Vic Mensa on Kanye West's rants, shoplifting in Macy's and meeting the Queen ...

Meeting on the top floor of London's Ace Hotel, Vic Mensa looked right at home. Surrounded by his entourage and perfectly at ease with his different-city-every-night schedule, it's been a crazy year by anyone's standards. Since announcing his solo career in 2013, after the breakup of his band Kid These Days, he featured on Chance the Rapper's critically acclaimed mixtape Acid Rap, toured with J Cole and released INNANETAPE - officially earning his title as Chicago's one to watch. Following this week's release of 'Down On My Luck', the debut single from his new EP Street Lights, Mensa talks to GQ about why you should never work out, meeting Madonna without realising it and why he's partial to a wearing high heels from time to time...

GQ: You've performed at countless festivals this year but what would you say is your worst gig of all time? Vic Mensa: Damn, my worst gig? Probably something with my band. I mean we used to play a lot of really small bar gigs with no sound system, shit like that. But those weren't that bad. It was probably one of the J Cole dates I did because the tour was so big. I hadn't put out nearly any of my solo music yet and I was on early so people were still walking in and shit like that. I don't think I've ever had like a show where I've been booed off stage but on the J Cole tour people just didn't care because they were there to see J Cole. Some of those shows were good though but some of them just weren't the best.

What festival should everybody go to at least once in their life? Lollapalooza in Chicago. Man, Lollapalooza's crazy. It's one of those festivals that just has the best lineup. And Wireless, they seem to have had the best line up of any festival this year - it's like they get everybody dope in one weekend.

What question are you bored of answering already? Describe yourself. I feel like I should be able to describe myself through better questions.

What do men wear in nightclubs that they really shouldn't? Big muscles. N*****s look dumb. I was in Vegas with J Cole the other day and it made me never want to work out. I've always been real skinny and because of that I've always had a six pack but since I'm more well off than I've ever been, I've been eating a lot more, so it's like the first time in my life I don't have a six pack. I'm cool with that though, in Vegas I was like 'all these dudes they just kind of get buff and go to the club', they look so stupid to me. They just look like meatheads.

You once tweeted that Kanye West is the best rap/alternative performance of all time but what do you think about his tendency to rant? I think he's real, it's dope. I was upset when people started booing at Wireless, he was saying real shit, honestly I didn't take that as being a rant. I was like 'if y'all boo Kanye one more time, I'm ready to knock ya out'. I know everyone's ready for Kanye West to be crazy, even if he takes a break or something but if he wasn't Kanye West they wouldn't have booed him for talking. If he was Drake, they wouldn't have booed him. Everybody's just so predisposed to see Kanye West as the villain. It wasn't a rant, it was just that he stripped 'Runaway' down and made it more intimate, he was just singing and talking.

What's your best recent clothes purchase? I have my man Stretch make these pants [points to his white, ripped denim jeans with zips]. He made me a white pair and a black pair because I was listening to 'London Calling' a lot and I'd been looking up photos of The Clash, I was just into all their zipper clothes. Also the leather sandals I wore at Wireless.

What musical trend needs to stop right now? People are overusing trap hi-hats. If I'm listening to soul records I don't need to hear trap hi-hats. I'm not mad at it, it's cool to see everyone taking influence from modern sounds but sometimes it just seems like fads happen and people get in the mind state like 'I have to do this to be current' when in reality it's kind of like, it's played out, it's not even current anymore.

In your video for 'Orange Soda', you preview Kenan & Kel but what TV do you never miss? I love Game of Thrones but I missed it every time cause I never watch TV and I'm not home a lot but I love Game of Thrones and before that, Entourage.

If you could party with any musician dead or alive, who would it be? Partying with Jimmy Hendrix, that would be bumpin'. I feel like Jimmy Hendrix had hella bitches [laughs].

What skill should every man have? The ability to tell the truth.

How would you sum up Chi-town's sound? Chicago's sound is of the heavens and the pavements. It's realistic, you know. It's not Hollywood, it's not the allure of Lower East Side of New York, or fashion or fame, Chicago's realistic.

You've said in the past that it's sometimes necessary to be selfish in a relationship - what would be your greatest advice for men trying to hold onto their girl? Say 'I'm sorry' [laughs]. That's the best advice I can give anybody, I don't know if I'm the best for relationship advice. I just say I'm sorry a lot, cause I've got to do what I've got to do but I'm sorry, you know?

Have you ever cheated death? Yeah I've cheated death a bunch of time. That's my whole thing. That's why I've got 'Still Alive' tattoo-ed on my stomach. I got electrocuted when I was 17, trying to sneak into Lollapalooza and the electricity went in my arm and came out of my elbow, 15 thousand volts [points to huge scar]. I fell off the bridge, I fell like 30 feet and lived. I was at a hospital for like 3 days, 2 nights and then the next day I flew to New York to go meet with Atlantic Records.

Your mixtape features Chance the Rapper and Eliza Doolittle - who would you most like to collaborate with? I mean, probably Kanye.

Where is the strangest place you've heard one of your tracks? Mexican strip club. Not true [laughs]. I wish though, that'd be tight. Somebody told me their grandma listens to my music, I thought that was pretty cool, little weird but kind of cool though, so somebody's grandma's bedroom is probably the weirdest place.

What's been a purchase on tour you've bought and then instantly regretted? I mean I'm Save Money [Mensa is a member of Save Money hip hop collective] so I don't really buy things and regret them but you know I bought these Wired 3 shoes in New York the other day. They look dope, they look kind of unisex, they have kind of a heel, like a wing tip almost, it's a women's shoe but it's not like really girly or some shit, it looks tight. My n****'s were giving me grief for buying a girl's shoe, it looked tight to me but they don't fit me at all [laughs]. I wore them the night I did the XXL shoot and then we went to the 44 club for some shit and I got so drunk I didn't feel it. I guess that how girls get by right? I tried to wear them the next day and it was just like f****** pain.

Can you recommend a good book? I like this book called 'Bomb the Suburbs' by this guy called William Upski Wimsatt. Or at least I really did like it when I was a kid. It's a Chicago graffiti book, it's not one of those graffiti picture books, it's more like stories of hip hop culture and stuff, it's dope, it's a great book.

When were you last starstruck? Madonna was at one of [rapper] Chance's shows with Frank Ocean in LA and I didn't even know she was Madonna, she was disguised, introducing herself as someone else. Once I found out it was Madonna I was like 'damn, that's crazy'. But I can't remember being too starstruck too recently. It can go one of four ways [with celebrities], people are like indifferent, know me, they're nice or assholes. In no situation does it like stop me in my tracks. Madonna was nice, she was cool.

What should no man have in his wardrobe? Every man should do what they wanna do, you know, do what they feel like but they shouldn't wear white socks with the boat shoes, that's for sure. No white socks and boat shoes.

Which lyric are you most proud of writing? 'Ya bitch, ya' [laughs] I didn't write that though, Soulja Boy did. If I did write that though I'd be most proud of it.

Which band would you like to see reform? I'm sad I didn't see the Guns N' Roses Vegas show when I was with J Cole. I don't even know who would have been on stage. I know they don't like each other but it seems like it would have been fun to see.

What was the best record in your parent's collection? 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis.

What's a Vic Mensa groupie like? You know all groupies are unique, they're not typical. Young, under 18 maybe, I don't even really know. Young, thirsty, parched.

Have you ever stolen anything? Yes, I stole hella shit.

Did you get caught? We used to boost stuff from Macy's and other department stores in Chicago when I was at high school. The big craze was True Religion jeans and Rock & Republic. Before they were like big hood items, now they're like hood classics. So one time I was stealing some Trues, I may have had like three pairs or something, I'm going down the escalator, I heard this dude behind me, I can hear the radio going 'put the bag down, tell him to put the bag down and he won't be arrested' and so I took the hint [laughs]. I didn't get arrested, and the police weren't outside either, I was spooked though.

What's the most important item on your rider? Hi-Chews, Japanese candy. Good shit, really good shit.

What's the strangest gift you've ever received from a fan? This isn't that strange but this kid gave me a bad painting of myself that he was trying to give me for a long time [laughs]. It just wasn't very good, so I was trying to avoid it, I was just mad because he'd done a better painting of somebody else and I saw it and then mine was weak [laughs].

What do people get wrong about you? For sometime people thought I was an asshole because sometimes I come off really arrogantly in interviews, but it was only really one or two. I did an interview with Nardwuar and I was kind of being an asshole but I was more like having fun because Nardwuar is a weirdo. I was just f****** with him because his whole style is to put the microphone all in your face and he digs as deep as any interviewer anywhere, always bringing up really random shit from your past and stuff, you're like 'how does he know that?' But yeah, people think I'm an asshole because of that but I'm actually pretty nice most of the time.

What's the most expensive thing you've currently wearing? My Acne leather jacket.

Have you ever been fired from a job? Yes. I was a dishwasher at a deli by my house in Chicago. I officially got fired for going to a college seminar but I think he knew that I was like stealing cookies and chips and pops the whole time [laughs].

Have you ever fired a gun? Yeah, only a shotgun. My uncle lives in upstate New York so he has hunting guns and stuff so I've shot a shotgun, and a riffle when I was way younger.

Who is your best-dressed British man? I really don't look at the way men dress all that often, especially not currently, I'm not that type of dude.

What's the worst job you've ever had? You know the deli job wasn't that bad because they were hippie-ish, so I could smoke before I came and just be high as hell scrubbing dishes. And I got free sandwiches and they were just so f****** good. I was eating extra good when I worked there but I never really had a bad job because I haven't had too many jobs.

What's the worst thing a critic has ever said about you? I don't know. F*** critics.

Have you ever had sex to one of your own records? Yeah. Definitely. It made the song and the sex better but I'm sure they were amazing on their own.

What's your hangover cure? Turn up, drink more or smoke.

What's your karaoke song? I've never done karaoke, but I want to do karaoke. I'd pick Purple Rain [by Prince].

What's the best thing you can cook? Bacon and fried egg sandwich [laughs]. Real easy with that runny yolk.

Have you ever seen a dead body? Chicago's pretty violent so one time I was at a studio I used to record at, like 16 or something, and there was a car at this gas station with a bloody windscreen, with a dude inside presumably with his brains blown out. That's probably as close as I've been to a dead body.

When was the last time you threw a punch? Recently I've been mellowed and on the peaceful shit because a lot of people mistake strength for violence but New Year's Eve we did have to beat this n***** up because he was talking hella shit. When I came to this party at New Year's Eve, my friend was f****** with me, he went to go get this kid who must of been a fan of mine or something. He came out and was just like 'ahh Vic Mensa' and I didn't care until he came up to me and he was being extra annoying, all in my face. I'm trying to chill and he's like 'you and Chance, you guys beefing? You got a beef man?' and I was just like 'yo, leave me alone' [laughs]. He got extra mad and stormed off and later I saw him drunk on a wall and my friends were tapping his pockets, you know, [laughs] robbing him. I don't think they were unprovoked, they said he was running around saying I was like a 'bitch' and harassing the girls we were hanging out with. Talking shit and touching them and wouldn't leave. I think the biggest problem when a n***** gets knocked out is that they don't take their opportunity to go home [laughs]. Exit the scene. I pushed him when we got to the elevator and knocked him real quick, pimped off.

What word or phrase do you overuse the most? And shit.

Describe the way you dance. Heavenly. Like an electro sex machine.

How would you like to be remembered? In a blaze of glory.

'Down On My Luck' is out now (Virgin EMI).

Follow Alice Howarth on Twitter at @alicejrhowarth.