Vic Mensa has officially signed to Roc Nation. Jay Z took to Twitter to announce the signing and share an iTunes link to Mensa’s first single on Roc Nation, his Kanye West collaboration “U Mad.”
Roc Nation Records x @VicMensa http://t.co/SRMd6d1taE
— Mr. Carter (@S_C_) April 21, 2015
While the signing is a surprise, what’s more interesting is the story behind it. Roc Nation executive Lenny S took to Instagram to share how difficult it was to get Mensa over to the label.
According to Lenny S, the rapper and his management team weren’t impressed by him or Roc Nation. Below is a snippet of Lenny’s story:
“As I’m leaving, he stops me + says “yo, thanks for coming homie, where u from again?” I’d be lying to say I wasn’t slightly offended. Ha. I sarcastically answered “just a lil rec company named ROC NATION”. He replies, “oh, who y’all got there?” If u know me & my ROC pride, I’m offended again. Me: “Not sure if you’ve heard of them, a few small artists like, JZ, JCole & Rihanna”. He says, oh cool + keeps it moving.”
After months of talking to him and his team, Mensa officially inked a deal with Roc Nation. According to Lenny, “they cared about making a connection w/ music/culture & partnering with a company who understood their vision/art.”