Back in June, Vic Mensa released The Manuscript, a teaser EP of sorts for his debut album, The Autobiography, which would follow a month later. Three of the EP’s four tracks made it onto the album, though two were relegated to bonus track status. The one that was given prime placement on both projects? “Rollin' Like A Stoner,” which gets an official music video today.
The song is big and synthy, produced by a masterful brain trust of beatmakers that includes L.A.’s 1500 or Nothin’, Chicago’s own No I.D. and Marcos "Kosine" Palacios (best known as one half of Da Internz duo), and Houston legend/G.O.O.D. Music fixture Mike Dean. With that crowded cast, it’s hard to tell who exactly is responsible for individual elements of the track, but it’s certainly easy to find connections to Da Internz’s “gourmet ratchet” sound and Dean’s stadium-sized synths that have been his bread and butter since Kanye West’s Graduation.
Despite the song’s relatively poppy, anthemic vibe, Mensa is far from celebratory or blunt-happy on “Rollin' Like a Stoner.” He sounds debaucherous to a fault, describing antisocial behavior, asking if a pill will be the death of him, and even says that voices in his head are telling him to “jump off the edge.” Despite the title, he doesn’t seem to reference weed at all. He does, however, claim that Hennessy makes him “Dead Kennedys,” which to Vic, equates to “too drunk to fuck.”
Over email, Mensa told MERRY JANE about his intent with the new music video. "The ‘Rollin' Like a Stoner’ video is about reckless abandon & escapism,” he writes. “The whole thing was filmed on a stage, as a comment on life as an entertainer. I was watching films like Bye Bye Life and Birdman, and 1920s westerns."
Be sure to check out the video for Manuscript/Autobiography track “OMG,” starring Shameless’ Ethan Cutkosky (AKA Carl Gallagher), and buy The Autobiography here.
