Olskool Ice-Gre and
E.P. Da Hellcat, also known as the Chicago Hip-Hop duo
Abstract Mindstate, have released their long-awaited new album
The Art Project today (7/18/2025). Available on all major digital streaming platforms via
Honest Music/Barak With Love/Vydia, and produced entirely by
Young RJ of
Slum Village,
The Art Project serves as the full-length follow-up to the duo's 2021
Kanye West-produced album
Dreams Still Inspire. Guest features include
David Banner,
Blu,
J.Ivy, and more.
The Art Project is a result of the undeniable chemistry established between Slum Village and Abstract Mindstate while the two groups toured the Pacific Northwest and Europe together in 2022 and 2024, respectively.
Still Paying...An Abstract European Experience, is a short film documenting parts of these experiences, and is due out later this summer. Watch the trailer:
https://bit.ly/4lAFjbB
MORE ABOUT ABSTRACT MINDSTATE:
Olskool Ice-Gre and E.P. Da Hellcat (a.k.a. Ebony Poetress) are the male/female Hip-Hop duo known as Abstract Mindstate, hailing from the Southside and Westside of Chicago respectively. The pair made a name for themselves in the early 2000s with their golden era sensibilities, their brutally honest and introspective lyrics over soulful beats, and their energetic and connected live performances. They proudly label themselves Adult Contemporary Hip Hop or ACH, a term Gre coined and has been using to describe the group’s music for several years.
Their 2001 debut album We Paid, Let Us In! was to be the first of three albums they had planned, including Still Paying and You Owe Us Change. The former was set to feature Kanye West, Common, and John Legend. But when a “a sizable investment” fell through, and their label situation didn't pan out, the album was ultimately shelved. The duo pivoted to their Chicago’s Hardest Working mixtape series to try to stay afloat and keep the momentum in their favor, but the group soon faced personal hardship and decided to hang up the mics in 2008.
Over a decade later, Gre and EP would re-emerge with a full-length album produced entirely by Kanye West, an artist their group had inspired early on. The album, Dreams Still Inspire, would be the only official release via Kanye's YZY SND imprint. Although no longer affiliated with the label, the group continues to evolve as part of the Slum Village extended family, a sibling group whose DNA permeates the likes of Midwestern Hip-Hop greats.
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