Lav's Music Corner

Joey Bada$$ is a New York rapper and member of the Pro Era collective who broke onto the scene a decade ago with a now-classic debut mixtape 1999  which was released when Joey was still a teenager. After pivoting from his NY boom-bap style into a more conscious and political focus on is 2017 album All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ , Joey is returning with 2000 , a sequel to his original breakout mixtape. Review by Lav: Despite a discography that is pretty slim compared to some of his contemporaries, largely due to the 5-year gap between studio albums, Joey Badass has carved out a place for himself among the top-tier artists of today. He did this by emerging as an extremely talented individual at a very young age and continuing to impress with both his music and his far-reaching collaborations. Even though I've enjoyed some of his side work ultimately this is what I was waiting for, not only a full-length return from Joey but also a project that's thematically connected to his still legenda

Nyck Caution is a New York rapper and long time member of the Pro Era hip hop collective. He released his first mixtape back in 2016 but attracted much more attention on collaborative projects like his mixtape alongside Kirk Knight, Nyck @ Knight , or the Pro Era, Flatbush Zombies and Underachievers super group Beast Coast. Those projects led up to this, his debut album which features numerous Pro Era and Flatbush Zombies members in its tracklist.  Review By Lav: While Nyck Caution has never been one of my favorite Pro Era members he does have plenty of standout moments and consistently shows up to contribute solid material to nearly every project he appears on. Most of my favorite Nyck Caution moments thus far come on the Nyck @ Knight  mixtape where he and fellow Pro Era member Kirk Knight deliver sharp introspective hip hop dark intimate instrumentals to great success. Given how many years its been since Nyck's last solo mixtape I was hoping we would see improvement and while th

Powers Pleasant is a New York hip hop producer and DJ and one of the founding members of New York's own Pro Era. He has been producing music for years for various members of Pro Era including Joey Badass and Kirk Knight as well as fellow New York artists like The Underachievers. After dropping some beat tapes on his SoundCloud over the years but geared up for a new album with three singles featuring high profile hip hop artists. Review By Lavender: I have been an admirer of Powers Pleasant for a long time, particularly alongside Joey Bada$$ over the years. While I respect him a lot as a beat crafter my perception of him as a curator of talent was in dire straights after hearing the first thee singles from this record and my expectations of the album turned out dead on. There are plenty of great beats and verses across this record, but they are bogged down with rappers missing the mark on almost every song. The lead single is one of the best songs on the album and the only

Beast Coast is a New York hip hop super group made up of Issa Gold and AKTHESAVIOR better known as The Underachievers, Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick The Architect better known as Flatbush Zombies, as well as Joey Badass, Nyck Caution, Kirk Knight, CJ FLY and Powers Pleasant all of whom come from the New York hip hop collective Pro Era. After collaborating with each other for years the super group has finally collected to release this album and go on a tour this summer in support of it.  Review By Lavender: While I am a fan of the many artists involved in this grand collaboration I must admit that just a few years ago I would have been way more excited for this project. Joey Badass has always been sharp and even though it has been two years since his last album it was one of my favorite hip hop albums of 2017 and I am still excited for anything he does. Nyck Caution and Kirk Knight however both missed on their most recent solo albums and while I thought their collabora