Where was Abstract Mindstate all these years? That's a question that Chicago has had as long as "What if Bartman never tried to catch the ball from Alou?" - and to find the answer, you'll have to take it back to the early 2000s. Abstract Mindstate was a key part of the buzzing Chicago rap scene back then, the best-kept secret in a city that was starting to get more national attention. As a rare male-female duo, Olskool Ice-Gre and E. P. da Hellcat combined inspirational, soulful rap with the urgent pacing of a Run the Jewels song. They were poised for mainstream success, but their short and influential career was over by 2005. Now, they're back, working together with a certain mega-famous producer who grew up listening to their music. Dreams Still Inspire, the first Abstract Mindstate album in more than a decade, will arrive August 6th on YZY SND, the new label run by Kanye West, who also produced the full LP. It's been a long time coming, and Abstract Mindstate is poised to pick up where they left off. It was all Ye," Ice-Gre says. "I tried to inspire him by sending him some raps and instead, it made him think that the world needed Abstract Mindstate again. "When Abstract Mindstate had their first moment, Chicago was finally being recognized as a major rap region, no longer a place known mostly for how brick the winter was. Common had been dismissed by the West Coast just a few years earlier after wondering where hip-hop had gone; now Twista was on his way to becoming bigger by wearing Coogi sweaters and talking to the ladies quickly.