Review of Pro's "Dying to Live" (2011) Sep 02 '11    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 Mai by Eri Sugai From $4 The Bottom Line ... Pros: Get It, Stronger and Drink from His Cup are highlights. Cons: Weak choruses are the norm, utterly average throughout  Meet Pro, the Tennessee native releasing his first full-length album on a major record label, Lecrae’s Reach Records. He exploded onto the Christian Hip-Hop scene in 2008 with a couplet of mixtapes  and eventually his explosive debut album, ”The Blackout.” Production and flow-wise, I welcomed conversation for it as the hottest album of the year, in the subgenre. “Blackout” was a solid album that weakened itself towards the end of its playlist with repetitive subject matter. The album wasn’t as welcomed warmly in the Christian circle because of Pro’s large ego and self-centered lyricism, which was a direct contradiction to the character of the God that Pro said he was spitting for. Soon after “Blackout” released, Pro moved to Memphis, got connected with Lecrae (The Jay-Z of Christian Hip-Hop, in prominence, not style) and dropped off the music map for a minute. Lecrae began mentoring Pro, challenging his self-centered worldview, and as Pro matured he began to start popping his head into the studio again, surfacing with tracks like “I’m Sorry” (An open letter to his listeners) and “Murder Swag” which was Pro spelling out a paradigm shift for his approach to rhyming.  He started his own record label, Reflection Music Group, and dropped “Redemption” in summer of ’10, opened up for Reach Record’s nationwide Unashamed Tour in fall of that same year, and announced his signing to Reach in early 2011. “Dying to Live” is the official product of that partnership. When it dropped, “Redemption” was a failed follow-up to “The Blackout” to me. There were some blazing tracks (Hold Me Down, Clear the Air, Merked, Know You to name a few) but they got mixed in with some really tepid ones  and the final product was a mixed bag. A mixtape put out to promote the Reach signing (PSA Volume 2, worth the free download) got me excited that Pro bounced back from ‘Redemption’ to “Blackout”status, with notable evolution, so it was with hype that I drove to cop the physical copy. But, even with lowered expectations, I was left craving more than the offering “Dying” gave us.  The early word on the album was as mixed as it ended up being. I’m a huge fan of ”Get It” , a somewhat gritty, popping head-bobber that’s perfect as the soundtrack for thirty-mile-an-hour cruising. It’s no coincidence that the three tracks that Pro produced here, including this one, are the ones that work the best. ”Before I Die,” the latest single from the album, isn’t awful…It’s a contemplative piano and string-driven track whose medium pace helps it go down easy. I just can’t help but feel Pro should’ve knocked this one out of the park instead of settle for the ground-rule double that it is. ”Full Court Mess,” featuring Reach’s newest signee, KB, was released as the background music to ‘Altered Pro,’ a revision of a Sega Genesis game that Reach put on their website to promote the album (Amazing idea). It’s a rocky track with more electric guitar than snare drums that samples Creezy’s ‘Go Hard.’ Pro is absolutely venomous in his delivery here…You can feel his spittle on your cheek as he rattles of his passion and KB delivers his machine-gun flow with a verse that doesn’t really show how talented he really is. I feel like this track is perfect as background music to Madden or Altered Pro. I loved it in that context but, out of it, I find myself reaching for that skip button after Pro’s ferocious first verse. The original single, ”Mission to Mars,” is just whack. There’s really nothing else to say about it. I can’t help but think that Katy Perry and Kanye’s ‘E.T.’ is what inspired this track and if you’re like ‘for real?’ then you get a taste of the ‘what the freak’ feeling I get every time I give this more than twenty seconds of my ear time.  The intro, ”A Life Worth Dying For,” produced by mastermind Wit serves its purpose as a hype-machine and opening statement but never drops my jaw. ”This Can’t Be,” with a Tony Stone produced beat, is chill and thematically appropriate realization of how short our current world falls short of any attempts at total and lasting satisfaction. Pro never suffers when he settles his flow into a more relaxed cadence, even when his lyrics aren’t as equally easygoing. I’m a fan of "Stronger" with Jai belting out a chorus that she is in total control of. ”Merked Pt. 2” boasts a haunting beat, an aggressive Pro, and…a momentum killing chorus. All of Pro’s railings against gangsters with the preconceived notion of invincibility go well until the chorus gets an awkward ending of ‘that’ll get your head bust (Merked!).’ It may sound like nitpicking, but I feel it runs the flow of the song that could’ve been solved by keeping the lyrics from Pt. 1 and just saying ‘that’ll get ya merked.’ ”Going In,” with Lecrae and Tedashii, is a banger except, again, for a chorus that can’t think of anything better to do except shout ‘I’m going in’ continually. Pro steals the show with bars here, ‘cause Lecrae’s verse is weak and Tedashii’s been killing cats on features for the year and a half so producing just under par here isn’t something I mind.  ”No Limits,” featuring Rio on a hook that finally grabs you, is an album highlight thanks to the guest spot. ”Beautiful” is an ode to the female listeners and, while I’m genuinely grateful for the message, there’s little here to make it stand out. "Drink from His Cup” is a winner, featuring Suzy Rock of High Society on the chorus. Adding to this album’s identity of “If only…” is the fact that Suzy is limited to the chorus here. There hasn’t been a song she’s been on since she popped back on the scene in the past year that she hasn’t disgraced her male counterparts and having her rip into the Tony Stone beat would have made this a classic. As it is, it’s in the top 5 of the album. ”No One Greater” (With Trip Lee and J’Son), ”Never Back Down” (With Thi’sl, whose new album ‘Beautiful Monster’ is cop-worthy, and S.O.) and ”Get Buck” (Starring Pro’s Reflection Music Group crew: Chad Jones, Brothatone and Canon) close the album. They are all 5-Hour energy hyped bangers that, honestly, aren’t too indistinguishable. Couple thoughts on them: One, it’s great to hear Trip spitting again after a short hiatus. Two, Thi’sl’s verse is trademark ex-hustler (a very good thing). Three, the Reflection crew is hit-or-miss for me but out of the three finales I like the feel of ‘Get Buck’ the most. All these are guaranteed to be fire in concert, but I won’t listen to them enough to know the lyrics to get live with everyone else, save for ‘Get Buck’ which I’m starting to like more with every spin.  I haven’t seen an album as borderline average as “Dying to Live” in a while. While ‘Redemption’ was a mixed bag of hot and not, here we have a gray recipe with only a few spices standing out. My moments of negativity toward it come from the high expectations I have for any and all things Reach Records and for  the ‘Blackout’-level Pro (In both production and writing) that I’ve known. Now, let me say, I’d rather have dude be closer to the Lord and living life 100% for Him and produce music of a lesser quality than be all caught up in himself and be producing heat. But, that’s not an excuse for “Dying.” It feels like Pro is an album or two behind on his progression as an artist compared to his Reach partners, who all have at least three records under their belt. I guess that makes sense but ‘Blackout,’ ‘PSA Volume 2’ (released just a couple months before this) and guest spots beg to differ. So I’ll probably always be debating whether to invest in his releases in the future. But if I could have this one back, I would. Grade: C

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