THE REWIND: INNANETAPE
For this edition of The Rewind, we’re revisiting Vic Mensa’s INNANETAPE, the 2013 mixtape that helped establish him as one of Chicago’s most distinctive voices. Now, with INNANETAPE officially available on streaming platforms, a new generation can experience a project that helped define an important chapter in Vic Mensa’s evolution.
Written by : DEKIVION B.
Thirteen years ago, Chicago rap artist Vic Mensa released his debut mixtape to the world titled INNANETAPE, featuring Chance the Rapper, Jesse Boykins III, Ab-Soul, BJ the Chicago Kid, Rockie Fresh, Thundercat, and more. 2013 was such a different time. As millennials, the 2010s were our ’90s. The blog era was in full effect, and along with it came some of the best music ever in the form of mixtapes. Back then, artists would often produce a compilation of records as mixtapes—either before a major album release or, if you were up-and-coming, as your way into the game. In those times it seemed as if we all had our eyes on what was new and what was coming out through platforms like LiveMixtapes and DatPiff.
In comes Acid Rap by Chance the Rapper, released on April 30, 2013. Although he had a prior mixtape, 10 Day, I hadn’t been exposed to Chance up until that point. It seemed as if he was an overnight success given how much that mixtape hit the social media sphere. On that tape there was a track called "Cocoa Butter Kisses," featuring the Chicago legend Twista and, at the time, a rapper I only say familiar with by the name of Vic Mensa. I thought the track was dope, along with its production. But the entire body of work with Acid Rap was definitely appreciated. I didn’t think too crazy of it at the moment. Fast forward to September of that same year: INNANETAPE drops on DatPiff, and the name strikes me with familiarity, but I couldn’t figure where. Nonetheless, I decided to give the mixtape a listen, and I couldn’t believe it. I actually liked it. Not only that—I loved it. The transition from "Welcome to INNANETAPE" to "Orange Soda" blew my mind. "Magic," "Time Is Money," "Hollywood LA," and "Holy Holy" are all my standouts. Streaming apps such as Spotify and Apple Music once again did not exist in the same form at the time, but they were definitely coming. So when attempting to put these classic mixtape projects onto those streaming platforms, there’s always a bit of disconnect behind the scenes due to sample clearances—to the point where artists will avoid it entirely just to skip the headache. But we the people always seem to demand these classics on the platforms because of what they mean to us. From Acid Rap to Faces by Mac Miller, now INNANETAPE—we the people once again have won. Major shoutout to Vic for going through that process and making it possible for us to revisit this absolute classic project.
