Ab-Soul & Pro Era Live at Houston 2013

Ab-Soul and members of Pro Era are on tour with fellow musicians this fall for the Smokers Club Tour. These pictures are from the Saturday Nov. 16, 2013 show in Houston, TX.  Although I wish more Pro Era members were present, Joey, Kirk, and CJ Fly put on a great show followed by Ab-Soul.

My fiance and I stayed in a hotel in downtown Houston and ended up walking about a mile to the Warehouse to the show.  Having never visited Houston, it was a sight to see.  The Business District was filled with skyscrapers and surprisingly clean streets.

The driving was pretty awful, for someone not used to heavy traffic in an unfamiliar area.  The doors to the venue were supposed to open around 8:30, which is when we ended up leaving the hotel.  Thank to Google Maps, a 20 minute walk ended up being around 35 minutes.  We adventured haphazardly around downtown Houston before stumbling across the venue.

The line was wrapped around the building when we got there, with the Pro Era bus on the side.  We joined the line as I looked at my surroundings.  I saw AK, of the Underachievers, standing outside of the bus chatting with some other fellows I didn’t recognize.  AK and Powers Pleasant, a DJ in Pro Era, walked in front of us multiple times while we were in the venue.  That was pretty cool.

As soon as we walk in, there is a table full of unique merch.  Kwon, Joey’s cousin and member of Pro Era, was running the merch table with some other guys.  I ended up buying a new crew neck sweater that features Joey Bada$$, Capital Steez, CJ Fly, and Kirk Knight.  I’m not sure how many have been printed, but they said this was a new piece of merch dedicated to Steez and that if you got one of these, you were lucky.  I totally jumped on that and spent the heavy cash of $60.

We walked around the venue which consisted of a huge open floor which two bars on both sides.  We caught a spot on the stairs leading up to the bar on the left, which  was about half way back and in my opinion, a perfect spot.  As the name of the tour indicates, there was a heavy aroma of trees in the air and sparks were everywhere.

Cashius Green was on first and in the middle of playing when we walked in.  I have never listened to him before, but he sounded nice.  The Underachievers, AK and Issa Gold, came out next which I was super pumped for.  They played three songs, then abruptly walked off stage.  Everyone, including their DJ, responded like “uh, what?”  The crowd chanted “U. A.” repeatedly but no one came back out.  After their performance, Issa tweeted “Houston was the weakest crowd I’ve ever experienced.”  Apparently it wasn’t hype enough for UA to even play Herb Shuttles.  I personally think they let their egos get a little high because the crowd was definitely into them.  I wish artists would understand the crowd doesn’t have to be moshing to mean they enjoy it.  We drove six hours to see them and they played three songs!

Anyways, Statik Selektah came out next and DJed for a while.  I’m a big fan, and he did a great job.  Chevy Woods came out next, and honestly, I thought it was too long of a set.  I was mainly there to see Pro Era and Ab-Soul, so maybe that’s why I’m biased, but he went on for way too long.  I felt the whole crowd thought that.

Finally, Statik came back out and then Joey Bada$$ appeared.  It seemed almost surreal, my favorite rapper was on the stage.  It’s hard to remember what order songs were played in, but he played a ton of classics.  Sweet Dreams, Unorthodox, 95 till Infinity, Waves, Funky Hos, Hardknock, Survival Tactics, Bun N Cheese, and Amesthsyt Rockstar were all played, I’m (pretty) sure.  Kirk Knight came out after a couple of songs and performed some of these with Joey.  It was Kirk’s birthday, so the crowd sang to him and he was in a great mood.

CJ Fly also made an appearance and came out to perform as well.  After some 1999 and PEEP songs, CJ played some off of this new mixtape, The Way Eye See It.  He played Loco Motives, Eyetalian Frenchip, and I’m pretty sure one more but I can’t remember which one.  This was probably the best show I’ve ever seen.

Ab-Soul came out next, and at this point, it was around 12:30 a.m.  There was no bathroom in the venue, and after four hours of standing after meandering around downtown, I needed a bathroom!  Soul came out and performed Pineal Gland, SOPA, Bohemian Grove, and many others.  After about six songs, we unfortunately left.  I wanted to see what else Ab-Soul would perform, but as I said, I needed a bathroom and it was late.  We had already seen Soul before, but it was unfortunate we had to leave early.

Overall, it was the best show I’ve experienced.  Pro Era are my favorite rappers in the game right now, and Ab-Soul is definitely on my favorites list.  Unfortunately, on the flyer it listed more PE members names, such as A La Sole, Dessy Hinds, Nyck Caution, and 47 which I can assume to be Dirty Sanchez and Rokamouth, but none of these members were present.  It was great seeing the ones that were, but I hope to see all of them one day.  It was a great show and here’s some photos of it below.

The Underachievers

Joey Bada$$

Pro Era

Ab-Soul

Ab-Soul

New Video: Schoolboy Q

While Oxymoron, Schoolboy’s latest album, has yet to drop, he’s releasing more songs from the project.  The official video for “Banger” dropped yesterday.  Schoolboy always has some creative touch that portrays his originality and he does it again in “Banger”.

 

Ab-Soul Releases New Song

Ab-Soul released a new song “Dub Sac” produced by Tae Beast and Dave Free. The song is super fun with his Del Amo origins still shining through.  Catch Ab-Soul on the Smokers Club Tour with Pro Era, The Underachievers, Chevy Woods, and more.  I’m catchin’ the Houston show!

The Pro Era Cypher 2013

Pro Era is definitely on the come up and in my opinion, they definitely could have kicked a cypher at the BET Hip Hop Awards.  They’ve proven to be some of the youngest, illest lyricists of all time and you’ll be hearing Pro Era buzz more and more as they continue to make an impact on the hip-hop scene.

PE member CJ Fly just released his mixtape “The Way Eye See It”, read my review here.

Here’s PE’s own cypher with DJ Statik Selektah.

TDE Cypher: 2013 BET Hip-Hop Awards

Black Hippy is one of my favorite rap collectives of all time.  Each one of their verses goes hard, with Kendrick showing he’s made an massive impact on the hip-hop scene at the end, of course.  New TDE member Isaiah Rashad spits on this cypher as well.  You’ve done it again, TDE.

CJ Fly’s “The Way Eye See It” Review

If you haven’t downloaded The Way Eye See It yet by the Pro Era member CJ Fly, you’re missing out on soul-wrenching music.  You might remember the classic from Joey’s 1999, Hardknock, which started the anticipation for CJ Fly’s first mixtape.

Be prepared to listen intently to The Way Eye See it.  CJ brings nothing but thought-provoking word play channeled by his thick New York accent.  If you’ve caught CJ on 1999, The Apropacalypse, or Summer Knights, you know he brings the boom-bap + jazzy sounds hard.

CJ’s worldview is portrayed throughout this album.  From the intro to the middle to the end, this mixtape touches on the inner parts of your soul.  Not necessarily in a relational way, unless you grew up in the streets of Brooklyn, but connecting with the realness this mixtape preaches.

Ernee features Dirty Sanchez, fellow member of Pro Era, and is one of the real gems on this mixtape.  The beat is produced by Lee Bannon, who isn’t new to anyone if you’re familiar with other Pro Era work.  He doesn’t disappoint with this smooth boom-bap beat with a soft undertone of some jazzy tweaks.  It starts off with a sample of a Biggie Smalls interview which the song carries many references to.  Smalls speaks on the hard life of growing up in Brooklyn and CJ Fly and Dirty follow this theme.

CJ spits, “Life ain’t promised where I’m from, I’m from the slums where you don’t run son, live by the gun die by the gun.  Some catch the street smarts and some dumb, some of them feel me but some numb.  All I can say is one love to the young thugs getting their lungs strung,”

I love Dirty Sanchez, and he shows some real versatility in this song.  He slows it down some for us and compliments CJ on this Bannon beat well.  He make a Capital Steez reference by mentioning “Black Petunia” and another reference to Biggie is made.

Possibly my favorite song on this tape is Loco Motives produced by Carnage.  It just makes you feel good the whole time you listen to this seven minute long song.  Jazzy is the word to use again to describe this beat.  It adds even more soulfull-ness than CJ’s lyrics of personal ambition already gives us.

He speaks about his personal life of wishing he would have shown his mom more love when growing up and how much of an influence his parents have had on his life.  The hook rings “head in the clouds with my feet on the ground, view from the top and ain’t afraid to look down, in my emotions you can see how it sounds, I’ve been a pro so my work is profound.”  He shows much passion about pursuing his dreams and how he’s arrived and not stopping.  The song takes a different route the second half of it, another reason it’s my favorite.

You can hear Eyetalian Frenchip produced by the Entreproducers, well known for working with other PE members.  CJ tells a story about meeting his girl’s family over a Paris-sounding beat, trust me when I say “Paris beat”.

You can hear other beats produced by Carnage, the Entreproducers, Chuck Strangers, and Eric Arc Elliott of Flatbush Zombies.  The features on this mixtape are just as astounding as the producers.  Arc produces a unique beat for Fly and is also featured on that song which gives it such an old-school, eerie sound.

Joey also makes an appearance on “Sup Preme”, produced by Carnage, where he tweaks his voice  and in turn it sounds very raw.  Dessy Hinds, T’Nah Apex, and Chelsea Reject appear on “Thee Heiiist” that’s super fun with an uppity jazz beat.

What made my jaw drop was seeing Phife Dawg of a Tribe Called Quest featured on “Seek Well”.  Quest is one of the early influential hip-hop collectives from the 1990s, they’ve given hip-hop classics and changed it in many ways. (I actually just wrote a small throwback piece celebrating ATCQ anniversary).  Pro Era has made it obvious they have been greatly influenced by Quest throughout previous songs they have released, by sampling their beats and making references to them.

CJ Fly greets us over a catchy beat and hook, then PE member A La Sole steps in.  He has a soft boom-bap voice that I really like.  After him, comes Phife.  As soon as I hear his voice come on, it excites me.  He truly completes this old-school sounding song.

Not only is Phife Dawg on this mixtape, but Ab-Soul of Black Hippy is featured on “Sadderdaze“.  This is a loud, trumpet ringing beat that talks about the hardships and confusion of life, but how CJ and Soul aren’t letting it get in their way.  Ab-Soul reminds me of himself on his Longterm Mentality projects, which are some of his best pieces of work.  He speaks of his thoughts of injustice concerning Travyon Martin and leaves us hanging at the end of his verse to do some reflective thinking.  Man, do I love Ab-Soul.

Each song on this mixtape is truly excellent.  I’ve already listened through The Way Eye See It multiple times, and it’s been added to my list of classics and favorite pieces of art.  Pro Era never disappoints with their releases, but they have so far to go.  So far, Joey, CJ, and Capital Steez have been the only ones to release personal mixtapes.  Many other members such as Kirk Knight, Dessy Hinds, Dirty Sanchez, Rokamouth, Nyck Caution, and A La Sole speak of releasing their own projects, and those are already highly anticipated.

I give The Way Eye See It a five out of five stars.  CJ Fly did remarkable wonders with his first mixtape, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him and Pro Era.

– Jordyn

Sadderdaze by CJ Fly ft. Ab-Soul

CJ Fly released a song off of his highly anticipated upcoming mixtape “The Way Eye See It” which will be released this Friday, October the fourth. This song features the one and only Ab-Soul and both emcee’s spit lyrical verses over a jazzy beat.  Ab-Soul reminds me of himself on Longterm Mentality with his verse on this song, which is nothing but the best as that album is golden.  Enjoy!