Busta Rhymes is one of our greatest MCs, rising from a nominal member of Leaders of the New School to be come a multi-platinum force.

And over the past 25 years, the lyrical giant has amassed hits like Ichiro and more standout guest spots than Samuel L. Jackson.

This year has proved to be among hist most cherished, as he celebrated his legacy with a huge bash at The Garden earlier this month dubbed Busta & Friends and a new collection of music, out today (December 25), The Return of the Dragon: The Abstract Went on Vaction.

“I just take great pride in everything that I do, and especially this particular body of work,” Busta told REVOLT. “Because I was given an incredible amount of new inspiration, which is why was able to do a new project after the incredible Busta Rhymes & Friends.”

The free album is a sequel to his 2013 joint project with Q-Tip, The Abstract and The Dragon. Busta explained that Tip was hard at work on his own projects, “and when he’s in that zone, it’s like he’s going away for real. Even if he don’t leave home, mentally, spiritually and energy wise, he travels to explore what he’s going to do sonically, with the next things he’s going to be doing….When he gets on that travel. That universal creative travel, you just call that, he’s going on vacation.” Instead, Bus lined the tracks with guests, including O.T. Genasis, Chance The Rapper, Rick Ross, Mary J. Blige, J.Doe and new Conglomerate member Aaron Cooks.

Listen to the mixtape, here, and watch Busta’s full interview below.

Reporting by Paul Wilson/NowWut.com