Last month, Vic Mensa released his latest album, Victor. The Roc Nation Records release features Common, Jay Electronica, Ty Dolla Sign, Chance The Rapper, Thundercat, Rapsody, D Smoke, among others.

In the two years since the Chicago, Illinois artist released his last LP, I TAPE, Mensa transitioned his lifestyle. The vet is now sober. He uses that point in a dazzling freestyle for The LA Leakers’ co-founder Justin Credible—who Vic has impressed throughout his career.

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“How can I summarize the s__t that I survived? / 99 problems; I’ve lived 100 lives / Ringling Brothers, who got life in ’95 / It’s a circus in the ‘Raq, so they was hittin’ each other with pies,” he says, rapping to Nipsey Hussle and JAY-Z’s “What It Feels Like” (as produced by 1500 Or Nothin’ and Mike & Keys). He keeps the circus imagery and double entendres. “N___as love to clown, until you it / Now I’m takin’ over, about to go Somali on a ship / Like a pregnant woman, I just caught a body in this b___h / Flow so sick I’m prolly goin’ viral off this clip.”

Mensa knows he is using thoughtful wordplay in this freestyle. “Alexander Graham Bell the way my name ring / From here to China, my spirit is in alignment, y’all lines all fake, that’s Beijing / I can triple enendre with the games, king.” He uses body language to show the other meanings in his bars—from telephones to hairlines.

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After repeating a section of bars, Vic Mensa shares developments from his personal life. “After hit songs on the label / My brother back-doored me, I turned to that ‘caine, I wasn’t able / To process my emotions / Heart and mind broken / I thought about dyin’ often, picture me lyin’ frozen / Inside a pine coffin, open / I be goin’ through pain you couldn’t cure with Ibuprofen / Percocet or Morphine? / Watchin’ Crams shootin’ heroine when I was 14.” Mensa alludes to his battles with substances.

The beat switches to Nas’ 20-year-old “Get Down” beat (as produced by Salaam Remi). Vic matches the James Brown-sampling track with a flow in-pocket. “I built a career off of my truth like Issa Rae, the way I showed you when I was insecure / Fake smile for the cameras, it’s just veneers / This famous s__t is Al Yankovich, it’s gettin’ weird,” he spits. “I hate when they call Black music ‘urban’ / All music is Black music beneath the surface / We sold more seats than suburbans / Wild s__t, but I digress / We dyin’ from what we buyin’, but it’s time to divest / How you want quality, addicted to Qualitest? / Addicted to technology, sippin’ that hi-tech got ya mind-less / I need more power / I work like we ain’t got the same 24 hours.” Moments later, he announces, “Show ya’ how to weather the storm, Al Roker / My style doper / I’m two years clean, this is how I sound sober.”

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With a healthy heart and mind, Vic Mensa is still dope.

#BonusBeat: New music from Vic Mensa’s Victor is currently featured on the Ambrosia For Heads playlist: