Months later, friends would marvel at how the chubby kid theyd known in high school had turned into a slim rapper with tattoos seemingly overnight. Steez was painfully sensitive to the lack of recognition for the project. He told everyone what he was going to do before he did it and NO ONE tried to stop him, STEEZ mom was supposedly kind of pissed off by that. Id ask him, How do you rap so good? What type of shit are you on? one of his friends wrote. everything about his death is strange. He frequently talked about auras, chakras and, most popularly, the third eye. This language and ideology began to spread amongst the other members of Pro Era. Relatable and charming, Joey holds court in front of the group with a microphone that he rarely relinquishes, a kid who clearly enjoys entertaining a crowd. After the tour, Steez became more reclusive and began going further down his spiritual journey. Shipes and others viewed Badass as way more like-able, and thus easier to promote. One of the citys most gifted young artists had killed himself in the center of Manhattan, and no one seemed to know for certain if it had even happened. The internet too, has been a hotbed of conspiracies: that Steez was killed by the Illuminati, or that someone in the industry wanted him dead. As part of its founding philosophy, the school encourages the creativity and independence of students through free periods known as OPTAs (optional time activities), and during just about every period of the day at Murrow when the members of Pro Era were enrolled there, kids would freestyle in the hallway or across the street at a playground called L Park, home to a vibrant social scene that revolved around skateboarding, graffiti and weed-smoking. About nine months after Steez death, I visited Jack in Philadelphia at his apartment near Temple University, where he is a junior. Steez started to think that all of the religion was based on lies. Some claimed that STEEZ hated the other members of Pro Era and used the Cinematic Music Groups headquarters as a message to them about the consequences of their selfishness. STEEZ was watching his brainchild become a shadow that he began to live in. He said Im trying to explain to you that theres about to be a shift and even if you cant hear me now, just remember theres about to be one later., The last time Steez performed was at Public Assembly in Williamsburg on December 12, 2012. Joey, two years his junior, was getting known as one of raps brightest young stars, quickly winning over fans and the media alike with his sly demeanor and lyrical skills. The teenagers jumped around on set. The rappers friend and collaborator Joey Bada$$ announced the news on Twitter, saying, This unfortunate xmas eve Lost a best friend, a brother, a pro, a partner. Steez sent a message to his friend Shirley, writing Eye love you ;). He sped out with a friend in a car, and met up with the rest of the Pros there. He was just like, Im just done with this shit., Around the last week of his life, Steez had even withdrawn from his closest friend at the time, Rey Sanchez. He appeared more alone than ever.
Steez also began putting everything into his first solo project, which he planned to release in early 2012. Even those headquartered in the building where it happened had little to report about what had transpired. Love podcasts or audiobooks? Rey Sanchez says he and Steez were stopped and frisked by NYPD officers at least seven times together, and that Steez had grown increasingly critical of the government and police through those experiences. Indigos also usually have a disapproval of authority. Let's be happy that he made music, and celebrate it by listening to it, instead of being bitter because Joey has money. The very few STEEZ fans that exist would happily donate towards a kickstarter to get his last works out. He would say something, and youd be like, What are you talking about?. His mother became increasingly worried for her son aswell, as her sister says, The other day I went to visit my mom and we broke down because every day she tries to calculate in her head, What the fuck happened to my son?.
Rumors say that he jumped clutching a bible, but the circumstances surrounding his death remain a mystery. R.I.P Steez, I hope you've found your peace, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 18002738255. Riding the bus home afterwards, Steez began talking with Powers Pleasant, 17, a drummer and producer who had DJed for him that night, when they were both struck by the idea of forming a hip-hop group. Told him stop." His lyrics question American politics and his own community from every level. He sent one last tweet, which was sent while he was on top of a building in Manhattan, and it read, The end. Shortly after midnight, Capital Steezs jumped off a Manhattan building and his body was found outside with him clutching a bible toward his chest. Dessy Hinds arrived, fresh off of turning in a college paper on Oedipus. In July, Joey and his mother officially inked a deal with Shipes, and soon after registered Pro Era as an LLC owned by her and Joey. It was a painful moment in music history.
Next thing. Letting go is never easy., Bada$$ goes on to say that part of me doesnt believe this. Other members of New Era to post comments include Chuck Strangers and CJ Fly. Mrs. Dewar had gone to sleep thinking her son was at home, according to Tamara, but awoke later that night, when one of the Pros showed up at the door, worried and looking for Steez. (adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({});Despite being the clear leader of Pro Era from the perspective of the Pros themselves, it was actually Joey Bada$$ who seemed to be gaining the most traction with the outside world. Mrs. Dewar immediately called a suicide hotline; a police report notes a call was placed around 12:15AM. You would talk to Steez and not know half the shit he was talking about. 47 to Steez was the quintessential number in the world, it represented the fourth and seventh chakra, the 4th being the Heart, the 7th being the Brain. Steez seemed to enjoy the controversy the sticker caused beyond his Facebook page as well. I wish I got free clothes! A video interview released by The Source in June of that year captures the stark differences in personality between the two. Last year his sister came on stage and announced KC for December, and as we know through previous events, didn't follow through. In doing this, they both refer back to the symbols original use in Eastern cultures as an emblem of spiritual values and good fortune, and intentionally stir up controversy amongst those who see and misinterpret it. He honestly said a couple things to me that really concerned me at the shoot, said Rubin. He fixated on the apocalypse, and his outlook seemed to have gotten even darker. The video, in which Steez, Joey, and their friends skate around Brooklyn, and Steez wearing a huge panda mask, accumulated 100,000 views in just a few weeks. He highlights the many civilian casualties that led up to the death of Osama Bin Laden; he flambs New York Citys Mayor Bloomberg for putting his energy into regulating sizes for soda while the crack rings were leaving people dead in the streets; he criticizes the black community for their lack of unity, and he wonders anxiously if God perhaps abandoned Earth because of humankinds destructive ways. By his junior year, Steez became known around the school for his rhyming skills. Even more information a user on oddfuturetalk.com, 'Tubo Sensei', on the date of his death, commented stating he had spoke to him a month prior: I am lost for words, spoke to him on many occasions, first big artist to give my music a chance and took a beat for his album. He could have been commercial if he sacrificed a few things, which he wasnt willing to do, says Jesse Rubin, who worked at Cinematic before leaving later in 2012. Joey describes it as a loss of innocence. I realized that I wasnt the one that wasits the system thats built against me, you know?). STEEZs increasingly strange persona not only further limited his potential marketability, but created a flood of rumors after his death that tried to dig at the cause and possible purpose of his passing. I get it, 6 years and they've had no closure because they still don't understand why he's gone, just release the music before people truly give up with it. PRO ERA as a collective aren't really tight knit, sure, they do some projects together every now and then (and by they, I mean Nyck, Joey and Kirk) - the group as a whole has been on the decline because they've been trying to bolster their solo careers rather than still pumping out group projects, which doesn't do much good for the group. His anger was never expressed through violent lyrics, but through a sort of wisdom that remained perpetually bleak but impressively intelligent and always a little bit weird. Why wasnt the family alerted when the signs were becoming clear that something was wrong in the last couple of days of his life? Steez began watching a YouTube series called, Spirit Science. Joey Badass was already rapping on his own though, he would upload videos to a YouTube channel under the alias, JayOhVee. So maybe they didnt want him to be remembered like that.
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