UPDATED, 8:09 P.M. ET: Vic Mensa premiered the official version of "16 Shots" during an interview with Ebro Darden on Apple Music. "This record is like self-defense," he tells Ebro. "To me, Laquan McDonald represents Emmett Till, which represents every name down the line." He also previewed "New Bae" and "Liquor Locker" with Ty Dolla $ign. There's Alot Going On comes out later tonight.
See original story below.
Last night, Vic Mensaperformed at Ryan Coogler's Justice for Flint benefit event in Michigan to help raise money and awareness for the ongoing water crisis in the city. While there were plenty of celebrities on hand—Hannibal Burress, Jesse Williams, Janelle Monáe—Mensa stole the show with his performance that included the debut of his powerful new song, "16 Shots." The track is dedicated to Chicago teenager Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by police officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014. Vic brought out a lot of emotion during the performance, rapping, "We on 16th riding by the police station, I make a pork rind out a pig bro, somebody tell these motherfuckers get their hands off me, I ain't a motherfucking slave get these chains off me."
Vic also rapped about Bobby Shmurda's current legal case and how he can't even get bail. Vic tweeted about the track and Flint before he took the stage at the concert, and wrote that the situation is a "Systematic genocide of the poor and black and you need to pay attention." It's unclear when Vic is planning to officially release the song, but you can check out his performance above.
