The moment that Donnie Trumpet promised us that INNANETAPE would be the album (mixtape) of the year is feeling less like a homie hyping a friend and more like a gracious insider tip for RESPECT. With each release, Vic Mensa steps further from “promising” and closer to “formidable,” which is also an apt adjective for “Time Is Money,” which appropriately sees Vic collaborating with two of the biggest names of his career–Rockie Fresh and Boi-1da. The production is as big as one would expect from Boi-1da, but the gospel piano provides an opening for Vic to speak intimately, with pain, anger, and energetic wisdom on his own life and the life of his city, Chicago. Vic will no doubt start drawing Andre 3000 comparisons soon. From his unmatched mastery of the over-the-margin style that ‘Dre originally perfected, to his ability to comment without preaching on the ills of the world, he resembles (but doesn’t copy) the man that so many of us have been waiting to return. It’s like 3Stacks got reincarnated. Further, the song as a whole is fantastic, with Vic‘s part of the hook slicing through the beat and etching itself onto the listener’s memory, if only because of the urgency that Vic raps “Make money, but the money you make don’t make you.” The conviction, the strain in Vic‘s voice makes the hook a riveting moment. As further evidence of Vic‘s magnetic talent to elevate a track, Rockie Fresh‘s appearance nearly manages to make Boi-1da and Maven‘s beat sound mediocre. At the end, though, Beldina‘s smokey hook and Vic‘s heartfelt follow up are there as a reminder of how powerful “Time Is Money” is.

The post New Music: Vic Mensa feat. Beldina & Rockie Fresh – “Time Is Money” (prod. Boi-1da & Maven) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.