We’re going to go ahead and state the obvious here: Vic Mensa is having a really big year. Okay, so technically, since 2013, the Roc Nation-signed rapper has toured with the likes of J.Cole, Wale, and Danny Brown, and was featured on Kanye’s tracks “U Mad” and “Wolves” (he was also nominated for a Grammy as a result of co-writing “All Day”), but it’s really in the past year that we’ve started to see Mensa quite literally everywhere. Whether he’s been presenting his debut album, The Autobiography, delivering an insane freestyle on Hot97 (where he also asked Funkmaster Flex to clarify his theory on Tupac’s death—more on that below), or collaborating with the best of the best artists (hi, Pusha T and Pharrell) the rapper has been in our face. And more than just about music, speaking up on important topics like the alarming frequency with which rappers are assaulting and being violent towards women and the violence in his hometown of Chicago. Kudos.