The Needle Drop

1999

CJ Fly- "The Beat Grinder" ft. Capital STEEZ

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Pro Era Mc's CJ Fly and Capital STEEZ are probably best known for their featured songs on the Joey Badass mixtape 1999 that blew up from the songs "Survival Tactics" and "Hardknock".

Now that the hype around that tape has died down these two are looking to steal a bit of the spotlight for themselves. They definitely have my attention rapping over one of my favorite Madlib beats and they totally hold their own on it, too. They don't have the most exciting flows out there by any stretch, but it's easy to see that they will only improve from where they are now. Just like with their tracks on the 1999 tape they have a lot of clever wordplay that makes them feel more distinct in comparison to other rappers in a similar age range. These two do sound good together and if they are working on a mixtape together I will gladly give it a listen.

Joey Bada$$- 1999

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Download: Joey Bada$$- 1999 New York rapper Joey Bada$$ drops a pretty telling line at the start of his new mixtape, 1999:

"It's been a minute since they seen a style with no gimmicks."

A no BS approach has pretty much been what's been so appealing about this 17-year-old since he and his posse called Pro Era have been getting some attention on the blog-o-sphere. While I'm sure some will come around and call this kid's style old hat, I personally fail to see what's so dated about raw lyricism, mature storytelling, and a great flow.

The production on here, for the most part, is lifted from some pretty familiar places, which has its positives and negatives. Instrumentals from MF DOOM, J Dilla, Statik Selektah, and Freddie Joachim are all over this thing. Still, Joey is charismatic enough to bring his own flavor on some of these beats, for sure.

Download this 1999 tape via the link above, and check the cover art below:

Joey BADA$$ x Capital STEEZ- "Survival Tactics" (LOVED)

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Brooklyn rapper and producer Joey BADA$$ and his Pro Era cohorts are on the cusp of blowing up, and it's bound to happen if they keep pumping out tracks like "Survival Tactics." It's a rugged 'n' raw piece of boom bap with trigger-pulling bars coming from both Joey and the featured Captain STEEZ.

While we're on the subject of STEEZ, he's actually got a new mixtape out titled Amerikkkan Korruption. Grab it here.

Back to Joey: He's got a new project dropping dropping this coming week--on the 12th, I think--titled 1999, and the track above is supposedly included in it. So is this track featuring CJ Fly:

From the little material that's dropped thus far, it's clear "the Progressive Era" has an ear for old school hip hop, and some serious mic skills. They celebrate the past but manage to avoid sounding old hat thanks to their youthful energy. However, what may end up hurting their success is their image. While I love the music these guys are putting out, I'm positive fans and blogs alike are going to pit this group of young up-and-coming rappers to the last group of up-and-coming rappers to blow up, Odd Future. A few months ago, even MTV saw fit to put Odd Future and Joey in a situation where there'd surely be some head-butts. While Tyler, the Creator has a track record for lashing out, he's right in MTV's decision to play the Joey video during a segment when Odd Future would be featured. Of course they were just looking for something to throw up on the RapFix blog.

All potential beefs aside, I'm looking forward to 1999 and what the future has in store for Pro Era.