Pro Era (short for Progressive Era) is an American

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

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 e ...

from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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

. The group is a collective of

rappers Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing b ...

and

record producers A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

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 and actor. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, he formed the regional hip-hop group Pro Era in 2011, with whom h ...

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 Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the ...

Nyck Caution Pro Era (short for Progressive Era) is an American hip-hop collective from Brooklyn, New York. The group is a collective of rappers and record producers that includes East Coast rappers Joey Badass, CJ Fly, Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution, Dessy H ...

, Dessy Hinds, Dirty Sanchez 47, Rokamouth, Aaron Rose, J.A.B. and Jakk Da Rhymer, along with producers Chuck Strangers and Powers Pleasant. The collective was formed in 2011 by the late

Capital STEEZ Courtney Everald Dewar Jr. (July 7, 1993 – December 23, 2012), better known by his stage name Capital Steez (stylized as Capital STEEZ), was an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York. He was a founder of the Brooklyn-based rap collective Pr ...

and Powers Pleasant, with Joey Badass and CJ Fly among its founding members.

History

Music career

2009–2011: The 3rd Kind and formation of Pro Era

(then known as JaY STeeZ) had started recording music around 2009. Around this time, STEEZ and his friend Jakk Da Rhymer (then known as BlakkJakk (The Rhymer)) formed a rap duo known as The 3rd Kind. The duo released their only mixtape, ''The Yellow Tape'', in 2010. Shortly after the tape's release, STEEZ & Jakk parted ways as a duo but continued to work together as solo artists. 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 Flushing Avenue to the north, Williamsburg to the northeast, Classon Avenue and Bedford–Stuyvesant to the ea ...

, 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 Badass, Joey Bada$$, Pro Era, T-Pain, Smoke DZA, ...

label in 2012, shortly after

Jonny Shipes Jonny Shipes is an American record executive. Credited with discovering Nipsey Hussle, Joey Bada$$, Sean Kingston, Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA, and Druski, he is the founder and CEO of GoodTalk, an independent record label and successor to Cinematic ...

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'' (

) and ''

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

'' (

) 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 the 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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, with the tour also extending abroad to countries such as

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

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

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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, New York. Formed in 2011, the duo is composed of rappers AK the Savior and Issa Gold. American record producer Flying Lotus signed the duo to his Brainfeeder record label in 2012. Fo ...

and

Flatbush Zombies Flatbush Zombies (stylized as Flatbush ZOMBiES) are 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 Elliot ...

. 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. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop music, hip hop coll ...

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, songwriter and music video director. In December 2012, he signed with Def Ja ...

Chevy Woods Kevin Lee "Chevy" Woods (born May 13, 1981) is an American rapper and songwriter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his affiliation with hometown native rapper Wiz Khalifa, having signed to his Taylor Gang record label as among ...

and

Smoke DZA Sean Joseph 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 ...

, 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 digital download on DatPiff on October 5, 2013. Background The mixtape features production from Statik Selektah, BrandUn DeShay, Cookin' Soul, ESTA ...

. 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 Sc ...

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.$$ ''B4.Da.$$'' (pronounced "Before Da Money") is the debut studio album by American rapper Joey Badass. It was released on January 20, 2015, his 20th birthday, by Cinematic Music Group and Relentless Records. The album was released in North America ...

'' 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$$, a ...

'', 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 an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

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 Independent film, independent science fiction film, science fiction action film co-written, co-scored and directed by John Carpenter, and starring Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald ...

'', 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 called the Reich and National Flag (), and also known as the Nazi flag or swastika flag ( – ) featured a red background with a black swastika on a white disk. This flag came into use initially as the banner ...

. 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 a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

, 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 mainly 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 F ...

, both of which are associated with

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

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 (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

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 met ...

'', 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. STEEZ chose the number 47 due to the 7 chakra points, 4 being the point for the heart and 7 being the brain.

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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

founded by the group in 2015.

Artists

;Current acts * Aaron Rose *

* Chuck Strangers * Dessy Hinds * Dirty Sanchez 47 *

* Powers Pleasant ;Former acts *

(deceased) * Dyemond Lewis * SwankMaster RAW (now RAWDawggyDAWG) * T'nah Apex

Discography

Collective discography

Albums * ''

'' (2019) Mixtapes * ''The Secc$ TaP.E.'' (2012) * ''P.E.E.P: The aPROcalypse'' (2012) * ''The Secc$ Ta.E. Vol. 2'' (2014) EPs * ''The Shift'' (2014)

Individual discography

Aaron Rose discography EPs * ''Elixir'' (2016) Albums * ''Rozart'' (2019)

discography Mixtapes * ''The Yellow Tape'' (2009) * ''AmeriKKKan Korruption'' (2012) Albums * '' King Capital'' (TBA) Chuck Strangers discography Albums * ''Consumers Park'' (2018) * '' A Forsaken Lover's Plea'' (2024) * ''Affordable Luxuries'' (2024) * ''Token of Appreciation'' (2025) EPs *''Too Afraid to Dance'' (2020) *''The Boys & Girls'' (2023)

discography Mixtapes * ''

'' (2013) Albums * '' Flytrap'' (2016) * ''Rudebwoy'' (2020) * ''Not What You're Expecting'' (2021) * ''Healing From Our Wounds'' (2021) * ''Piranha'' (2023) Instrumental albums * ''The Way I H(ear) It, Vol. 1'' (2021) EPs * ''The Pharaoh's Return'' (2022) * ''Baited'' (2024) Dessy Hinds discography EPs * ''Save As You Go'' (2020) Albums * ''Hindsight'' (TBA) Dirty Sanchez discography Albums * ''New Yuck City'' (2018) Mixtapes * ''4MM'' (2017) * ''Divine Time'' (2019) * ''Don't Talk to Me'' (2020) * ''Sorry for the Troubles'' (2020) * ''Genesis'' (2020) * ''Magic City'' (2021) * ''Godspeed'' (2022) EPs * ''Pull the Sours Out'' (2019) Hans Solo discography EPs * ''On the Wheel'' (2017)

discography Mixtapes * ''

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

Summer Knights ''Summer Knights'' is the second 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 inst ...

'' (2013) Albums * ''

'' (2015) * '' ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$'' (2017) * ''

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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

discography Albums * ''

'' (2015) * ''Nyck @ Knight'' (2017) * ''It Is What It Is (IIWII)'' (2018) * ''After Dark'' (2021) Instrumental albums * ''Dust

013 013 is a music venue in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The venue opened in 1998 and replaced the ''Noorderligt'', the ''Bat Cave'' and the ''MuziekKantenWinkel''. 013 is the largest popular music venue in the southern Netherlands. There are two concer ...

' (2016) * ''Black Noise'' (2016)

discography Mixtapes * ''The Pursuit, Vol. 1'' (2011) * '' Disguise the Limit'' (2016) EPs * ''Little Nycky'' (2022) * ''Nyckstape'' (2023) Albums * ''Nyck @ Knight'' (with

) (2017) * ''Anywhere But Here'' (2021) * ''Friend of the Family'' (2022) Powers Pleasant discography 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 East Coast hip-hop groups Underground hip-hop groups