Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper, two of Chicago music’s most exemplary stars, have linked up to create an acoustic version of their collaboration “SHELTER”. What’s more, Chance has made his directorial debut, helming the video that’s dropped alongside it.
The track originally appeared on Vic’s most recent project I TAPE, which arrived last month and dwelled on everything from the Flint water crisis to the murder of George Floyd. In its original form, the track “SHELTER” also featured Wyclef Jean, but his verse isn’t a part of the stripped back version. At the time, Vic called it “one of my favorite records I’ve ever done”.
The new video is a pretty low-key affair. In it, Vic and Chance find themselves in what seems to be a regal drawing room; Vic performing in front of the fireplace and Chance lounging by the windowsill. Using muted tones and high-contrast grayscale, the video matches the track’s somber mood; a rumination on how Coronavirus impacted marginalised communities in America, and how that coalesced with a rise in recognition beyond Black folks of police brutality and its victims. “Rumbling stomachs, cups jingle when Hummers pass / Brisk wind, summer’s done, winter is coming fast / And then they Zoom teacher wonder why they don’t come to class,” Chance raps on his verse.
“It’s always special when me and Vic get to create together,” Chance said during the making of the original ‘SHELTER’ video. “I think we pull out the best in each other. Usually we build a song together from the ground up, you know, pick the beat, write the hook, and come up with the idea together, but I was happy that Vic already had this song with Wyclef, and offered me the opportunity to get on it.”
As for the new track and video? “By stripping the song to its most bare form we were really able to bring out a new depth of beauty and meaning, in a time when we as a people are searching for it,” Vic said. “Chance’s directorial focus on simplicity shows strength in showing the world just as it is”.
Watch the video for Vic Mensa’s “SHELTER” ft. Chance the Rapper below.