Photo: Renae “IIRONIC” Wootson
Vic Mensa has revealed he's a father in a powerful new song.
On Tuesday, February 4, the Chicago rapper announced he welcomed his first child with his longtime girlfriend Melanie last year. The couple's new son, Mansa Musa Mensa, was born on May 10, 2024. In an interview with Us Magazine, Mensa explained that he shielded his child from the public to protect his family's peace during Melanie's pregnancy and privately enjoy his son's infancy. Along with the announcement, Mensa also shared his new music video for "I Wanna Be Ready." In it, he holds baby Mansa in his arms while the father-son duo rap his verses.
"I've been manifesting my son Mansa Musa Mensa for 10 years, speaking his name into existence and dreaming of him, praying for him," Mensa said in a statement. "I'm incredibly grateful to his mother, Melanie, for such a momentous gift and opportunity. In the song ‘I Wanna Be Ready,’ I'm really walking through many of the mental experiences accompanying fatherhood; gratitude, anxiety about the state of the world, and the necessity of creating change through the next generation."
Vic Mensa's newborn son Mansa, a.k.a. "Triple M," is now eight months old. The rapper and actor explained that the child's name was inspired by his African ancestry. Mensa, whose father's side of the family hails from Ghana, said it was important for his son to feel connected to his family history early on. He also explained why he decided to debut his son in the form of music.
“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," he said. "And to be able to bring that vision together and have it materialized in the way I envisioned it is just dope. I feel like he’s such a musical child. He’s got his keyboard, and he just reacts and responds to music more than anything else really. And I think it is my way of getting his creative voice started. It is speaking through him.”
Watch Vic Mensa and his son Triple M in the music video for "I Wanna Be Ready" below.