Vic Mensa is no stranger to switching his aesthetic, and the Chicago native has gone through more phases than the moon. I have been a fan of most everything Mensa has created over the last eight years. I loved Kids These Days, Innantetape was fantastic, and genuinely enjoyed his debut album The Autobiography.

His singles “U Mad” and “No Chill” seemed to miss the bar and his 2018 project Hooligans had some catchy songs, but nothing that would come close to comparing with his previous work.

In early 2019, Mensa announced the newest musical adventure with the creation of 93 Punx, an alternative punk band fronted by Mensa himself.

The first track released by the band was a cover of “Zombie” by The Cranberries. It was a solid attempt at the cover, but ultimately lacked in its ability to recreate the songs brooding mood and atmosphere.

The self-titled album 93 Punx was released a few months later. “Camp America” and “3 Years Sober” were both released before the album’s release and serve as singles with videos to accompany them. While “3 Years Sober” seemed to have a great theme and could be some of Mensa’s most honest work in terms of lyricism, the punk vibe comes off as forced and unexciting.

Camp America is actually a fairly decent song and is without a doubt my favorite track from the album. The satirical nature of the song and the catchy hook do a fantastic job of shedding light on a devastating situation that many artists have seemingly avoided.

The album begins with “Defenition of a fuck-boi” an alternative ballad that oozes influence from anything that garnered popularity in the pop-punk scene of the early 2000s. It’s not a terrible song, but it doesn’t capture my ear as original or thought-provoking. These lead into the two singles from the album and an oddly placed interlude.

As you arrive at “It’s a Bad Dream” and “Fistfight” the theme for the album and the inspiration for the band come fully into the picture. This album is Mensa diving into another music phase to which he has drawn inspiration from over the years. However, Instead of allowing it to influence his own original sound, he recreates similar sounds and puts originality on the backburner.

The first half of the album showed small flashes of creativity and exciting tracks. As it moves forward into the second half, I began to lose all interest. “I Cry 2” is about as boring and monotone as the “Zombie” cover, and “United States of Evil” tries too hard in an attempt to create mosh pit music.

Overall, the album is lackluster in its production and doesn’t do a great job of crossing over the genres of punk and hip-hop. Kid Cudi also attempted a crossover into the punk and rock-and-roll genre with little success. 93 Punx seems to take a bite from the same apple Kid Cudi was eating and fails to deliver a quality album.

I look forward to where Mensa will take his career next and applaud him for the daring changes he has been able to take in his music career. These experimental endeavors are even more impressive seeing that he signed to a major record label like Roc Nation.

Top Tracks:
1.Camp America

Overall score: 3.2

Let me know what you think of this album. You can stream the album here.