- The golden era of hip-hop spawned numerous examples of the power of people and showed us what devastating results it could have, especially coming out of New York at the turn of the 90s. From the positive vibes of the Native Tongues collective and the Hierogplyphics Crew, to the confronting and dark street rap of Wu-Tang Clan and the Diggin' In The Crates Crew, the 90s seemed a glorious time to be a hip-hop head. These almost divine forces constantly came together to create music even more mouthwatering than the sum of their glorious, individual parts.

The golden era seems so far away now, it's monumental achievements now haunted by ambivalence and collapsed into a whole lot of indifference. After years in which rap collectives and 'supergroups' felt more like packs of washed out, over-the-hill, hip hop outcasts, the past couple of years have experienced a nearly imperceptible resurgence in the fine art of coexisting. Once again DJs, MCs and producers are sharing their talent, ideas and drive as crews, including the rising prominence of the likes of Odd Future and A$AP Mob.

While there's no lack of talent and creativity in the aforementioned up and comers, you can already smell the groups decaying, an issue of just too much style despite the substance. Time for some fresh meat! One new group bringing their own take of the mid 90's quintessential New York sound are the Pro Era crew, a group 20 strong of alarmingly young fellas: their unofficial figurehead, Joey Bada$ is barely 18 years of age. Pro Era feel different because there's nothing flashy or trendy here: this is pure talent spat over horns, keys, strings and boom-bap, it's some of the most timeless hip hop currently being produced.

While Joey Bada$' debut tape featured a mixture of re-appropriated and original beats, Pro Era's first mix tape as a group, PEEP: The aPROcalypse, see the New Yorkers use all fresh beats - this time a mix of in-house producers and a couple of outside sources - the majority coming from throwback, East Coast producer Statik Selektah, a dude who has recently conjured up magic with both Freddie Gibbs and Action Bronson.

This free tape was never meant to be more than a taster from a group that features many still relatively unknown members but has unintentionally found the spotlight and been looked upon quite critically after the alleged suicide of second most prominent member Capital Steez, PEEP, where he appears on 7 of the 17 tracks, unexpectedly becoming his final legacy,

Viewed as it was meant to be, PEEP: The aPROcalypse is a confident and thoroughly enjoyable experience, with even the most obscure members of the crew getting a chance to shine. There's enough variations on the theme here that, despite being 70 minutes long, it doesn't overstay it's welcome. I've got that time and a lot more for Pro Era's brand of jazzy, throwback, relaxed grooves. There'ssimply nothing not to like here. I'm loving these zero dollar price tags, there's absolutely no reason not to indulge.

- Jay Edwards.