VIC MENSA - 16 Shots

What this video is

Released October 2016, just days after the second anniversary of the October 20, 2014 killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke. The song appeared on Vic Mensa's EP 'There's Alot Going On' (Roc Nation/Def Jam, June 2016) and the video was premiered at the Justice for Laquan Rally in Chicago's Millennium Park. The release occurred in the final weeks of the…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of mid-2010s activist hip-hop, 'Vic Mensa - 16 Shots' represents the convergence of Chicago conscious rap, BLM-era protest aesthetics, and music video as political document. It extends the tradition of early-90s political rap into the social media age, combining theatrical…

The director

Venice Beach-born Asian American filmmaker and third-generation director. Son of writer/director Bill Norton Jr. and grandson of screenwriter William Norton Sr. Signed to Partizan in 2007, then Prettybird and Solab. Has directed over 80 music videos,…