Vic Mensa has just sprinkled a surprise Valentine’s Day release in the form of the sensual 4-track EP, Vino Valentino. For Mensa — who was released from a brief stint in jail last month following an arrest for LSD and mushroom possession upon returning to the US from Ghana — the EP is a departure from the politically-charged nature of 2021’s I TAPE and really most of his previous material. But the Southside of Chicago lifer more than holds his own as a romantic crooner on this new joint.
Album opener “D’ussé Tears” is a mildly auto-tuned swoon over gentle bedroom R&B and jolts of electric guitar. “Will you be my Valentine? All the time… every time …anytime?” he asks on the track’s climax, making it a worthy addition for mid-February playlists. He’s brought along a stable of longtime collaborators and Chicago hip-hop’s finest, like producer and multi-instrumentalist Peter CottonTale, producer Stefan Ponce, and poet Malik Yousef.
Check out the Vino Valentino cover artwork and tracklist below.
1. “D’ussé Tears” (feat. Dixson & Malik Yusef) – Produced by Vic Mensa, Additional Production by Peter CottonTale, Greg Landfair, Dwayne Verner Jr., Dixson
2. “Alone Wit U” (feat. Do Or Die) – Produced by Stefan Ponce
3. “Cancer” (Interlude) – Produced by Stefan Ponce
4. “Can I Call U Baby” (feat. Peter CottonTale) – Produced By Vic Mensa, Peter CottonTale, Stefan Ponce, Dwayne Verner Jr., Greg Landfair, and Erik Rumsa
Vino Valentino is out now via Roc Nation. Listen to it here.
