beyoncé has showed you. The cuisine, the barbecue, the fried chicken, the Jack Daniels. Even the children’s stories, like Br’er Rabbit.”
Mensa also drew connections between racism and the fetishization of Black features. He compared modern cosmetic trends to a disturbing history of exploitation. Citing Sarah Baartman, a 19th-century Khoikhoi woman exhibited in Europe because of her body, he wrote: “That was the original BBL.” In his view, “a huge part of the DNA of hatred is obsession, and a primary part of the DNA of racism is jealousy.”
The rapper anchored his critique in recent tragedy, referencing what he described as a lynching in Mississippi and rejecting claims that it was suicide. “I’m running out of patience for this s***. I need to turn off the Internet,” he concluded.
Mensa’s post blends cultural criticism with raw frustration, calling out what he sees as the dangerous intersection of racism, appropriation, and denial.
