Up next in 10
Abstract Mindstate: Kanye's Only Full Album Collab 🎵 | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Aug 5, 2025
Subscribe for more exclusive interviews on Sway In The Morning! 🎤 Dive into the incredible story of Abstract Mind State, the dynamic Chicago hip-hop duo and the ONLY group to have a full album entirely produced by Kanye West. In this engaging conversation, EP the Hellcat and Old School Ice Gre break down their historic journey, their influence on the Chicago music scene, and what it was like working with Kanye on their album "Dreams Still Inspire." From their early days meeting at Jackson State to their groundbreaking collaboration with Kanye, Abstract Mind State shares exclusive stories about their connection to hip-hop legends like Common, Twista, and Jay-Z, as well as their reflections on the current music industry. They also discuss their latest project, "The Art Project," produced by Young RJ of Slum Village, and how they continue to push the boundaries of creativity and authenticity in hip-hop. Don't miss this deep dive into their legacy, insights on Kanye's influence, and their passion for elevating the culture. Watch now and join the conversation on how Abstract Mind State is keeping Chicago’s hip-hop roots alive in 2025 and beyond! #AbstractMindState #KanyeWest #SwayInTheMorning #HipHop #ChicagoMusic #SwaysUniverse #YoungRJ #TheArtProject #DreamsStillInspire #kanyewest #methodman #rap #grandmasterflash #kingvon CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Abstract Mindstate Returns 01:40 - Formation of Abstract Mindstate 06:12 - Ice Gre & EP at Loud Records 09:33 - Ice Gre vs Jay-Z Battle Outcome 16:01 - Art Project vs Content Project Explained 19:30 - Last Project Performance Issues 23:06 - Kanye West's Missed Opportunities 27:10 - The Power of Words 28:20 - Collaborating with J Dilla
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Applause] Hey man, I listen give these give Abstract Mind State a big round of
0:05
applause man. I think they could deserve a standing ovation because why not man? Give them a stand.
0:11
Why not? Why not? Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Tracy. Oh, this is this is Grace.
0:19
This is Grace. No, man. I I just wanted to say this. We haven't had them on the show since for about four years,
0:24
right? And in our first conversation, we learned found out a lot about who they
0:30
are and how connected they are, especially to the music scene. Um,
0:35
coming out of Chicago, right? Uh, we hear a lot of names. No ID, you know, Common, um, you know, Kanye
0:43
West, you know, uh, Big Sean, whoever it is. I'm not Big Sean, but I'm saying I'm
0:49
bugging. That's the Lupe. Yeah, I'm sorry. The Brat Twister. Twister. crucial conflict and any name
0:57
you name from that era. Uh they have a connection to some way
1:03
form of fashion. Cooty u from Cooty and Chica. Uh Cody is my brother. He's our
1:09
brother. You know we all hang out together. And so I want to say welcome to the show and I want to talk about um
1:16
abstract mind state and the influence that you guys have had. We covered a lot
1:21
of that in our last conversation, but I think it's worth revisiting. So, welcome them back to the show. Oh, yeah.
1:27
Give it up for the one and only EP, The Hellcat. Give it up for Old School Ice Cream. They are here. They are here. We
1:35
never been here. We've been on the phone. We never been here. That interview was on the phone.
1:40
That interview was a phone. We wasn't We wasn't here. That was on the phone. Damn, that was such a good interview. I
1:46
thought you were in my face. It was long. It was nice. Yes indeed, man. Just just to put things
1:53
in context uh for the listening audience, who are abstract mind state
1:58
and when did you start? Let's start. So, we met at Jackson State um and uh on
2:06
a bar cart on the way home for Christmas break or something. And in the bar cart,
2:11
you know, you just when when you got MC's, everybody just started rapping like and they was rapping and
2:19
I just was listening. Then I just came out of nowhere and started rapping and Grie was like, "Oh man, you old girl
2:25
from the yard. I heard about you." And I've said the same thing. I was like, "Okay, you dude, I heard about you, too."
2:30
And then like we just formed this like this bond ever since then. and um
2:35
he kind of took me under his wing and I I I never was supposed to be in a group.
2:40
I was supposed to be a solo artist. Um so, but we started rhyming. Uh we
2:46
started recording songs together and like the the chemistry was there all,
2:52
you know, automatically. It wasn't even like something that was forced. And so we we pretty much it was three of us
2:58
first. Yeah. It was us chill. And it was Chill idea. Uh my best friend from high school, we had got a deal. We actually got a
3:05
record deal in Jackson, Mississippi of all places. What year was this? This was in 1992.
3:11
9 either end of ' 91 or beginning ' 92. Okay. And y'all from Chicago?
3:17
From Chicago. But didn't know each other. But didn't know each other. No. And who from Chicago was out already
3:24
then? Common's first album was about 92, right?
3:29
I think Wait a minute. Nope. No wasn't out in ' 92. What about Twister?
3:35
Twister was out cuz he was Well, wait a minute. Mr. Tongue Twister all that was
3:40
like 90 three. Okay. Something like that. Wasn't it 393 94
3:45
Heather? Was it? Yeah. That's when he was Mr. Tongue twister. Wow. Yeah. So, what was nothing?
3:51
That's the point I'm trying to make. You see? You see what I'm doing? You see what I'm doing? Nothing popping yet.
3:56
Okay. Okay. Nothing was popping yet. Y'all from Chicago, you get a deal at Jackson State. Jackson State of all
4:02
places. He I'm sorry. Yeah, just to interject. Common I just looked up. Can I borrow a dollar? Came out in '92.
4:09
Yeah. But not sure what. So we formed we we met in 90 and by 91
4:14
we were a group. Okay. And 92 we were trying to really take it go.
4:20
I got I got serious about it. He already was serious. She was supposed to be my artist. I was supposed to been grooming her cuz she
4:26
was like a a crazy dope female MC. And I used to love female MC's. I'm a dude that's like a historian when it
4:32
come especially females. I was I was cookie crew shazzy. Yeah, he had
4:38
he got the cassettes. He got billions of real sequence finessing inquest. Uh wow.
4:45
Uh the poetist. Yeah, the poetist. Uh the the group. She was in the group first. Uh uh
4:52
uh what's what's my girl name? Barnes. Yeah, her name. Unconscious Daughters.
4:57
Daughter. I knew everybody. West Coast J. JJ F. I was a super female. So meeting her
5:03
was like, "Oh, I got this dope female MC on my squad, right?" So that it was like a pride cuz I loved
5:09
fe everybody who know me from school, they know this boy Ice Gree and these female rappers, I really was gone.
5:16
What is it about female rappers or what was it? Cuz I don't know if you still have the same love, but Okay. What is it
5:22
about female rappers that draw you in so close? Because like it's twisted as it sound,
5:28
you I I I I understand that that this is looked at as a MCN is looked at as a male-dominated field. So the ladies, you
5:35
guys impressed me so much when to hear the the females come off, I
5:41
would say like as strong as a guy and it it was like it was just dope. It
5:46
was something attractive to it to me. I was attract tell you I was like addicted to female rappers. I had every every
5:53
female rapper that ever came out, I got their stuff. That's dope. You know, you got everybody that ever came out.
5:59
You got that stuff. Yeah. Well, I I I want to um stress for the importance of the listener how important
6:06
you've been in a development ice uh grief um old school all that ice whatever you want to say.
6:12
I'm all of that. Feel free. However you say it, okay? Because you know the abstract mind
6:19
state, but you also when did you start working for Loud Records? Oh, yeah. That was 95. graduated in 94,
6:25
but we had met the Alcoholics and um at Freaknick 90 at actually at Breakout
6:32
first. It it was this event that was supposed to be bigger than Freaknick in Mobile, Alabama called Breakout. When I
6:37
say everybody was there, every all the Who's Who was there? Jay wasn't hot yet. Original Flavor was hot and he was
6:44
featured on Can I Get Over. Yeah. So, we knew who Jay was cuz uh it's a little
6:49
story. You know what I'm saying? Don't let that go. You know it. Yeah, you're open. You know
6:55
heard, right? Can I get open? Yeah. All right. Go ahead. My bad. No, but it went from there and we met
7:00
Tash cuz we How I met Tash is because me and Kamicazi from Cricket Letters Banner
7:06
Old Partner was battling Jay-Z and Ski Ski Beats. Ski Beats.
7:11
Yeah. Ski from Rocka Block. Yes. I I got the picture of me, him, Dame, and Jay from back that day.
7:18
You battle Jay-Z? Yeah. Yeah. What what did that feel? I was a battle. I ain't cold like that no more. Let me just put that out there.
7:23
But I I was a beast. So, how did that loss feel? No, you know what? I'm going tell you something in all honesty. And you know
7:29
when hip hop bust me out one day, we was in baseline back when I was with Yay. And he was like, "Yeah, I grease y'all a
7:35
battle." And Jay turned around like, "Oh yeah, tell me about that." He, you know, I was like I was like
7:41
I was like, "This dude has traveled the world. He's super big now. Don't want to talk about this." Like, you know what I'm saying? Mobile, Alabama thing called
7:48
Breakout. Everybody was there. Eddie Griffin, like Spreezler, everybody was there, but the city didn't turn out. So,
7:54
because the city didn't turn out, Heather, we end up all kicking it with each other. So, now we kicking it with all
7:59
the all of the top guys. Like, it was So, anyway, Tash connected with us cuz
8:05
he sat there and watched that battle and I started hanging out with Tash. He took us to his room. We met JR E Swift,
8:11
Anthony Andrews, they call his name Isai. is I Andrews became I became so
8:16
close with Andrews and he did that famous thing man if if you ever come to LA look me up
8:22
let's just say fast forward he called me like after my graduation and was like hey man I got an opportunity for you my
8:28
girl Noah Ochi needs a you know Noah right needs an assistant over there in uh publicity at
8:34
loud I said loud records loud 95 huge that's like that's a death jam right
8:40
that's like death loud 95 You cannot touch loud 95.
8:45
And I got there very beginning. We talking about coming out of 94. He had
8:50
me an interview with Noah. I flew out here, got an interview. She hired me. I was working at Loud and I worked there
8:56
the whole year. I worked actually 11 months. I didn't make it to a full year. I worked 11 months only built for Cuban
9:02
Links. Took the whole label over budget. Steve overspent, you know, and he had to let a receptionist and me go.
9:09
Oh, wow. But I worked those. I worked Mob Deep, The Infamous. I worked uh Only
9:15
Built for Cuba Leagues and you know SRC, Red Hot Lover Tone. Yeah, remember we used to say SRC that
9:21
was that was that was then before it became Street Records Corporation later as a label. It used to be Steve Riiffken
9:27
Company which was the promotional side. So I worked 030 36 Chambers and I named those cuz I got the plaques on the wall
9:33
for that work. You know what I'm saying? Come on, man. So yeah, man. So who won the battle with you and
9:38
Jay-Z? Okay, that yeah, you ain't gonna let that go. Is the quick answer. The quick answer is uh Jay actually
9:44
called it cuz back then, man, we was going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And Jay said, "Look," he was like, he was the one stopped it. He
9:50
said, "It don't seem like nobody going to stop. So, we just going to end this right here." And it just ended. It
9:55
wasn't no like we killed them or they killed us. I'm going to say that did not kill us. Like, it was like let's stop
10:00
cuz Would you say it if they did? Huh? Huh?
10:06
My question is, did he remember when you told him in the studio? Oh, yeah. No, not really. He was kind of like giving me that I kind of know what
10:13
you talking about, but I can't remember it cuz by that time, you know, 20 tours, the world breakout
10:19
was this big. It didn't happen as planned as those people planned. So, it didn't have it. You know, E Swift Tash
10:26
would probably remember better than Jay. But yeah. Okay. You know what I'm saying? But you had to experience. I I just want people to know how deep rooted
10:32
you all are. like abstract mind state um ain't fly by night. You guys been
10:38
putting it down since the early '9s and I don't hear a lot of people mentioning your legacy in the Chicago story, right?
10:45
And so I think that that's very important. You hear all those other names, but you all are tied into that.
10:52
Um when he was working at LA EP, where were you? I was still in school at Jackson State.
10:58
Okay. I was still I was still in school. I was uh the recipient of all those t-shirts and Okay. albums and stuff. He
11:04
was sending he was sending major promo promos. Yeah. Yeah. I had I got everything all kind of stickers and
11:10
everything. So, I was just trying to finish school and he was out there, you know, and at the same time just just uh
11:16
writing and he was repping us out here, you know, and just trying to make what? Stay
11:22
stay in the middle. Stay in the mic. Stay in the mic. Stay in the mic. Yeah. Go ahead. Mic check. Mic check. All right. Just turn her up a
11:28
little, John. Go ahead, man. Go ahead, man. Um, that's all that's all I was doing was just going to school and I I
11:34
actually had got real close to uh Kamicazi and Banner um at that time. Um because he was gone
11:40
and they just come over to the crib and we had just listen to Banner bring all his equipment, make beats on my floor,
11:47
you know what I'm saying? It it was it was Banner was making beats on your floor. Yeah, I was feeding him. I was feeding
11:52
him. He'll come over. He'll come over, you know, said I cook, you know, or whatever. We man, we just chilling. just
11:58
chilling, listening to music. What year is this? Um, if you graduated, if you was at Lou4, so so about 95.
12:07
And so before that, let's go before that. I didn't even know David Banner was active in 95. Hold on. Let's get before that. Before
12:13
that, me and Kamicazi met David Banner first cuz we battled him. Me and Kamicazi
12:19
thought we could beat everybody. You know, we ran up on everybody. We was trying to find Hyrole to battle them. It
12:25
was crazy. That would have been crazy. That would have been crazy. Glad you didn't. We wanted them. You know what I'm saying? Remember, man, but uh but Kam
12:32
like and so Banner all that laying on the floor and all that before like we we did we left and she they kind of was
12:38
together. But before that, he used to be on my floor playing his beats all the time because he lived across the street
12:44
from the off-campus apartment I stayed in. Wow. So Banner, that's So him even being on
12:50
this song is like some kind of dope full circle moment. You know what I mean?
12:56
Yeah. Mind you, Banner lived in Jackson. He He didn't go to Jackson State. Banner
13:01
graduated from Southern in Baton Rouge where he was the CL. He was SGAA president.
13:06
Yeah. Like for real. For real. For real. His campaign was called Crump Tight. I
13:12
went down there when he won. I went to see him down at Southern. It's so amazing that you guys are having
13:17
an opportunity to share this story because it's so different from a lot of people in the East Coast because that's
13:23
our college eras and that's our time. But you hearing so much about dropping out. Like we didn't finish. And I think
13:29
maybe because the access was so different, you know what I mean? Like you guys were in Mississippi. Maybe a lot of
13:35
opportunities didn't come that way. So let me just stay and finish school. But being so close, I grew up in Jersey. You
13:41
know, being so close to New York, it's like, y'all this class or go to this party tonight, this club, the is there,
13:48
this person is there. But I applaud you both for finishing school. Like that's amazing to hear.
13:54
Yeah. Jackson State. I got to kick it and meet Donald Bird. I got uh we opened for Mint Condition. I formed a crew
14:01
called the Stupot Storeways. It was Midwest and Southern Flavor and it was so it was 17 of us in this crew and
14:08
Banner was a part of that crew. So, shout out to David Banner. Been working right been working. Don't
14:14
stop working like that. He did this track bar Louie. You two come off ferociously with lyrics and
14:23
and then I hear David Banner jump on this thing. I ain't heard him like this. Yeah. And one of the things he says is Marcus
14:32
Garvey playing Atari wearing a Junth shirt at a all white Arby.
14:38
H how how black can you be? How black is that? How black is that? Heather.
14:44
Yeah. Vanna is what? And he so he did snap and that verse got him hot and he was like
14:50
and I say what's dope about it. We can proudly say just like we have the only
14:55
record in existence fully produced top to bottom by Kanye, he has never done that before. Right.
15:01
We got the only record that Banner has been on in 2025. He hasn't done any music. Yeah.
15:07
So abstract mind state. Give him a round of applause. EP Hellcat. What a crazy
15:13
ass name you have. We'll get into that momentarily. Old school ice greed and always, you
15:19
know, crazy names. All right. Right. Abstract mind state. That's just in itself.
15:25
Right. You know, that's the era. That's the era. That's the era. We were we were lyrical scientists. We had we
15:31
had depth to our name. Your name had to, you know, mean something and go with what you how you coming.
15:38
Astract mindset on the wall. You come on now. Come on, Tracy. You see
15:43
Tracy always I told you you always had a you Tracy you got the first of all Tracy had the most thoughtful questions on
15:49
earth but but when you do when you do jump in you say the coolest and yes that do seem like a tag.
15:55
Okay. Well, let's let Tracy go ahead and you know go ahead Tracy. That was like an intro to a question.
16:01
Right. Right. I do I do feel like it's a segue. I love the title of the project, the art
16:07
project, especially because when I think about 2025,
16:12
and you know, oftent times music is so easily used as someone's like background
16:18
for their TikTok, you know, and a lot of folks will use like the term content and
16:24
art um interchangeably. And I wonder for you both if you feel like content and
16:30
art, the lines have gotten too blurry, so to say. And where do you both draw
16:35
the distinction? What's an art project versus a content project?
16:41
All right. I don't know. But as soon as I hear the word content, I I think of heavy. I
16:47
think of packed. Like almost um too much. Like content seems to me like it's
16:54
heavy. Like it's it's very very surface. When I think of that word generic.
16:59
Yeah. It's real generic. And it's just like somebody's stuffing a whole bunch of stuff in a box. Like we got to hurry
17:05
up and put stuff out. Content. Content. You got to have content. But when you got to have, you know, when you got
17:11
content, you you also got to move people. You also got to you should want to stir people's spirit. You know what I
17:19
mean? And and um like with all of that content, if you steady putting stuff out every day, every night, how you know
17:25
what I'm saying? How deep can it be? How how moving can it be if you doing it at such a volume? That's the word. When I
17:32
hear content, Tracy, I think of volume. And volume to me doesn't speak to art.
17:37
You know what I mean? It some of the best artists in any genre of art like music, graffiti, it could be anything.
17:44
You might not see them come out for six years, but when they do, they blowing your mind, right? When they when they
17:50
do, they blowing your mind. And that's the dope [Â __Â ] Like that's it for me. M. So content for me, it's art over
17:56
content. And it's quantity versus quality. Absolutely. That's it.
18:02
And if you got an art project, when you say art, you're definitely dealing with quality over quantity because no artist,
18:09
like she said, in any genre is just slapping out a lot of art. even the even our art work on there. It's a um it's a
18:16
it's a piece of abstract art, which of course it made sense for us to have a piece of abstract art, but that's an
18:21
original abstract painting um uh done by DJ Selforn
18:27
because I was inspired by uh abstract artist by the name of Jackson Pock and I
18:33
saw his pieces and I was like, man, EP came with that title, the art project and I built the visuals around it to
18:42
kind of push the idea that this that that you're listening to this project is art. We took our time with Young R.J. we
18:50
conceptualized the songs. We each thing was thought out and we went back to where we came from with it. But in 2025,
18:59
you know what I'm saying? A 2025 version. It's not old. It's just a 2025
19:05
version of that golden era feeling. Yes. You know what I mean? You got young RJ on it who was from Slum
19:11
Village and Oh, Slum Village. First of all, RJ, salute to him. Salute to Slum
19:17
Village. One of the most legendary movements, not just group movements that
19:23
this culture has ever seen. Salute to young RJ for doing this project. And like you said, you had Kanye
19:32
did do your own dream still inspire LP that came out 2021.
19:37
Um, did that entire EP or LP? Right. It was album. Yeah. But it didn't
19:44
perform. It didn't impact. And you would think it would have with him, right? Yeah. Why? Why not? Why do you think it
19:50
didn't perform? I I personally think and if he please speak, I personally know it didn't
19:55
perform for the simple fact that we in this era now called like influence, right?
20:00
And yay, if y'all could have heard what we were hearing cuz we recorded with with him and the excitement he had over
20:08
this project. All he had to do was let the world know that excitement or post
20:14
artwork on his Twitter, on his IG, anything to show you actually did this
20:20
record. He didn't show any connection to the project. So, it was like another
20:25
release. And we got a lot of press because what it came from. Uhhuh.
20:30
But a lot of eyes didn't see it because the things that was going that was going
20:36
on around him kind of just wiped what what we were doing off the table. You
20:41
know what I'm saying? And and I I I I I say he dropped the ball because all he
20:46
had to do was just say something. We didn't need money for him to speak. What what we needed from him didn't cost anything. We just needed his influence.
20:53
We just needed him to say, "Hey man, the way all that talk you talking behind the scenes, like let that be known. I'm not
21:00
I'm not doing interviews right now." And I take it further. Like it was his idea to put us back out. Yeah. We didn't come up with I wasn't
21:05
thinking about writing a a [Â __Â ] verse like ever again in my life. Like I was done with it. I I actually
21:11
had woke up the couple of mornings before Greg called me and told me that he
21:17
wanted to put us back out. We got
21:22
we're just making a mic adjustment. Okay. Okay. Like Gree had called me. I think it was
21:28
like a Friday or a Monday or something, but just a just a few days before um I
21:33
got up, looked in the mirror, and I just like said it. I said the words like, "Hip hop is out of my system."
21:40
Then this dude called me 48 hours later telling me that Yay want to put us back out. Man, God is something, right? And
21:47
so I had a full conversation with Yay. You know, I'm like, listen, because at this time, Sway, I think you remember
21:53
Heather, like my father was dying. That's right. And so I was flying back and forth from Wyoming to LA, back home to the crib in
22:00
the shai, you know, watching my father die. And I just told Yay, I was like, "Don't don't be a half a blessing. Don't
22:07
[Â __Â ] us, you know. I got other things that's way more pressing than this, you know." And he was like, "Nah, I got
22:13
y'all." I was sold. I was sold. So for him to to go through
22:19
and you know boost all of this up had all of these people interested and we meet all of these different people in
22:25
Wyoming with people he already knew. I didn't know him but um it was so much
22:30
hype inside the camp about our album that it it was the first album like at
22:37
the top of the list on the whiteboard like it it was crazy. Who else was on that board though?
22:42
Clips. Clips. Tiana Taylor. Yeah, it was Tiana Taylor. Nah, it was those five albums in five weeks. We were
22:49
supposed to be the surprise six. We were so happy that didn't happen because I was telling him, I was like, bro, everybody know everybody but us, you
22:56
know, ours got to be a little different. And it worked out that he could ours couldn't come that fast. So, it was
23:02
like, okay. But he still he still like dropped the ball though. You know what I'm saying? I don't. So, I've talked to
23:08
a few people since, you know, he dropped the ball and a lot of people say that,
23:14
you know, if you look at it in out of one lens, the blessing was that he did a full album and so so yeah, yeah, you can look
23:22
at it that way. Yeah, he did a full album and he hasn't done that for anybody. He called us back out. He saw
23:28
that in us and that's cool. But at the same time, this was his closest friend.
23:34
So you drop the ball for your closest friend. You do all of this boosting, all of this [Â __Â ] And this man right here
23:41
was there for him and knows stuff. Listen listen. I'm telling you
23:47
in the dark I'm telling you. Seriously. And for him to for him to drop the ball
23:52
on that. I mean [Â __Â ] put a t-shirt on, [Â __Â ] We got we got you know what I'm saying? We got merch. Wear a t-shirt. Do
24:00
anything. If you'd have just put in your chat abstract mind state, our lives different. Our lives different.
24:06
I agree. That's how much influence he how much influence he had. You get what I'm saying? We s our album was out. The only
24:12
album on Yeezy Sound, a label he created that he wanted me to run with him. Our
24:17
album out and he does this DA thing in Chicago and we looking at everybody on
24:23
this house and all of this. And he put our album out and he he didn't even ask us to come out to Soldier Freedom. We had family and
24:30
friends and [Â __Â ] just knew we was going to be there. Yeah, it was crazy. It It was nuts. It was like it I don't know. It felt like
24:37
in the moment that he was trying to distance himself from it, but
24:43
he let him tell it. He created came up with this. This is his This was his dopest project
24:49
since College Dropout. Yeah. This is his words. Yeah. Yeah. But you you
24:56
you you all you you you was his best friend or okay close friend. No, he called that's what he called he
25:02
told that's what he told me I was. But I would imagine that being that close uh
25:07
to Yay that you you could see a pattern in how he would move and you know considering all
25:15
that he was going through you know okay put it like this here's my here's my
25:22
mental state and everything that he had been through why would you expect it to happen the way he said it was going to
25:28
happen because I I just looked at and and you can even you can even say even without that just the pattern of how he did
25:33
everything Right? It was always consistent with everybody. Right? But the difference between all the
25:38
everybody's all those everybody's was on him and riding him. Me, I never asked for nothing. I didn't
25:45
want nothing. This was his brainchild. He came to me. He This is some epiphany
25:51
he had and you you know what I'm saying? And he talked me into it. I wasn't going to do it.
25:56
I wasn't going to do it at first. Well, yeah. Well, he cursed out up here. Oh, come on. after his first TV. You
26:03
know, you got to expect it. You ain't had nothing to do with it.
26:10
Listen. Hey. Hey. Hey. I the TV, you know, I was Hey, he cursed Sway ass out and I I wanted to
26:16
fight him. Told me no. I was going to get in trouble. So, we just we just have to expect it. But I I think sometimes as
26:23
we have more experiences, we got to look at at like maybe there's a blessing in this that that
26:30
Hey, Heather, if I see him, I don't know what's going to happen. See, not
26:36
but but maybe that's why because I always say this cuz I have not with him, but just some personal things in my life
26:41
that I deal with. And I say the same thing about certain people, but maybe intentionally God keeps you away from
26:48
people and things. So you ain't in a space where you even have to react that way cuz you may see him and give him a
26:54
hug and be like, "Yo, you need a hug." Not you. I
26:59
can't wait to ask for it either. But I'm saying maybe at some point
27:06
you you may figure out what the blessing was and all of this. Condolences to with your father and stuff cuz I can't
27:12
imagine what that may have been like for both of y'all. You being close, you saying in the mirror, I'm done with her.
27:18
Words are powerful. We talk about that all the time. In 48 hours, you get a call. There's some blessing in there
27:24
somewhere. Maybe it hasn't been revealed yet. So, some key people liked that album,
27:30
Dream Still Inspire. One of them was Young R.J. There you go. That's all just speaking
27:36
speaking life into it. R.J. was like, "Man, this was a great project." He was
27:41
like, "Um, I hate it wasn't handled correctly. Y'all deserve more." He said,
27:46
he looked at me, he said, "Give me a shot." He said, "Y'all deserve another shot. Give me a shot." He said, "Give me a shot to do what he did."
27:53
Uhhuh. But we'll support y'all. And there's the blessing. Yay. Did that album, right?
27:58
And maybe that's all he was supposed to do for y'all is what Heather is saying. I heard that. I heard that.
28:05
You the only people to get Yay to do a whole album. Right. Right. We can't deny who he is as a producer.
28:11
You know what I mean? We don't never We don't never We always He's incredible. You see what we doing with the energy?
28:18
Yeah. Yeah. Hey, uh you know,
28:24
that's my cousin. That's my energy. Yeah. Yo, yo, Heather and the Hellcat are like bonding over here.
28:30
Hey, one of the dopest moments though that that I had with that I call EP right after with the album, but I just
28:36
got to say it on on this show was I was at the car wash on the cusp of uh Kova
28:41
City and Marina Del Re. It's a car wash I used to go to. It was a dude sitting there and I kept tripping on how he was
28:47
looking and I'm talking to my man from ATL that and I was like, man, this dude over here look like Andre 3000 or
28:54
somebody, you You know, I was like, I don't know what he trying to And I said, well, wait a minute. And he pulled a flute out the back. I said, dog, that's
28:59
Andre 3000. And I was like, I don't know what to do. You know what I'm saying? He pulled a flute out in 22. Right. Right.
29:05
It was 22, right? And so I slid over to him. I went on introduced myself and I I was all cool cuz I don't want to bother. I'm
29:11
like, yeah, old school likes greed. Mah, man. I just wanted to acknowledge you, dog. I see you. And left him alone. But
29:16
that wasn't enough for me. I'm When we pulling out, we was pulling out about the same time. I'm looking in my rearview mirror and I said, I got to let
29:22
him know really who I am. And I said, "When he back up, he gonna have to look." So I got out the car and when he backed up, he looked and I did like
29:28
this. He let the window down. I said, "Dre, let me properly introduce myself. I'm old school likes grief from the group Abstract Mind State." He said,
29:35
"With the girl and I was like Yeah. And he was like, "Yeah, I was listening to y'all album last night."
29:41
Sway. I thought I was going to start crying. Wow. Which album? D. It was produced by who?
29:48
Kanye. That's another place, man.
29:53
3,000 see that was beautiful. That was a beautiful moment. I'm going to say this. I'm going to say
29:59
this. One of the biggest um the biggest things that come out um come out of um
30:04
Dream Still Inspire for me, the most precious thing to me was the in the ability for R.J. to to see something in
30:14
that project so much that we got to go on a European tour. We did the Pacific um Northwest tour
30:20
with them. little small leg. Yeah. And the like the camaraderie and the energy
30:25
like we jammed so good with him. He was like, "Man, y'all yur
30:31
that's been our dream." Yeah, that was our dream from the beginning. Heather from the very beginning.
30:37
From the inception of Abstract Mind State. We wanted to tour Europe and and Slum
30:42
Village took us. R.J. invited us when I tell you over there. What? Yeah. We walked over there
30:47
and we performed that album the whole time. Nobody. We walked over there like like nobody. It was a few people who knew
30:53
where we were from Dream Still Inspired. Yeah, they did. But when we walked when we got on stage.
30:59
Wow. It was like everybody knew who we were. They didn't, but it felt like that was the energy.
31:04
See, and that that's what I mean here in Sway saying shifting the energy. Sometimes God is like you just need a
31:11
little bit. You know that your little bit, right? I don't care about that other stuff. You
31:17
need something to get the bigger dream. I talk about the mustard seed on on the song church you see on the new album.
31:24
You just needed that mustard seed. And then look at the world that open. Salute
31:29
to Yay. Salute to Yay. Salute to Yay.
31:35
I still I still thank him. I still thank him, you know, because he does
31:40
something, right? And I walked right. Hey, I remember
31:45
Hey, but shout out to Young RJ though a 100 times. Crazy Tracy.
31:50
I remember walking in the Energy Center when I first got to LA and we was getting ready to listen to some beats or whatever. Um, I walked in to to Yay. And
31:58
I said, he was like, "EP?" And he came and hugged me. I was like, "What's up, brother?" He was like, "Man, it's all good. I'm so glad you came." I said,
32:05
"Motherfucker, you know Dr. Dre couldn't get me out here. You the only [Â __Â ] producer that could have made me leave my Come on."
32:11
Yeah. Yeah, I said it. She did say it. And so if that project didn't happen, this amazing song about being
32:19
spiritually grounded in and and in in you know and keeping your senses about
32:26
you on this project, the art project called Gravity that RJ produced
32:33
may not have happened. Yeah. Think of that. All right. Let's play that song and we
32:39
going to come back with abstract mind state. I I would say no. I don't say this at all in none of the interviews, but you
32:45
know who used to do the hook? Who had the original hook on this? Oh, yeah. Before Carter. Bahamadia was on it.
32:52
We could tell the story, but yeah, it's a story behind it. Wow. Okay. Okay. But she not on it now. Britney Carter is on it now.
32:58
Britney Bahamad wanted the verse. I ain't mad at her. We wanted it. We ain't had time.
33:03
Yeah, we wanted her verse, but it she's a spitter. She's
33:09
a spitter. It's it's it's about I'm the opposite of him. I wasn't a female MC fan. I only had you,
33:16
Latifah. Latifah, no, I wasn't a life fan. I wasn't a fan.
33:21
Heather, Latifah, and later Lauren. That's a good top three.
33:27
It's just what it just And then Rod Digger. That here's the running. Do you hear the
33:32
common denominator in that? Latifah, Lauren, Heather, Jersey, Rodigga.
33:43
You pulled that one out cuz I didn't pay attention to that.
33:49
I've never paid attention to that. That's [Â __Â ] nuts. I've never paid attention to that.
33:54
Wow. Oh my god. Like, can we play Gravity, please?
34:00
We want them to hear it from cousin. What up, cousin? That's abstract mind state. The uh name
34:07
of that song was Gravity. Sounds great. And it's on the Art Project which is available now. Uh these two I just
34:15
wanted to jump into this history so you understand that they're pillars when it comes to the Chicago hip hop scene in
34:23
many ways, right? And even more currently, we we witness another Chicago in what what do you call
34:29
them? Chicago in Chicago. Yeah. Turn your mic on for me. Hit that. All right. And and hit
34:34
Okay. Yes, you do. You've been in the studio. just push the red button. Okay, there we go. There you go. Chicago.
34:40
Uh, and it made me think of Jay Ivy. Oh, yeah. Come on now.
34:45
Yeah. Who you are also connected to. Yes. Yes. And there were a lot of people
34:50
instrumental in um the Grammys actually recognizing poets
34:57
separately, right? Um in their own column and category, right? Um what is it? Adult contempor
35:04
contemporary hip hop. My my thing. Yeah. What you mean your thing? Well, cuz I
35:10
wrote the proposal and submitted it to the Grammys to try to expand that category of the rap.
35:16
He created it. He created a You created AC. That's my thing. Yeah.
35:22
Yeah. He created it. Yeah. Like like in real life like wrote it down. He created it.
35:27
What do you mean created it? Nobody was saying a dope. Somebody may have been saying it, but nobody tried to take it
35:32
to a real a real level. You know what I'm saying? Recogniz I did the work to take to make
35:38
it real and it got it got picked up. The Grammys passed on it twice actually last
35:44
year and just the the last couple and u but I'm f to come again because I I I
35:49
got I got told the tweak and what it is to get through to them. But this this awards here in uh in LA, the Hollywood
35:56
Independent Music Awards, which is a huge production. Actually, the production quality of the show is amazing. They got my um uh category and
36:04
added it in uh in 20 uh what what was the year? 50 of Year Hip Hop. That year,
36:09
yeah, they they added it. So, it's a category now. Is that when we won for the video we won? No, that was the year before we
36:15
won. Okay. Did y'all won a Grammy? We won. No, we won a a video award for our video independent video.
36:22
Yeah. It was a year before that. Yeah. But by doing that helped Jay Ivy.
36:27
Jay I So Jay uh No, actually it was the other way around. Jay told me that I could write
36:34
their proposal. I didn't know that that was possible. Okay. And he me he and I was writing our proposals at the same time except I
36:41
missed the deadline cuz he didn't tell me and I missed it by a day and I had to wait another year to submit mine. But
36:46
his went in, you know. Okay. and it was added and I know Chance and all those guys
36:51
helped out with that as well with Jay Ivy. We've been supporting him. Oh man, please and all of them that was
36:57
Yeah. that foundation like Kenny Cool. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going tell you a funny another funny thing about us like when
37:04
he was saying about the our history in Chicago. So our very first album was called We Pay Let Us In which we named
37:10
our documentary after it. That came out in 01. Yeah, right. It came out. Yes. Yeah.
37:15
You see him? You see him? Historian. Um, well, I know a little more than you.
37:20
Yeah, you do. No, you do. Now, I can bow down to you, Sway. I'm cold with it. I'm joking. I can bow down to Sway. I can,
37:28
you know, I was I was listening to the Wake Up Show, so Oh, so I got to bow down. Turned out to be one of our best
37:33
students. I'm definitely one of y'all. I'm definitely one of y'all very best
37:39
student. I'm one of the very best from that. But no, our first album featured everybody
37:46
that made it. Dion Cole was on our first album. He wasn't known yet. Jay Ivy was the first time he ever been
37:53
in a major studio cuz we had got so big that we were we were working in the same studio as Michael Jackson and R. Kelly,
37:59
CRC recording, Chicago recording company. That was our big studio, you know. And uh Cooty was on there. Uh who else?
38:07
Uh Yay. Yay was there was on like everybody who became major. Hey did
38:12
Welcome to Chicago. Uh yeah yeah yeah yeah he did no he did pain on that he did pain
38:17
but the verse yeah welcome to Chicago was uh still paying okay
38:23
we pay let us in with pain was pain and he produced that so everybody who was on their way we had to a skit with
38:30
all the comedians we I looked at it like I was I didn't know I was ANR then you know I was the first ANR good music but
38:37
I didn't know I was doing the ANR job cuz I I just saw like me it was like these are the best of the best from
38:42
Chicago Jay in my opinion was the best poet. Cooty uh it was Mark Simmons,
38:47
Cooty and uh Dion Cole and Day and all them. We felt like they was the best. Uh
38:52
you know, Yay was the was the up and cominging producer really making Gaffrey, wasn't he in Chicago? Gaffy was from Chicago, but you know, I
38:58
didn't meet Gaffy till we moved to New York. So I Gaffrey wasn't in that in that. But Gaffrey is from Chicago. Cooty
39:05
knew him. I didn't know Gaffrey. Okay. Yeah. So and most of our most of our footage from from our documentary that's Cooty.
39:12
Uhhuh. That's channel zero. That's his first platform early on platform.
39:17
You remember channel zero? I was on channel zero. He interviewed me. Shout out to Danny. Yeah, everybody was on channel zero. Danny, what up Danny?
39:23
Wow, this is amazing. Um, Abstract Mind State are here and they got a new project called The Art Project. They got
39:29
a documentary called Yeah, we paid us in the Legend of Abstract Mind State and we just finally
39:35
got it on a streaming platform. So you can go through Roku and through Roku you go to music documentaries TV and just
39:42
watch it. Yeah. Yeah. What now did you find yourselves ever um adjacent to some
39:50
of the younger artists that have come from Chicago when the drill scene start to rise? Were you guys tapped into that
39:57
at all or what what did you think when you start hearing that genre hit the world?
40:03
Well, when I heard it because we were I was with the team when started off with Yeah. You know, I was, you know, I was
40:10
with the squad when when when Yay did the Chief Keef joint, you know, the and
40:16
all of that, but the drill thing we didn't really connect with. You know who we did connect with, and he was actually
40:21
supposed to have been on Gravity was Vic Mensah. Oh, man. Vic Vic wanted to be on Gravity.
40:27
Vicens. Give a shout out to Vic. I I call Vic Ma the young black thought cuz
40:32
he like what I get from Black Thought I get that from Vic Mensa. Vic Vic was Yeah. So Vic people like Vic and
40:39
Chance and all them, you know, Vic definitely knew about us. I like Vic is a young historian, too. He
40:44
knew all about us. I was so flattered how how he was with us. And um but those
40:50
were the ones we connected. We we didn't connect with the drill scene. We connected with the Chance, the rappers, the Vic Minces, the Sabas, the
40:56
you know what I'm saying, the um uh what's what's the name? some uh some names slipping in my mind, but it's that
41:02
whole the whole save money kids. What were they? The cool kids, you know, I never knew Mikey Rock. I met we we met um what was
41:09
Mikey Rock or the other one? Uh uh it was Mikey Rocks and ah the other dude. We met him.
41:14
Jesus. uh in the yard that day when when when like was there from from Pac and I
41:21
fin what you know I can't think his name excuse me bro if I I can't think of his name Chuck English Chuck English Chuck
41:27
English you couldn't think of Chuck English one that's the one you should know
41:32
right right our our our lawyer uh our attorney um you know Elena uh is is with
41:40
one of PacD uh Mike you know and uh like was there and Chuck English and we met
41:46
him in the backyard and I was like, "Man, the Cool Kids was so dope." So that was like after us, but they were so
41:52
dope. They were so original. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Absolutely. If you're in this area in the Southland, anywhere surrounding
41:58
Hollywood. Yeah. The Beverly Center, you know where that is. Yeah. Uh, everybody do.
42:04
But where in the Beverly Center? At uh uh Blackbook Art on the eighth floor. On the eighth floor.
42:09
5 to 8. From 5 to 8. The listening start at 6. Listen, man. I I just want to say um I'm
42:14
I'm enamored by you two, man. Um you didn't lose your faith. That's a big word, boy.
42:21
Yeah. Well, you know, that's how you know. I know. I know. That's that Bay Area. You know, we got that riz on.
42:29
Uh but uh I appreciate I want to say congratulations to you on this project.
42:34
I know you guys had took taken some breaks, but you came back and you never lost your faith. Yeah.
42:39
Right. Why you never lost your faith, EP? Strength of a mustard seed, famo, there it is.
42:46
There it is. What about you, man? I just I just believe that this that what we doing could touch people
42:51
and I just I'm I stubbornly want to see that happen on a massive scale. So, I
42:56
felt like the work wasn't done. Well, it's done now, man. Y'all doing it and continue to do so. All right.
43:01
Shout out to R.J. once again. RJ, you did your thing. Some beats, RJ. All right. Hey, man. I appreciate y'all.
43:08
Give it up for EP the Hellcat. Old school Ice Greek. Come on, man. Give it up for Abstract Mind State.
#Celebrities & Entertainment News
#Entertainment Industry
#Urban & Hip-Hop