Chicago rapper, actor, and activist Vic Mensa is stepping behind the podcast microphone with the launch of his new video and audio series, The Vic Mensa Show.

Set to premiere on August 26, the 24-episode first season kicks off with a heavyweight guest: his longtime friend, collaborator, and fellow Chicagoan, Chance the Rapper.

Produced in partnership with Mass Appeal, Blank Square Productions, and Pickup Media, the weekly show is an expanded, long-form evolution of Mensa’s Webby Award–winning Orange Tree video series. Known for delivering social commentary and cultural discussion in front of an orange tree, Mensa is translating that intimate setup into premium, immersive, and emotionally responsive conversations, with cultural figures, intellectuals, disruptors, healers, artists, and thinkers unpacking identity, power, trauma, success, failure, politics, spirituality, and culture.

“The Orange Tree illustrated for me the transcendent possibilities of conversation: a space for the discussion of radical ideas, humor, honesty and vulnerability,” Mensa said in a press release. “What began as a conversation with my community online is now expanding, through The Vic Mensa Show, to include great minds that I respect across many disciplines.”

Reflecting further on how his activism and creative journey led to the project, Mensa told Billboard that storytelling across mediums has always been core to his practice.

“Music, culture and politics have always been intrinsically intertwined in my practice and in the larger tradition from which I emerge,” he explained. “From that evolution, The Vic Mensa Show was born — a space to deepen the dialogue by involving artists, thinkers, loved ones and brilliant minds across mediums in the many discussions I’ve been holding about the human condition.”

Following the inaugural episode with Chance the Rapper, the debut season will bring on an impressive lineup of cultural figures and creative minds, including Durand Bernarr, Rapsody, Lena Waithe, Aja Monet, and Van Lathan Jr., spanning music, film, journalism, and activism.

Beyond The Vic Mensa Show, ORANJ will also house several of Mensa’s existing and upcoming projects, including his short film Halfrican, his Substack, and his original vertical series, The Orange Tree Series, with additional projects in development.

That expansion builds on a career already spanning music, film, and social advocacy. Mensa’s albums, including The Autobiography and Victor, have reached millions, while his EP sundiata marked his first fully independent release. An actor on The Chi and Bel-Air, he’s also the founder of 93 Boyz, Illinois’ first Black-owned cannabis brand.

New episodes of The Vic Mensa Show will drop every Wednesday across YouTube, Spotify Video, Apple Video, and all major podcast platforms. More information is available at thevicmensashow.com.