Abstract Mindstate

The kool Kat: Hello? Oh, yikes, one second. Okay, I can't hear you, but hii

Olskool Ice-Gre: What's going on?

The kool Kat: I'm good, I'm good, thank you. Nice to meet you again. And about time to have you on the

interview!

The kool Kat: One second, sorry I can't see-

Olskool Ice-Gre: There we are.

The kool Kat: Nice, okay, cool, cool, cool.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Yeah, there we are, there we are. What's popping?

The kool Kat: I'm good! & you’re looking good.

The kool Kat: Again, thank you for coming on the interview. I know it's been a long time trying to organize

this and make it happen. And we're here, so that's really good. I mean, overall,

Olskool Ice-Gre: yeah. Yeah, yeah,

The kool Kat:It's a very chill interview just to get to know you as people. And like, it's around 30 minutes.

So please take your time with the answers.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The kool Kat: Oh Hi.

E.P. Da Hellcat: Hello, how are you?

I'm good. Nice to meet you! so-

E.P. Da Hellcat: You as well

The kool Kat: thank you thank you

The kool Kat: My question for you guys is earlier

Question 1

in your career your first name was “Wonder Twins” and why did you drop that name?Olskool Ice-Gre: Yeah. No, that was just that was just the AKA. We still the Wonder Twins.

The kool Kat: Oh ok.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We we was abstract mind state the misfits of dialogue. And we kind

of just stopped going with the MOD and just kept abstract mind state. But Wonder Twins is our is like our

AKA. That's just another another, you know.

Male, female, you know, super duo.

E.P. Da Hellcat: It stems from a cartoon from earlier in our childhood.

The kool Kat: Oh, nice.

E.P. Da Hellcat: Yeah It was brother and his sister. They were called the Wonder Twins. Yeah, yeah,

The kool Kat: yeah. I'll definitely check it out.

Question 2

But like, how did you conclude and pick the name abstract mind State?

Olskool Ice-Gre: Well, put it like this. We were at a time where we was going through a transition and we

wanted to change our name. And let's just say we came up with with about four names and couldn't decide

between the four.

So so we we took all four of the names that we find that we felt were the final names. We put them we put

them in the hat and say, OK, let's let's both choose one and see which one we like the most out of the two.

And then when we, you know, when we came down to the two, she chose one. I never could remember

who picked what,

E.P. Da Hellcat: but yeah one of us picked Abstract Mind State and the other one picked MOD or Misfits of

Dialogue.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Yeah. And then we decided let's keep them both. And we became Abstract Mind State,

the Misfits of Dialogue. But as we just shared with you, we dropped the MOD and, you know, it just became

Abstract Mind State over time.

The kool Kat: Fair enough. Fair enough But wow, that's really cool. honestly, it's really cool to be here and

talk to you guys because it's been a long time coming.

The kool Kat: The question I have for you next is, after being in the game for three decades, how do you

manage to keep your-- sorry, my bad, my bad, again. (oops)

Question 3

After three decades of being in the game, how do you manage to keep your lyrics and your

songwriting as fresh as possible? And where do you find inspiration

to keep your lyrics and your storytelling as fresh as it possibly can be.E.P. Da Hellcat: I think that we kind of feed off of each other really well. Like, that's one of the things that

we've always done since the inception of the group. We've never veered from, like, bouncing things off of

each other. And, you know, it's the old adage, you know, iron sharpens iron, right?

Olskool Ice-Gre: Right, right.

E.P. Da Hellcat: So we just keep... We just, you know, the inspiration, I think of like, let's say a particular

song, any song, it's usually bred from the beat. You know what I mean? And usually old school, he comes

up with the themes for the songs, right? And 80% of the time, the hook is well. Sometimes I delve in, you

know, and I add a few lines here, a few lines there. But for the most part, the themes and the hooks are his

conceptualisation. I just... I just jump on that bandwagon and we just keep it moving. We listen to each

other's lyrics. One of the things that we talk about now is, like you said, veterans in the game is how when

we were coming up, we were never like...

take hints from each other or take each other's, but now we ask each other, like, or we don't, we feel better

about asking each other, “hey”, or telling each other, “hey, why don't you switch this around this way or

switch this one around and flow better with the beat”. Like, that was unheard of as younger MCs, but now,

but now it's, you know, it's with maturity, so. Yeah.

Olskool Ice-Gre: And I, you know, and you know, staying fresh, man, we just like, You know, we just kind

of go with the times. And I would say me and EP and I, we always been kind of ahead of the curve. You

know, we were... Even the idea of a male-female, everything done has been a little bit in the future. So...

I mean it's a compliment for you saying you know how do we keep our lyrics fresh but I think like finally

aiming caught up with where we've always been so it kind of balances out because we was always writing

a little a little bit more in the future you know.

The kool Kat: Fair enough. Um, I would say that you guys are fresh, you guys are really cool.

E.P. Da Hellcat: Thank you.,

Olskool Ice-Gre: I appreciate it.

The kool Kat: Oh, easily, easily!

The kool Kat: Your friendship, to me, is very organic and it's very, very wholesome, especially how you

guys mix well lyrically. What I want to dive into is I read about your bio….

Question 4

At certain points of your career you guys had disbanded and with that break lyrically and working

together would you say that you guys grew lyrically apart or it was more difficult to start rapping

again together when you came back as a unit?

E.P. Da Hellcat: Um, uh, I'll, I'll go first on that one. Well, for me, I wasn't writing. I wasn't writing at all. I

wasn't, uh, when we, when we, um, uh,

when we separated there, I wasn't dealing with music at all. But because of the way that I started back

dealing with music, which was with my original partner, I think for me it was it was easier. It was morenatural because that was somebody that I had been comfortable with for years, writing, sitting in a studio,

writing, writing a part. You know what I mean? Because it is something that's so natural.

we kind of know where the other one is going to go. Even after the theme is stated, we kind of know what

to expect from the other partners. So for me, it didn't take long to fall back into the groove, but it did take

longer for me to start back writing at the height that I was writing it before and I still don't think I'm there. I

still don't think I would ever write with the ferocity that I used to. Okay,

The kool Kat: personally I have to disagree. As a fan, it's funny because as a fan,

I think both, first of all, I love both of you guys as a group. You guys have very good chemistry and you

guys make, literally, you guys are really in sync, which I really love. But EP, you especially, sorry, the full

name, I just met you, EP the Hellcat. I think that as an MC, besides you being a female MC, as an MC

alone,

Your bars, I wouldnt call them bars, id call them punchlines. They're so infectious. I'll say that much.

Question 5

And what I would say is that what's added and influenced you to rhyme the way you do and to spit

bars the way you do?

E.P. Da Hellcat: So other female MCs, some, Latifah. I mean, so...

I think that I've always gravitated more towards male MCs, right? And those are some of my favorite. Nas,

Eric B., Rakim, that group, Mobb Deep. But my favorites are like Nas, Lauren, you know what I mean?

Latifah.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Black Thought.

E.P. Da Hellcat: Yeah, yes, yes. Definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely Black Thought, Mos Def. I just...

I don't I don't I really like. So this is a funny it's funny you bring this up because just the other day I had

called old school and I was telling him about the first time he let me hear his miss education. Right.

Because, of course, we had heard Lauren as a group or whatever, you know, you know, with the Fugees.

But when he let me hear Miss Education, I told him that was the first time.

I had ever got fearful of any MC. Like, that was the first time that I never wanted, I mean, of course I

wanted to meet her, 'cause I'm like, but no, meet her like this on stage. I was like, "Hmm, whoo, whoo." I

mean, I've since felt a little different, but back then when "Miss education" first came out, I was like, "Whoo,

boy, that's a high bar," right?

The kool Kat: I mean, I don't think it's not possible for you to reach those levels, but time will tell.

The kool Kat: The question I have for both of you is,

Question 6

coming up in the Chicago rap scene in the early 90s and 2000s, how did you navigate it? Did you

feel any anxiety or pressure coming into the rap game? And I read as well that

at a time when you started rapping, you were both in school or you had finished school. So how

was it like being two young people being in that rap scene at that time?

Olskool Ice-Gre: I mean, I was like, okay, so for Abstract, this is what it was for us. We kind of like came

back home and kind of like,

took over the scene, so to speak, because the scene was happening. You know, I was definitely watching

everything that was going on because EP will tell you always like kind of monitor everything and see what

was happening. And I came home a couple of years before her to just kind of, so I was kind of watching the

landscape of what was happening. And by the time she came home,

It was like, okay, we about to really hit the ground running. And I just took all of the things that I had learned

from my days at record labels, as well as just like independently doing stuff for our crew back in college.

And I ran with it with us.

And man, me and EP, we kind of galvanized the scene quickly because we had all of the tools that made a

great group. Meaning like, like you just said, we had the chemistry. We was definitely lyricists. We cared

about lyricism. We had strong hooks. We had one of the best producers at the time.

you know, in Chicago that was very technical and like very into making sure his sound was perfect. And so

you mesh all of that with us on top of our energy. And then we had a great live show.

E.P. Da Hellcat:Still have a great live show.

Olskool Ice-Gre:Yeah, we still, yes. Not had. Thank you. Have. We have a great live show because that

has been our mainstay. Our live performance has always been a thing that people have enjoyed from the

beginning of being introduced to us to today. And so just directly with your question, the Chicago scene,

I mean, it wasn't hard because we've never concentrated on anybody else but ourselves. And in that, it kind

of elevated us as artists because we never felt any way about anybody. We just focused on what we were

doing. And we kind of built our own team, our own little infrastructure, our own circle.

And that's what catapulted us to the forefront of the Chicago hip hop scene at that time because we only

focused on us. And I don't mean that in a negative way. EP will tell you,

The Kool Kat: Of course

Olskool Ice-Gre: we didn't-- we loved-- there was a bunch of groups and artists we loved, but our focus

was us. Like, what are we doing? How's our show? Where's our promo guy? What is our manager doing?

What is our graphics guy doing? We only focused on us.

So, yeah.

The kool Kat: I mean thats how it's meant to be, I think, in a team. You guys just work on being the best

versions of yourselves you can possibly be.

E.P. Da Hellcat: Absolutely

The kool Kat:Yeah. I agree. What I would add to that is, you know, like, when finding a good teammate or

a good partner in any kind of industry, especially rap, like...

So some people don't have good intuition to find someone as good as you two as a unit.

Question 7

What are the things that you would tell people to look for in a partner, in a teammate long-term, you

know, like actual values that they need to have to make this a, you know, not just a momentary

thing, but like a long-term thing?

E.P. Da Hellcat: I mean, I would say I definitely agree. We're like...We're very like-minded and it's always been that. And I think a lot of that comes through in the music, in the

lyrics. The live show is something that's so natural for us. Like, we know we need to rehearse, right? -

Olskool Ice-Gre:Right ha ha ha

E.P. Da Hellcat: But when we perform, maybe we didn't have time. It won't show that we didnt rehearse.

you know, because it's so natural and that chemistry is very natural.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Yeah. And just having a crazy, like one of the things that I think that basically helped us,

like me and E.P. got probably seemed like, well, I'm exaggerating, but we got a hundred years of jokes and

stories So,

E.P. Da Hellcat: Yeah.

Olskool Ice-Gre: It's kind of like one of our funniest things. It comes up every now and then on interviews.

Early in our career, we used to drive our producer crazy because our sense of humor, like we got so many

jokes. Like earlier, like the whole Wonder Twins thing. We grew up watching the same cartoons. We grew

up, you know, attracted to the same TV shows. So we got a whole bunch of jokes and like things that we

can dig up that only she and I know what we're talking about.

and we used to be in interviews or in the studio and we started laughing and saying stuff and other people

was like, man, what's wrong with y'all? Y'all crazy. You know what I'm saying? So I just say things like that

helps like, you know, any kind of partnership when you can find those commonalities or that thread that

both of you all share. You know what I'm saying? Like, E.P. loves karate movies and I do too, but she loves

them more than me, but

I watched them just like her. So I can vibe with her on that because I was into it. You know what I'm

saying? Chicago people know we talk about, we say places like McVictor on Sundays and you know what

I'm saying? Stepping on sticky floors just to catch the movies downtown and stuff like that. And, you know,

it's just a whole bunch of things like that. And then we went to a black college together. So it's like, we got a

lot of experience that we share together.

So now fast forward, you're listening to like, you know, 30 years plus of just, you know.

E.P. Da Hellcat: Companionship.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Yeah, yeah. You know, that's a lot of time. You know, we accumulated a bunch of stuff to

just that only we know. So, you know.

E.P. Da Hellcat: Yep. Yep.

The kool Kat: wait one second claps really well said, really well said and to hear as well Like, again, I'd

love to go to one of your live shows. I've never been, because I've never been to America before, actually. I

just live in the UK, but I'd love to go to one-

Olskool Ice-Gre:Hold on, hold on. You missed it. We just did a week of shows in the UK a couple of

months ago.

E.P. Da Hellcat: And a few months before that, we did a month of shows. We toured with Slum Village.

The kool Kat: Oh my god. Sorry one sec I have to relax real quick. Oh, wow. whispers “how did I miss

that?” Sorry about that. Next time in UK, please let me know or i could look it up myselfE.P. Da Hellcat:Oh, definitely. No, without a doubt. Where do you live?

The kool Kat: I live in East London.

Olskool Ice-Gre: East London. Where is Camden in terms of East, West, North, South?

The kool Kat:Camden. Okay, first of all, I'm Nigerian. Originally, I moved here like three years ago, but im

not sure where everything is, but Camden from East London from where i live with a bus is like 35 mins or

less not too far away

(I don't know my geogrpahy yall )

Olskool Ice-Gre The last place we stayed in Camden, we usually stay like more in like the city or

downtown, whatever you call it. But this time we was in Camden and I really liked Camden. That was a

vibe. We did Manchester, Camden, Yeah.

Olskool Ice-Gre: We did London, of course, you know. We've done the Jazz Cafe, we've done, you know,

Blues Kitchen, we've done the O2s, we've done a couple of the O2s.

E.P. Da Hellcat: All of the O2s.

The Kool Kat: DAYUMMMM

Question 8

In terms of performing, which city had the most love and best energy, you would say, from

Manchester, London, or even anywhere else?

Olskool Ice-Gre: EP, which one was the big O2? I mean, I guess that would be a disadvantage because it

was a big crowd.

E.P. Da Hellcat:Yeah, yeah.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Whichever one of those O2s, it was a big one because it was, remember one of the O2s.

E.P. Da Hellcat:It was packed.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Man, I can't remember. I don't know. But put it like this. I say...

Ah, man, I like the vibe at the, what's the one we just did, the three that, where Slum had the residency, I

just said Jazz Cafe. I like the vibe of Jazz Cafe. That intimacy is pretty dope, you know.

E.P. Da Hellcat: yeppp

Olskool Ice-Gre: But yeah, man, we...E.P. Da Hellcat: I thought Manchester was so dope. I forget which one was in Manchester.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Yeah, that's what I was finna say. I almost said Manchester.

E.P. Da Hellcat:Yeah, yeah.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Because I think Manchester is the one that got the, I think that's the big, the bigger O2,

like the one that was kind of big. That one was dope. We went crazy in there. So, yeah.

The Kool Kat: Oh, lights went off, my bad.

E.P. Da Hellcat: ha

The Kool Kat: But yeah, like, again, I can tell you guys are really good friends. You guys are very back and

forth with each other, very nice to see. The question I have next for you guys is, it's about your rapping

style. So when it comes to approaching telling stories, spitting bars,

You guys really encapsulate an era of rap music that doesn't get that much love nowadays because

obviously people nowadays have different styles and different trends. But you guys do it in such a

refreshing and nice way.

Question 9

Have you faced any pushback in your style or how you rhyme or the way you tell stories from either

fans or labels or anybody in between? How was the experience if you even had any pushback from

people?

E.P. Da Hellcat: No. No, I think one of the most impressive things that you just said is styles versus trends.

Yeah, I think that that's really dope. But like, no. No, I think one of the major things that the European tours,

plural, have done for us and for me personally was to

basically opened my eyes to what real hip-hop means to the world other than America. What real hip-hop,

the response of real hip-hop is. Not rap, you know, not fads, not trends, but what real hip-hop means to the

world and the culture. So, so like, I'm like, this is so, it is so dope to be able to travel to places where your

music is appreciated and not tolerated. Right. So. Yeah.

Olskool Ice-Gre: And I, and I would say we, I will add to that and say,

I don't think we ever received pushback because EP touched exactly what caught my attention is we've

never received pushback because we never went with the trends. We've managed to consistently stay

away from the trends. So you pretty much just getting, you know, when you stick to just lyricism and as

long as you riding the beats and your cadence and you playing with styles and

you keeping your your metaphors and your similes and all your entendres current then it's kind of hard not

to i mean you know not to like it when it's pure

because you know that's just lik-

E.P. Da Hellcat: WHEN IT'S DIFFERENT GRE! when it's different than what the saturation is right now like

you know so it's differen-

Olskool Ice-Gre:because we're not doing that you know what i'm saying you're right becauseE.P. Da Hellcat: We like doing it and it's dope.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Right. We not doing it and we doing it and we doing it and we doing it well. Shout out to

LL Cool J.

E.P. Da Hellcat: Ladies love Cool J. LL.

Olskool Ice-Gre:ha ha LL. No, but no, but that's it though. That's what we would say because, you know,

man, and when you were saying like earlier, I wanted to comment on, it was about E.P.,

And I always felt like, cause you know, I always been a big female. I feel like I'm a master at female MCs

cause I love them so much. And the EP always been ahead. I said, just like abstract EP herself as the, if

you want to separate it and say a female MC, she always been way ahead. So now again,

Now, like, that we finally have seen enough female MCs with skill. Now it's kind of like, whoa, you know,

you can almost, you can appreciate that even more now because you realize the level of the bar, you

know, the bar where she is on that Richter scale or whatever, you know. So, yeah, I just wanted to

comment on that because I was thinking about the female MC question. Nice. Great.

The Kool Kat: I mean, like you said, facts right there.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Ha HA

The Kool Kat: Like E.P. is the, she's the GOAT in my eyes, she's the GOAT. But what I would say about

female MCs now in rap music compared to older decades is that you know, in my opinion, as a big music

guy myself,

I think the quality of rap in general has really gone down over the years. A whole lot, but especially with

female MCs. It's more about how you look, how less you wear nowadays. instead of the pure love of the

game So for me, like...

That's why I really love your group because obviously you yourself make amazing bars, but EP, you really

take the female MC label MC label in general to the next level, in my opinion. So really nice to see that.

E.P. Da Hellcat:Thank you.

The Kool Kat: Of course, of course, of course.

E.P. Da Hellcat: Thank you.

Olskool Ice-Gre:WORDDDDD

The Kool Kat: Next question I have for you guys is...

It touches more about your labels and how you navigated that throughout your whole career, but more

specifically towards the present day.

Question 10

So when you guys disbanded and you guys came back and made your album with Kanye West and

the Good Music label eventually took a different path entirely, how did you react to that change and

how did you expect that in your career?Olskool Ice-Gre:Yeah.

E.P. Da Hellcat:Go ahead.

Olskool Ice-Gre:Okay. I was finna to say like the good music thing. We never were a part of good music. I

was a part of good music. I was the very first A&R of the label and continued to be A&R for years and

collaborator with him and several things. But when he decided to form

a new entity, which was called Yeezy Sound. That's where we came in. And he allowed us to be the first

artist and the first release. And actually to this day, because of how things went, we're the only release on

Yeezy Sound. So we were the first and only release that his new imprint had was the Dream Still Inspired,

which was Abstract Mindstate. So-

Yeah, we were supposed to be the intro to a whole new thing that was supposed to be like the second

coming probably of good music. And it was going to be YEEZY sound, but you know, whatever.

E.P. Da Hellcat: chimmy Just to piggyback on old school, Chimmy, we didn't ask to come back out.

He brought us back out. He asked us to come back out to reform Abstract My Estate again.

Olskool Ice-Gre: He wanted to see that. That was something that he felt

E.P. Da Hellcat was missing

Olskool Ice-Gre: To quote unquote, his words were, we were going to heal people and save lives that our

group was necessary right now. That's

That's how you felt at the time that what we did was necessary for that moment in 2021. And that brought

us back, you know, to the artistry forefront because neither one of us was exercising being an artist. I

mean, unlike EP, I may have been writing, but, you know, but that was more like with the crew and helping

him. But man, as an artist, you know, neither one of us was exercising our artists of pen at that time. Yeah.

The Kool Kat: Well, I happy you said that because now, the people know that he asked you first and not

the other way around. So

E.P. Da Hellcat: no, no, no, no Yes. Abstract mindset was the furthest things from both of our minds. Yeah,

exactly. Like, in fact, it took it took him to convince Gre and Gre to convince me. And then I had to still fly to

LA to get convinced by him.

Olskool Ice-Gre:Yeah Cause we, neither one, it just didn't, you know,

E.P. Da Hellcat: it didn't seem like it fit in our lives anymore.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Yeah. At the time. And it didn't seem real. It didn't seem like it was, you know, but it

turned out to be, you know, here we are with a new album in 2025. So,

The Kool Kat: All I've got to say is that till this day, Abstract Mindstate 30 years later still run the game!

Olskool Ice-Gre: nah thank you.

Question 11

With making music when you're younger and when you obviously grow, how do you navigate

making music when you're older? And how does life and different changes in your life and jobs,

anything, change that motivation to make music more?

E.P. Da Hellcat: It definitely changed. For me, it definitely changes the motivation to do it because real life

stuff is happening all around you, right? But what it does for the content is exponential because of the

maturity factor. And because you've seen more, done more, you know, more experiences. I think that it

gives the music, I'm not saying that we didn't have depth then.

But it was just it was a different type of depth. Our depth back then was like, you know, let's be the best

crew. I mean, of course, it was content. It was real life situations. It was you know what I mean? I still think

that even back then we were talking about things that were relevant to everybody. But now we're talking

about things that are relevant to not only our audience,

age group, but also we're talking about things to the younger age groups because they're gravitating it at

ridiculous numbers. They're gravitating towards it too. So I think as you grow and your experiences grow,

the larger the audience, right, that you can reach.

Olskool Ice-Gre: And again, as long stay away from the trends and staying true to ourselves, then, you

know, real, real talk. And when I say real talk, I mean, like, whether it be things that's really going on in the

world or things that's really going on with us. So a combination of both, as long as we keep the quote

unquote real talk and just stay true to us and stay away from the trends.

I just, it's just always room to kill, you know? And I personally, I've been having a better time doing it now

as an adult than as a kid, because even when we were younger, it was like a, I don't know if this is

necessarily a good word, but it was a, it was like a little bit of desperation and angst. And we just like, oh,

we got to make it. We got to, now it's kind of like,

we doing it we we know who we are we've been through the ups and downs we know what it is so now we

are you know we we're doing abstract from a from a like like ep the title of the album we're doing it from an

artist a very true artistic point of view now and we get to you know add our brush strokes a different way

than we did like you know 20 years ago you know

E.P. Da Hellcat: and i think Right now, abstract mind state is not our only focus. You know what I mean?

It's not like back then, colleges, you know, we rapping for food. This is what we want to do.

Olskool Ice-Gre: ha ha right

E.P. Da Hellcat: This is who we want to be. It was basically the only thing we strive to be.

Olskool Ice-Gre: Yeah. And we didn't even know what was going to, what we were going to be at least

now. Okay. We know now at this point, okay, this is who I am. back then We had no idea. people would ask

us “What y'all gonna to be doing at 30 some years”. We wouldn't know. 40 some years we didnt know

E.P. Da Hellcat: Good, bad, good, bad, or indifferent. It's us, you know?

The Kool Kat: Again, very well said, like very well said for me,

I'm still quite young, but I've seen many rappers, you know, I guess never outgrow their, you know,

their initial rise to fame, you know, like they never like grew past the age where like, they blew up, or they

made their first song. And when they get that dopamine, they want to like have it too, like they're 50 years

old.The Kool Kat: So for me, it's really amazing to see the actual growth in your music. And even to go back a

little bit to your older music as well. I mean, yes, it was, it was juvenile, but like, it still had so much depth

that, many people who make music now can't even like fathom my opinion, whether it's about, you know,

racial issues in America or like, you know, you missing a girl in” missing ODE” or, you know, the song

“What If”. There's so many, you know, cool...

so many cool songs that you can playback and when you move to the present day now it's like wow like

you really see the growth from these people and you know talking to you now one-on-one like I really do

see that you're here not just for you know to spit bars like you're here to actually like say a message and to

like teach the younger people like myself like how to navigate lives and thought your struggles as well so

it's really cool to see so yeah yeah

E.P. Da Hellcat: You have figured out who abstract minds are.

The Kool Kat: AYYYY About time.

Olskool Ice-Gre: used to always label our musi-

E.P. Da Hellcat: Thought-provoking

Olskool Ice-Gre: There you go. See what I'm saying? We always labeled it thought provoking. And that

was what we were on. Man, EP, we enjoy, I think we enjoy thinking, so we enjoy making people think

because we like to think. You know, if you compile both of our favorites in this whole hip, specifically hip

hop, it's everybody that make you think.

You know what I'm saying? Like all her favorites, all my favorites, they were, they make you have to think

about what, so we made music to make you think. So our music became thought provoking. We always put

that label on our music. We say it was, it was thought provoking hip hop. You know,

E.P. Da Hellcat: one of the main things that I don't understand about any type of artists from any facet of

art, whether it's drawing, whether it's music, whether it's sculpture, how do you make something that you

don't like?

The Kool Kat: exactly

E.P. Da Hellcat: How do you produce something that you don't like? You know what I mean? That to me is

scary.

You never got to be like, you know, you're not your genuine self because you'll meet somebody that

sounds one way and then when you meet them, you'll be like, is this the same person that's, you know

what I mean? I just don't, now you may be able to do it to cash a check, but is this something that you can

sustain, right? Like internally, internally, you know?

Olskool Ice-Gre Right.

The Kool Kat: Like, again, like very well said, because in my opinion, again, I'm still growing as a person,

but I feel like in that sense of like approaching life and artistry, even like your own life in general, like there's

no point living life when you're just like, You're basically wearing a cosplay of somebody else. Because

that way, when you're older, even when you're younger, your life, you walk with regrets and lost... Regrets,

and I'll say...

the feeling of what could have been without actually like achieving or taking steps to like accomplish that

feeling you know and for me that's not my life I want to be myself 100% of the time and just like and make

what I want to make I guess but yeahOlskool Ice-Gre: what's funny though when you say abstract mind state from the very beginning that's

what we was on when I said man we was going through a transition me and EP was always thinking a little

different than everybody else or you know

it may be looked at as left of center, but we always was thinking different, i.e. abstract. We was always

thinking a little bit different than everybody else. Just like she just said, while some bowed down and did

what they had to do to catch a check or get popular,

That's just not how we thought. We was like, nah, like we're going to be as much of ourselves and they're

going to have to catch up or get used to that and fall in love with that because we were few. Because EP

and I both know we talked about this and laughed about it over the years.

she and I could have became like Bonnie and Clyde. And we could have told some, we both come from

some wild neighborhoods in Chicago. We could have told, we could have told some of the craziest wildest

stories and they probably would have awarded us for it and gave us accolades. And we could have sold

millions of albums telling all these ridiculous stories, but that wasn't our interest. That wasn't where our

mind was. That wasn't,

the state that we were in, we was in a whole different way of thinking and doing it. So we just chose to have

a different conversation, you know.

E.P. Da Hellcat:We chose to go to school.

Olskool Ice-Gre:Yeah.

E.P. Da Hellcat: And I think when, you know, for both of us, well, for me, when you make that choice to do

something different than what you see,

and be something different than what you're used to seeing around you, then you automatically have a

different conversation. You automatically have something, a different perspective.

Olskool Ice-Gre: So. Yeah. And that's why I say, that's why I share it with you. Me and E, that's another

thing that we realized about each other.

was we both came from some wild, like, I label myself the good guy from a bad block. But if you came and

seen where I came from and the people I grew up with and the guys I hung with, I'm nothing like any of it.

But I was in the heart of it all. So it's kind of like EP just said, I just wanted to talk about something else.

Because it's like, if I wake up and I see this every day and all of my closest guys is doing this,

I just want to talk about something else. I want to see something else, you know, and that's why I went

away just trying to get away from the mundane every day. I just knew it was more I just put it like that. I

knew it was more than what I was seeing. So just try to go, go out and get it. I still, I still travel to this day,

just searching for more to see, you know?

E.P. Da Hellcat: He just spent a month in Ghana. He just got back from Ghana. And I visited Nigeria. I

went to Lagos just so you know. I know you're from Nigeria.

The Kool Kat: Sorry for my silence for a second. I'm just really in awe of how like poetic you guys speak

you guys are very poetic in your tone and you guys said lots of things that people besides myself in this call

should hear in their free time and the i have some bad news uh the meeting actually ends in a minute

The Kool Kat: yeah but um all i have to say is thank you for your time and thank you for sharing your

wisdom and your experiences your whole career um like i'd love to talk to you more but i've issued my

zoom at the moment so i can't have a longer meeting but

E.P. Da Hellcat: anytime anytime yeahOlskool Ice-Gre: yeah anytime yeah

The Kool Kat: but like um last thing i'll end up and end off with is that um

Question 12

Like coming next on Abstract Mind States, what do you plan to do musically? What do you plan to

release musically? And would you want to tap into different sounds as well?

Olskool Ice-Gre:Yeah, yeah. We want to tour more.

E.P. Da Hellcat: yeppp

Olskool Ice-Gre: We want more tours. So hopefully your public, your viewing audience sees this interview

and express interest in seeing Abstract Mindstate because we want to tour. We love touring. We want to

come to the UK again. We want to do Europe again. We want to, you know what I mean? We have a new

album.

E.P. Da Hellcat: We were actually invited, like Slum will be there tomorrow. They have the first show

tomorrow in Paris and we were actually invited but our schedules didn't um

Olskool Ice-Gre: yeah it didn't line up it didn't line up but we you know the art project so i just do an

audience the art project is out now please go go get it support the app the art

E.P. Da Hellcat: entirely produced by young rj from slum village

Olskool Ice-Gre: yes yes shout out to young rj of slum village who produced the hell out this record

The Kool Kat: real quick in the end like 10 seconds. So if it pauses, don't be like, don't take it as personally

because it's not my fault. But again, thank you so much for everything you said on the call-

Call ends abruptly