Review: Vic Mensa always has Chicago on his mind as he brings ‘Innanetape’ tour back home

Vic Mensa gave one of the defining performances of his career Wednesday night at Garcia’s, resuscitating material that’s 13 years old and proving he was a star from the very beginning.

The West Loop spot — a 300-seater opened in 2025 as an homage to Jerry Garcia — was an oddball pick for the set and frankly should’ve gone bigger for more to witness. Over the course of the hourlong show, the rapper laid out freshly laundered material from his debut mixtape “Innanetape,” reclaiming its power as a complex genre-leaping tour de force.

The performance was to mark an album milestone: In September, it finally made its way to streaming services for the first time since it was released in 2013. The move was smart, opening up the album to a whole new generation of fans who may only know Mensa from side hustles with Chance the Rapper, Kanye West and his popular Orange Tree Series on Instagram where Mensa delivers unscripted hot takes from his backyard on politics, history and culture.

Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times

Released when Mensa was just 19 years old, “Innanetape” was a master work. It came out the same year as Chance the Rapper's “Acid Rap” and Kanye West’s “Yeezus” and established Mensa as a growing force in the city’s hip-hop scene. XXL magazine even added Mensa to its prestigious Freshman Class for the effort, and giving the album space to come back to life in 2026 feels fitting to re-establish Mensa's importance as he readies a new album for 2027.

The guest list was telling of this, too. Chance the Rapper was there as the two teamed up for a spitball version of “Suitcase.” It’s a bonus track for the streaming package of “Innanetape” and Wednesday night was just the second occasion they’ve ever performed the song live together (the first was at Metro in 2014).

Rapper Joey Purp also opened the night, further representing the Savemoney hip-hop collective that also goes way back with Chance and Mensa. Go-to producer and musician Peter Cottontale made an appearance on keys, too. As executive producer of “Innanetape,” he was part of Mensa’s four-piece live band who helped build the rhythmic flow throughout the night. And then there were the star gazers taking it in, like up-and-coming rapper Recoechi and Hilario Dominguez, the much-talked-about candidate running for Chicago School Board president whom Mensa recently endorsed in the Orange Tree Series.

It wasn’t just out of convenience that Chicago showed up for Mensa — it was out of purpose. The special homecoming gig, part of a four-city Innane Tour, was as much about celebrating the album that made the artist as it was honoring the city and community that shaped him.

Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times

“Anywhere that we’ve gone or anything that we’ve ever done, Chicago has always been top of mind, it’s always been the core, the heart, the nucleus of anything I ever do,” Mensa told the audience. “So if it’s about smacking the s--- out of academics … it’s not necessarily because I hate academics,” he added. “It’s really because I love this place that much. Whatever happens to y’all happens to me.”

Now based in LA (something prophesied on the “Innanetape” track “Hollywood LA”), Mensa records his new podcast “The Vic Mensa Show” and runs his ORANJ Multimedia Company there. He also spends a lot of time in his paternal homeland of Ghana, helping with humanitarian efforts and cultural projects, not the least of which was the Black Star Line Festival he and Chance launched in 2022.

But as Mensa confessed in the lyrics of “Didn’t I (Say I Didn’t),” he’s always “got Chicago on my mind.” You could tell by the stories he sandwiched in between the house music-inspired “Down on My Luck” and the heavy riffing of “Tweakin’.” Mensa talked (a lot) about Lollapalooza and the days he was caught making illicit ticket deals on Michigan Avenue. “The thing is with these festivals, many of us from this city, especially on the South and West sides, we’re priced out of that s---,” he said. Mensa also shouted out Kids These Days, the genre-defying high school band he formed with the likes of Macie Stewart, Liam Cunningham (who goes by Liam Kazar now) and Nico Segal. “That music was honestly such a direct precursor to this album because it was so eclectically musical and I had learned so much about jazz and funk and so many different styles that colored and shaped the way [“Innanetape”] came together,” he shared.

The demise of Kids These Days led to Mensa’s breakout path on “Innanetape,” which he thought up one day while high in his parents’ basement and convinced himself he was the internet. He was out of his mind, sure, but there is a sliver of truth there, at least in the way Mensa’s worldwide connection has played out over the course of his career and in his push for greater global consciousness. This thought pattern was only starting to percolate on “Innanetape” and has continued to evolve as his worldview does.

The pathway was obvious Wednesday night. When he wasn’t performing music from his debut, Mensa padded in elevated tracks from more recent releases like 2021’s “Shelter” about the harrowing experiences of being Black in America and 2017’s solemn hit “We Could Be Free” that ponders the cost of shared human pain.

These messages are spilling into his newest material, too. Mensa gave space to two new gospel-tinged tracks, “Money Up” and “Rich in Family," which were inspired by his Ghanaian heritage and described as an “anthology through my family history.” The latter song is a particular high mark, with a chorus that proclaims, “all are welcome here … come on in.”

Mensa’s belief in the power of building community keeps reaching new peaks, but it was first developed here in Chicago’s circles. And that thought didn’t escape him as he wrapped the show with his final words: “I appreciate you for welcoming me back home.”

Vic Mensa set list for Oct. 28, 2026 show at Garcia’s Chicago

Orange Soda
Hollywood LA
Lovely Day
Tweakin’
Cocoa Butter Kisses (Chance the Rapper cover)
Down on My Luck
Magic
Didn’t I (Say I Didn’t)
Money Up
Shelter
Holy Holy
U Mad
Suitcase (with Chance the Rapper)
Rich in Family
We Could Be Free