Vic Mensa is the latest rapper to pay homage to the late Virgil Abloh, dropping the touching tribute track “What You Taught Us.” Over a soulful, self-produced beat, Vic writes an open letter to the designer, who passed away on Sunday at age 41 after a two-year battle with cancer. “You showed us we could all be designers of our own destinies of our legacies,” he rhymes. “Our environments from Chicago streets to Paris fashion weeks.”
In a press release, Mensa shared how watching Abloh opened his eyes to more possibilities for his own future. “Virgil Abloh is synonymous with visionary,” he says. “To see him go from DJing Superfun parties in Chicago that Hollywood Holt would sneak me in when I was 16 to revolutionizing the way we think about design and its applications is a true inspiration to a generation that was blessed to be raised under his tutelage. Legends never die.”
Vic isn’t the only one to write about Virgil’s impact. Tyler The Creator also shared a post on Instagram revealing the way the designer pushed him to try new things and begin using “more of my African last name OKONMA because of how regal Virgils felt.” Likewise, Frank Ocean also shared his own post on Instagram, calling Virgil “a hero.”
You can listen to Vic Mensa’s new song “What You Taught Us” below.