On “Memories On 47th Street,” the second song from The Autobiography, Mensa tells a story about trying to sneak into Lollapalooza, another big Chicago festival where he’d eventually perform. He fell off a bridge, got his arm electric-shocked, and woke up in a hospital with doctors telling him he should be dead. It’s one of many near-escape stories he tells on The Autobiography, an album that’s drunk on its own unlikelihood. Mensa tells stories about friends dying, about drugs, about his parents being forced to worry about him, and, maybe most notably, about his own battles with depression. He talks, again and again, about hitting a low point, about sitting in a bathroom and looking at a gun, contemplating suicide. He raps almost an entire verse from the perspective of the berating, self-doubting voices within his own head. And he raps about exulting in the moment, about reaching the point where he’s a great rap hope who’s got a contract with Jay-Z and an album out in the world. It’s a deeply sincere album, an album thoughtful and genuine enough to overcome whatever corniness Mensa brings to it.
A1 | Didn't I (Say I Didn't) | 5:15 |
A2 | Memories On 47th St. | 4:02 |
A3 | Rollin' Like A Stoner | 3:15 |
B1 | Homewrecker | 4:08 |
B2 | Gorgeous | 4:30 |
B3 | Heaven On Earth | 5:17 |
B4 | Card Cracker (Skit) | 1:10 |
C1 | Down For Some Ignorance (Ghetto Lullaby) | 4:25 |
C2 | Coffee & Cigarettes | 4:30 |
C3 | Wings | 4:02 |
C4 | Heaven On Earth (Reprise) | 2:06 |
D1 | The Fire Next TIme | 3:44 |
D2 | We Could Be Free | 7:44 |
D3 | Rage | 5:20 |