Vic Mensa and his longtime girlfriend are proud parents!
The “Down on My Luck” rapper, 31, posted an Instagram video of the music video of his latest single, “I Wanna Be Ready,” and it included an unexpected guest appearance: his 8-month-old son Mansa Musa Mensa.
Mensa said he and his girlfriend wanted to wait to introduce the world to their son. “I wanted to protect our peace and protect [my girlfriend’s] peace and the process of pregnancy and his infancy and [it] just felt like the right time,” the artist told US Weekly. He did not specify a birth date for his son.
The Chi actor explained that they named their son to honor his African ancestry. “The history of Africa is diminished and devalued as a tool of oppression of African people as a justification for the enslavement and continued exploitation of African people in the African continent,” he said.
He is named after a 13th-century emperor of Mali and the Mali Empire, who “was widely regarded as being the wealthiest man in all of human history,” Mensa explained. “Mansa Musa is just a very well-known figure in African history and amongst African people of the diaspora all across the globe, primarily for his wealth,” the rapper added. He also noted that the infant already has a nickname: “Triple M.”
As for announcing Mansa Musa’s birth, Mensa wanted to make “art piece to present his birth to the world,” and ultimately chose his “I Wanna Be Ready” music video.
“So, once I really put that together, then that’s when I felt like I wanted to share with the world,” Mensa said of the production he directed and starred in.
“It was important to me to present him to the world in this artistic way because that’s just how my mind works in terms of film and song and spoken word. And to be able to bring that vision together and have it materialized in the way I envisioned it is just dope,” he said.
Mensa also remarked that he feels his son is “such a musical child,” adding that Mansa Musa “reacts and responds to music more than anything else really.” Mensa noted that he will support his son wherever his talents take him. “He’s definitely creative, and so I look forward to feeding that creativity and just giving him inspiration and receiving inspiration from him.”
The Autobiography rapper also said that since becoming a father his “perspective is forever altered and significantly shifted.” He added that his sobriety “definitely helps [him] to be a better father.” Mensa celebrated three years of sobriety in September 2024.
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Mensa also confirmed that he is completing his third studio album. “I’m finishing an album right now that I’ve been working on for about a year and a half that I’m really excited about,” he said.
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