Vic Mensa recently released a song with his band 93PUNX titled “Camp America,” which is inspired by ICE director Matthew Albence’s comments comparing immigrant detention centers to “summer camp.” On Monday, the Chicago rapper appeared on MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber to discuss the song’s controversial music video—which features white children locked up in cages—and share his views on Trump’s handling of immigrants seeking asylum in the US. During the conversation, Mensa addressed how hip-hop’s opinion of the reality TV star turned president has changed over time.
“Well you remember, rap used to love Trump. Trump was practically a rapper at a point in time. Trump was partying with all the rappers,” Mensa said. “There was still songs being made about Donald Trump up to like 2012-13, right before he was like, ‘Obama’s not an American. He’s a Muslim.’ That’s when all of us were kind of like, ‘Uh…’ I felt like we started to tiptoe away.”
As Mensa notes, many rappers have referenced Donald Trump to boast about their business acumen and wealth. Long before Trump became president, Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon became one of many MCs to call himself “black Trump” on 1995’s “Incarcerated Scarfaces.”
On the title track of Jeezy’s 2005 classic album, Thug Motivation 101, the Atlanta rapper says:
I’m Donald Trump in a white tee and white 1’s
The conversation is money: nigga, you want some?
Several years later, Kanye West compared his wealth to Trump’s on 2010’s “So Appalled.” Kanye raps:
I’m so appalled, Spalding ball
Balding Donald Trump taking dollars from y'all
In 2011, Mac Miller scored one of his first major hits with “Donald Trump.” The track later became a point of contention for Trump after the Pittsburgh rapper badmouthed the future president in a 2013 interview with Complex. Mac also denounced Trump’s politics on a 2016 episode of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.
As ABC News points out, Trump was also frequently seen attending parties with Diddy, was friends with Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, and even appeared on 50 Cent’s G-Unit Radio in 2005.
Although Mensa says rappers started backing away from Trump after his support of the “birther” conspiracy questioning Obama’s US citizenship, Trump continued to be shouted out on songs like Rae Sremmurd’s 2014 cut, “Up Like Trump,” and Gucci Mane’s “Straight Drop,” which was released in 2015.
Once Trump ran for president, however, his political beliefs finally turned hip-hop against him. Rappers such as JAY-Z, T.I., and Snoop Dogg—who name-dropped Trump in the past—became some of his biggest critics. Songs like YG’s “FDT (Fuck Donald Trump)” and Eminem’s 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards cypher became more of the norm.
Kanye West remains Trump’s most visible supporter in hip-hop. He visited the White House in October 2018, and has reaffirmed his praise for the president on multiple occasions.
Watch the full interview above, and read all the lyrics to Vic Mensa & 93PUNX’s “Camp America” on Genius now.
