It’s not often that a group of kids can take over the rap game and establish themselves as one of the best crews in just five years, but that’s exactly what Pro Era has done.

Combining 90s-inspired flows, clever punch lines, and speaking on real topics, people all around the world have gravitated towards Pro Era and, like me, have been listening since 2012.

Joey Bada$$ is obviously the most known rapper in the group and blew up when he was just 15. Since then, he has been putting his whole squad on, helping his squad show their own singular talents. When Pro Era first started, it had only four people but now they have grown to over 15 members.

Drawing inspiration from greats like Biggie, who, like Pro Era, is from Brooklyn, they were also influenced by icons like Tupac. Pro Era followed current artists like J Cole and Kendrick Lamar’s rise to fame to help sculpt their own careers and follow their footsteps. These are all students of the game.

Pro Era always promotes messages of peace in their music and with the 47 symbol. The 47 symbol comes from Buddhism, signifying peace and balance. They are a very spiritual group, so you really have to listen to their lyrics to feel what they’re talking about. This is why listeners feel deeply connected with them.

In the past few years alone, they’ve really blown up. Malia Obama was even caught wearing a Pro Era shirt while Barack was still president and Secret Service was alerted. But with all the fame and recognition they don’t let any of it get to their head, constantly making quality music with more to come.

It’s crazy to think of how popular Pro Era already is and their group hasn’t even reached their peak yet. The video above shows how far they’ve come.