Pro Era (short for The Progressive Era) is an American hip hop

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

group from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The group is a collective of rappers and record producers that includes East Coast rappers

Joey Badass Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A native of Brooklyn, New York City, he is a founding member of the hip-hop collective Pro ...

CJ Fly Chaine St. Aubin Downer Jr. (born July 6, 1993), better known by his stage name CJ Fly, is an American rapper and producer from Brooklyn, New York City. He is a founding member and the oldest member of the hip-hop collective group Pro Era. Throug ...

Kirk Knight Kirlan Labarrie (born November 16, 1995), better known by his stage name Kirk Knight, is an American record producer, rapper and member of the hip hop collective Pro Era. His debut project, ''Late Knight Special ''Late Knight Special'' is the ...

, Nyck Caution, Dyemond Lewis, Aaron Rose, Dessy Hinds, Dirty Sanchez, Rokamouth, J.A.B. and Jakk the Rhymer, along with producers Chuck Strangers and Powers Pleasant. The collective was formed in 2011 by Capital STEEZ and Powers Pleasant, with Joey Badass and CJ Fly among its founding members.

History

Music career

2008–2011: The 3rd Kind and formation of Pro Era

Capital STEEZ, then known as Jay STEEZ, had started recording music around 2008. During those times STEEZ was also a part of a rap duo called The 3rd Kind along with childhood friend, Jakk the Rhymer. The 3rd Kind released their only mixtape, ''The Yellow Tape'', in 2009. In the spring of 2011, while still a student at Edward R. Murrow High School in

, Capital STEEZ had a performance at a cafe in

Clinton Hill, Brooklyn Clinton Hill is a neighborhood in north-central Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. It is bordered by the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the north, Williamsburg to the northeast, Classon Avenue and Bedford–Stuyves ...

, with friends including Powers Pleasant,

and Dirty Sanchez also in attendance to show him support. On their way home from the performance, he and Powers Pleasant came up with the idea of forming a hip hop collective, which they named "Progressive Era", or "Pro Era" for short. In addition to the two co-founders, Joey Badass, Dirty Sanchez and

were brought into the group as founding members.

2012: Rise in popularity and death of Capital STEEZ

The Pro Era collective signed with the

Cinematic Music Group Cinematic Music Group is an American record label, management, publishing & touring company distributed by Geffen Records founded in 2007 by Jonny Shipes. Their roster as of 2020 consists of Joey Bada$$, Pro Era, T-Pain, Smoke DZA, Va$htie, Mic ...

label in 2012, shortly after

Jonny Shipes Jonny Shipes is an American music entrepreneur and producer. Credited with discovering Nipsey Hussle, Joey Bada$$, Sean Kingston, Big K.R.I.T. and Smoke DZA. He is the founder and CEO of Cinematic Music Group, an independent record label, ar ...

became the manager of Joey Badass. On February 14, 2012, Pro Era released their debut mixtape entitled ''The Secc$ Tap.e''. The release of the ''AmeriKKKan Korruption'' ( Capital STEEZ) and ''

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

'' (

) mixtapes increased the group's popularity in the underground scene. ''1999'' was listed among "Best Mixtapes of 2012" by multiple publications. Capital STEEZ was on the list of "Rappers to Watch For in 2013" curated by website HipHopDX. Pro Era performed with The Smoker's Club's One Hazy Summer Tour, a 30-date tour that began July 13, 2012. In December of that year, Pro Era released the ''PEEP: The aPROcalypse'' mixtape. From October 27 to December 1, 2012, Joey Badass went on the first tour for any member of the collective, beginning in

and ending in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, with the tour also extending abroad to countries such as

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. On December 24, 2012, Capital STEEZ committed suicide, jumping from the rooftop of the Cinematic Music Group headquarters in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Earlier that evening, he sent text messages to a few of his closest friends, telling them he loved them. At 11:59 PM on December 23, STEEZ posted a tweet saying, "The end." He jumped to his death later that night.

2013–2014: Touring and mixtapes

On March 21, 2013, Pro Era participated in the Beast Coastal concert tour with

The Underachievers The Underachievers are an American hip hop duo from Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2011, the duo is composed of rappers AKTHESAVIOR and Issa Gold. American record producer Flying Lotus signed the duo to his Brainfeeder record label in ...

and

Flatbush Zombies Flatbush Zombies (stylized as Flatbush ZOMBiES) is an American hip hop group from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2010. The group is composed of rappers Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick Arc Elliott, with Elliott al ...

. The Beast Coastal concert tour performed all over the United States. The first leg of the tour covered the West coast while the second leg covered the East and Midwest, before the tour ended on April 20. Pro Era began a tour of their own on August 29, 2013, at Fort Punta Christo Pula in Croatia and they performed at a variety of venues including New Zealand, Australia and the United States. The tour went on to December 14 and this was technically the first tour in which Pro Era as a group went on tour. Later that year, Pro Era toured with the Under the Influence 2013 tour with

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 200 ...

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

Trinidad James Nicholaus Joseph Williams (born September 24, 1987), better known by his stage name Trinidad James (often stylized as Trinidad Jame$), is a Trinidadian-American rapper. In 2012, he signed a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings. The label d ...

Chevy Woods Kevin "Chevy" Woods (born May 13, 1981) is an American rapper and songwriter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Throughout his career he has been affiliated with rapper Wiz Khalifa and his respective Taylor Gang record label, also serving as Khalifa ...

and

Smoke DZA Sean Pompey (born February 8, 1984), better known by his stage name Smoke DZA, is an American rapper and songwriter. Biography 1984–2007: Early life and career beginnings Smoke DZA was born February 8, 1984 at Harlem Hospital in New York ...

, among others. On October 5, 2013, CJ Fly released his debut mixtape,

Thee Way Eye See It ''Thee Way Eye See It'' is the debut mixtape by American rapper CJ Fly. It was released as a free Music download, digital download on DatPiff on October 5, 2013. Background The mixtape features production from Statik Selektah, BrandUn DeShay, Cook ...

. On December 25, 2013, the group announced that their third mixtape, ''The Secc$ Tap.e 2'', would be released on February 14, 2014. As promised, it would be released on that day, as a part of a free-music giveaway coined "Pro Era Week". Their next project, ''The Shift'', a free EP was released on May 27, 2014, by

Scion AV Scion Audio/Visual, also known as Scion AV, Scion A/V or SA/V, was an in-house record label and "lifestyle marketing" division of the Scion marque produced by Toyota Motor Corporation for the North American market. Along with the rest of the Sci ...

2014–present: Solo projects and Beast Coast supergroup

Due to the coming release of his debut studio album, Joey Badass began a long world tour alongside Pro Era. The tour started on August 8, 2014, in Norway before they went on to tour the U.S. for weeks until reaching their Europe leg of the tour which began in England on November 18 making stops in countries like France, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, Croatia, Switzerland, and Germany. Joey Badass and Pro Era decided to cut the tour short while in Australia due to the death of member, and cousin of Joey Badass, Junior B. After Joey Badass' debut album was released, he stated in an interview that

, Nyck Caution, and CJ Fly will be releasing new music in 2015. He also announced an upcoming Pro Era album as well as a Capital STEEZ posthumous album. Pro Era producer and rapper Kirk Knight began his first tour with fellow

artist, Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins, without any other musical artists within Pro Era, on February 13, 2015, and will continue to February 27. They will tour the United States and make stops throughout the country.

released his debut album, '' B4.DA.$$'' on January 20, 2015. He went along to promote it on his "World Domination Tour". In June 2015, Powers Pleasant released his debut project, ''The Powers Pleasant Experience'', while

also released his debut project, ''

Late Knight Special ''Late Knight Special'' is the debut album by American rapper and record producer Kirk Knight. It was released on October 30, 2015, by Cinematic Music Group. Background The album features guest appearances by fellow Pro Era member Joey Bada$$, as ...

'', on October 30, 2015. On February 2, 2016, Swankmaster RAW announced that he had left Pro Era. He wrote, "Respectively, want to let to whom it may concern know, I'm no longer a part of the Era. Many blessings to all my brothers." On February 3, 2016, Joey Badass reported on Twitter that another member, Dyemond Lewis, had an amicable split with the group. He wrote, "Dyemond Lewis is no longer a part of PROERA... That's my brother to the death but we had to come to this conclusion unfortunately." On February 29, 2016, Nyck Caution released his debut project, '' Disguise the Limit''. On December 9, 2016,

released his debut project, ''FlyTrap''. On December 27, Nyck Caution announced the album '' Nyck @ Knight'', a collaborative effort between himself and

, stating that they had already completed 4 songs. In June 2017, both Kirk Knight and Nyck Caution announced that the collaborative project was completed. It is scheduled to be released on July 21 of 2017. On the third annual STEEZ Day Festival, Joey Badass announced after Pro Era's performance that they are working on a group album as well as announcing that a posthumous album from Capital STEEZ, '' King Capital'', was to be released on December 23, 2017, the 5th anniversary of his death. However, on December 11 (eleven days before ''King Capital'' was due for release), Joey Badass announced on his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account that the album's release would be delayed until further notice due to "business legalities and sample clearances." In 2019, the supergroup Beast Coast, consisting of members from Pro Era, as well as fellow Brooklyn-based hip hop groups

and

, released three singles ahead of their debut album, ''

Escape from New York ''Escape from New York'' is a 1981 American science fiction action film co-written, co-scored and directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Adrienne Barbeau, and Harry Dea ...

'', released on May 24, 2019. The group also announced a North American summer tour that began on July 23 and scheduled to end on August 16.

47 logo controversy

The design of one of Pro Era's logos is the number 47 with its digits joined. It has sparked controversy due to its similarity to the

Nazi flag The flag of Nazi Germany, officially the flag of the German Reich, featured a red background with a black swastika on a white disc. This flag came into use initially as the banner of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) after its foundation. Following the app ...

. Like the Nazi flag, the logo has a red field with a solid white circle and a black insignia. Instead of a

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

, the circular white field of the sticker contains the 47 symbol, which bears close resemblance to the swastika and to a

wolfsangel (, translation "wolf's hook") or () is a heraldic charge from Germany and eastern France, which was inspired by medieval European wolf traps that consisted of a Z-shaped metal hook (called the ''Wolfsangel'', or the ''Crampon'' in French) th ...

, both of which are associated with

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

and

Neo-Nazism Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

. Stickers of the logo and

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

of the symbol appeared in numerous locations around Edward R. Murrow High School and the Brooklyn neighborhood of

Midwood Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City ...

(where the school is located) in March 2014, being planted by members of Pro Era to honor the memory of the late Capital STEEZ. According to local news station ''

News 12 Brooklyn The News 12 Networks are a group of regional cable news television channels in the New York metropolitan area that are owned by Altice USA. All channels provide rolling news coverage 24 hours a day, focusing primarily on regions of the metr ...

'', the group has explained that the logo was designed the way it was to draw attention, and that the symbol resembles peace, love and balance, as with the swastika's significance in various religions. They say that it is supposed to be a spiritual symbol and not an offensive one. Capital STEEZ believed that the logo's resemblance of a swastika is a commentary on the appropriation of what was originally a peaceful & spiritual symbol with roots in Eastern religions.

Pro Era Records

Pro Era Records is an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

founded by the group in 2015.

Artists

;Current acts *

* Nyck Caution * Dessy Hinds * Aaron Rose * Chuck Strangers * Dirty Sanchez 47 * Rokamouth * JAB 47 * Jakk The Rhymer ;Former acts * Capital STEEZ (deceased) * T'nah Apex * Dyemond Lewis * SwankMaster RAW ; In house Record producers * Chuck Strangers * Kirk Knight * Powers Pleasant * Niles * Hans Solo * Bruce Leekix

Discography

Collective discography

''Albums'' * ''

'' (with

) (2019) ''Mixtapes'' * ''The Secc$ TaPE'' (2012) * ''PEEP: The aPROcalypse'' (2012) * ''The Secc$ TaPE Vol. 2'' (2014) ''EPs'' * ''The Shift'' (2014)

Individual discography

;Aaron Rose ''EPs'' * ''Elixir'' (2016) ''Albums'' * ''Rozart'' (2019) ; Capital STEEZ ''Mixtapes'' * ''The Yellow Tape'' (with Jakk the Rhymer as The 3rd Kind) (2009) * ''AmeriKKKan Korruption'' (2012) ''Albums'' * '' King Capital'' (TBA) ;Chuck Strangers ''Albums'' * ''Consumers Park'' (2018) ''EPs'' * ''Too Afraid to Dance'' (2020) ;

''Mixtapes'' * ''

'' (2013) ''Albums'' * ''

Flytrap Flytrap may refer to: * A fly-killing device * Venus flytrap The Venus flytrap (''Dionaea muscipula'') is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. It catc ...

'' (2016) * ''Rudebwoy'' (2020) * ''Not What You’re Expecting'' (2021) ''Instrumental albums'' * ''The Way I H(ear) It, Vol. 1'' (2021) ''EPs'' * ''The Pharaoh’s Return'' (2022) ;Dessy Hinds ''EPs'' * ''Save As You Go'' (2020) ''Albums'' * ''Hindsight'' (TBA) ;Dirty Sanchez ''Albums'' * ''New Yuck City'' (2018) ''Mixtapes'' * ''4MM'' (with J.A.B.) (2017) * ''Divine Time'' (with Nef) (2019) * ''Don't Talk to Me'' (with Rokamouth) (2020) * ''Sorry for the Troubles'' (with DJ J Hart) (2020) * ''Genesis'' (with Nef) (2020) * ''Magic City'' (with Wizard Lee) (2021) * ''Godspeed'' (with DJ J Hart) (2022) ''EPs'' * ''Pull the Sours Out'' (2019) ;Hans Solo ''EPs'' * ''On the Wheel'' (with Sincere) (2017) ;

''Mixtapes'' * ''

'' (2012) * ''Rejex'' (2012) * ''

Summer Knights ''Summer Knights'' is the third mixtape by American rapper Joey Bada$$. It was released on July 1, 2013, by Cinematic Music Group. The mixtape was planned to be released as an EP, to prelude the release of his debut album '' B4.DA.$$'', but in ...

'' (2013) ''Albums'' * '' B4.DA.$$'' (2015) * ''

ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ ''All-Amerikkkan Badass'' (stylized as ''ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$'') is the second studio album by American rapper Joey Badass. It was released on April 7, 2017, through Pro Era Records and Cinematic Music Group. The album features guest appearances ...

'' (2017) * ''

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

'' (2022) ''EPs'' *''The Light Pack'' (2020) ;

''Albums'' * ''

'' (2015) * ''It Is What It Is'' (2018) * ''After Dark'' (2021) ''Instrumental albums'' * ''Dust 013' (2016) * ''Black Noise'' (2016) ''EPs'' * ''Nyck @ Knight'' (with Nyck Caution) (2017) ;Nyck Caution ''Mixtapes'' * ''The Pursuit, Vol. 1'' (2011) * '' Disguise the Limit'' (2016) ''EPs'' * ''Nyck @ Knight'' (with Kirk Knight) (2017) * ''Friend of the Family'' (with

Charlie Heat Ernest Brown (born November 10, 1989), professionally known as Charlie Heat, is an American record producer, songwriter and record executive. In 2015, he signed to Very Good Beats, a subsidiary of GOOD Music, which is run by Kanye West. Since mak ...

) (2022) * ''Little Nycky'' (2022) ''Albums'' * ''Anywhere But Here'' (2021) ;Powers Pleasant ''EPs'' * ''The Powers Pleasant Experience'' (2015) ''Albums'' * ''Life Is Beautiful'' (2019)

References

Notes Citations

External links

* *
47 Lifestyle
– Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Pro Era 2011 establishments in New York City Alternative hip hop groups Hip hop collectives Hip hop groups from New York City Musical groups established in 2011 Musical groups from Brooklyn Underground hip hop groups