Joey Bada$$ On The Progression Of Pro Era

Joey Bada$$ On The Progression Of Pro Era

Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era crew have been hard at work over the past year, dropping three mixtapes—Joey's Summer Knights, CJ Fly's Thee Way Eye See It and the crew's The Secc$ Tap.e 2—and generally building on the success of Joey's breakout 1999 mixtape and the crew's introductory PEEP: The aPROcalypse in 2012. Today the crew is back with a five-track EP released with Scion AV called The Shift, highlighting the growth that the Brooklyn rhymers and producers have made in the two years since they've been thrust into hip-hop's spotlight.

Over that time period, Pro Era has gone through a number of changes, most notably the loss of the influential Capital STEEZ to a reported suicide in December of 2012. But the young Flatbush collective has also grown in other ways, with more reps under their belts and the emergence of legitimate talents who can stand alongside Joey as individual artists in their own right. The first two songs they dropped from The Shift—"Hail Razor" featuring A La $ole, Dessy Hinds and CJ Fly, and "Extortion" featuring Kirk Knight and Dyemond Lewis—showcase that progression, with some of Pro Era's lesser-known spitters grabbing the spotlight with a vigor that promises big things to come.

Ahead of the release of The Shift, which can be streamed below, and with his own debut album, B4.Da.$$, on deck for the Fall, XXL spoke to Joey Bada$$ about the EP, his upcoming album, and the progression of Pro Era. Up next? World domination. —Dan Rys

 

Filed Under: Feature, featured, Joey Bada$$, mixtapes, Pro. Era, The Shift
Categories: News
Comments
Leave A Comment
Back To Top