ATLANTA, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 03: Vic Mensa attends the BET Hip-Hop Awards 2023 on October 03, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
The rapper was not surprised.
Elon Musk is already among the most controversial men on the planet. He draws praise and ridicule in seemingly equal measure. He’s attached himself to the Donald Trump presidency, and his speech at the inauguration ceremony drew by far the most polarizing response online. Musk appeared to give a Nazi salute to the crowd and to Donald Trump. Large swaths of the country could scarcely believe that Musk would invoke such a gesture on the day an American President is being sworn. Vic Mensa was not the least bit shocked, however.
The Chicago rapper has been critical of the Trump administration for years. He took to Instagram shortly after Elon Musk’s controversial gesture, and told followers that this was consistent with his and Trump’s rhetoric. “If there any misunderstandings,” Vic Mensa wrote. “About the ideology of this campaign.” Vic Mensa expected nothing less. The Chicago rapper has been making his political stance known for nearly a decade.
Vic Mensa Has Been Criticizing Trump For A Decade
Mensa discussed Trump’s negative impact during a 2016 interview with CNN. “Our nation has been built upon extreme racism and built on the backs of slaves,” he explained. “And just because we don’t have the same incarnation of that racism alive today doesn’t mean that the mental constructs of it are not alive and well and thriving in our society.” Vic Mensa also touched on these topics in his 2019 song “Camp America.”
“Camp America” is a song by Mensa’s band 93 PUNX. He discussed the song’s meaning with Billboard, and asserted that it was mean to rally against Donald Trump’s border policies. “I made this song and video to address the extreme xenophobia happening in our country,” Vic Mensa said. “And the inhumane treatment of immigrants at the border.” The lyrics bear this frustration out. “There’s a place, It’s the time of your life,” Vic Mensa sings. “No parents allowed and no playing in sight. You can laugh, until you cry, at Camp America.” It appears as though the rapper will have plenty more to sing about in the years to come.