Tragic Hero is probably one of the most underrated hip hop artists around under the christian hip hop sub genre. Honestly, the argument can be made about all the artists under our sub genre but Tragic Hero is in a league of his own when it comes to his style and message.
The Resistance is a great EP… Probably the only EP that I was truly glad I paid for, besides Tony Tillman’s new EP “The Tillman EP”. This tape has AMAZING production from the great Wes Pendleton. I mean as soon as you click play you are hit with a voice recording of a man telling you if you are listening this… you are the resistance. Which when i heard it for the first time I was like “Ahhhh snap, its bout to get real!” Wes hits you with a smooth sample equipped with some stellar bass playing. Tragic Hero comes in with his odd type of word play that FORCES you to listen to his tracks atleast 25 times in order to understand what his message is. I mean I’ve listened to this EP about…. 100…… million times and I still catch little slick lines here and there throughout the project. “Against the World” was the perfect opener to a very impressive project. It’s a polished sample heavy track that should a smile on your face for spending the money because the rest of the EP won’t disappoint.
This is a short EP being only 6 tracks long plus a bonus track “P.R.S”. None of them disappoint. I cant stop saying that… The title track “The Resistance” has a screwed up Tragic Hero line that was in the previous track “Against the World”. It is accompanied by a very famous sample that most people will remember from the Powder Puff Girls intro. Yes, I made a Powder Puff Girls reference. Let the hate/love fill my inbox. The rest of the song includes W.L.A.K members Alex Faith and Dre Murray… Both amazing artists and they both left pretty good verses. This to me was a boring track to be honest since i’m not a big fan of the PPG sample and the constant loop of the Tragic Hero line on the hook. But I did like Tragic’s last couple bars when he had that Rick Ross flow, talking about his lack of deniro and how he looks like a bowl full of cheerios… You know, cause the cheerios look like 0s… and he has no money…. no? Anyway I thought it was catchy. The next tracks “The Only One Left” and “Pretty Darling” is when I was truly impressed with Tragic Hero’s music and his art as an artist. “The Only One Left” has this weird little lead going on throughout with heavy strings and skittering high hats. A very atmospheric; spacey type of track that will need to be on repeat atleast 50 times when you first hear this EP. But what really impressed me with this track as well as “Pretty Darling” were the endings. “The Only One Left” right before it ends hits you with really strong dramatic piano chords and Tragic Hero singing a truly great hook talking about if you find yourself alone Jesus will always be around. The entire track deals with the spirit of loneliness and alternates between Tragic always being there for somebody when they are lonely to Jesus always being there for Tragic when he feels like he is alone. Great track.
“Pretty Darling” is a track talking about a girl who is caught up in the life style of pleasing herself. She is a beautiful female that is only out to manipulate people in order to get what she wants and Tragic is singing a song to her saying that the life she leads is empty and dangerous. This is a really dark and moody song. It’s appropriate when you think of the self destructive lifestyle that this girl has elected to adopt. There is a gorgeous piano arpeggio played throughout with heavy bass. Like I said earlier this track is really impressive at the end when Tragic sings an almost inaudible verse that reminds me of what the Weeknd does in their music. Even though it sounds like all Tragic is doing is harmonizing to the track if you listen closely he is almost chastising the girl for everything that she does. All and all a GREAT addition to a truly stellar track. I almost found myself skipping the entire song just to listen to the last 30 seconds or so.
If you’ve noticed, by the fifth track there arent anymore features besides the ones Faith and Murray added on the title track. “In My Arms” is a great makeup type of love song. In this track Tragic is talking to his love about how he wishes they would stop the fightin’ and get back to lovin’. A track with great production by my boy Wes and another song that you will fall in love with the last 10 seconds of the track because Tragic once again does his whole harmonizing thing and makes you want him to draw the track out a little longer so he can finish singing. “I Got It” is when the iconic misfit Marty Mar adds a in your face verse about how his dreams and what he cares about. A solid track with trap style high hats and a pretty good sample. The bonus track isn’t that long but honestly it was really good. Listen a couple hundred times to understand all that he says in the track.
Overall this is a great project that is well worth the money. Wes and Tragic bring a great project that is short but will be on repeat for atleast a month. No Lie.
Final Words: Tragic Hero is SERIOUSLY underrated in this sub genre. Off this EP and his other project “Going Home” he could easily be your favorite rapper in the pursuit of giving our savior the glory.
I give this EP a
9/10

-Black Janitor