If there is one thing New York rappers have in common, it is consistency. Whether talking about individual verses, songs, or records, Pro Era rarely disappoints. Joey Bada$$'s new mix tape, Summer Knights, is another solid release from the Pro Era crew. On this new tape, Joey is taking his rapping to the next level. On his previous release, 1999, he laid verses over beats very smoothly and easily. On Summer Knights he strikes every track fiercely with a much more sharp and mature flow. Almost every aspect of his music has become much more developed. Most of the tracks have a very specific message that comes through loud and clear. The production is clean and easy to enjoy. It is not hard to tell that the Era's Kirk Knight and Chuck Strangers have been improving their beat making skills. This tape manages to be surprisingly eclectic without sounding disjointed. The only part of Summer Knights that really isn't enjoyable is the Collie Budz feature on "My Yout". His voice is tolerable but the way he pronounces the lyrics in this track is beyond annoying. I am embarrassdd to listen to this track in my car with anyone. Aside from the awkward feature from Collie, Joey and Chuck created a solid track here. One of the last few tracks, "Longlivesteelo" is a tribute to the late Capital Steez. As a fan of Steez, this track gives me some slight chills. This track features a vocal at the end of the song that is a clever reference to another song by Capital Steez called "47 Elements". As a pretty big fan of Pro Era, Summer Knights is another solid release from the group. If you are not already a fan, this would be a fantastic place to start.
8.5/10
Favorite tracks: Death of YOLO, Sweet Dreams, Sit'n'prey, 95' til infinity
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