Review Summary: Regardless of your taste in music, this album is great.
From Pontiac, Michigan comes Binary Star, a Hip-Hop group consisting of two members that met in prison, after being charged with armed robbery. One Be Lo, and Senim Silla are the two men that make up the group. Their lyrics contain more substance than your typical money, bitches and bling scenario. Out of the three main things that make Hip-Hop what it is, this album strikes one hundred percent. From the depth of their message, flow of the voice, or well produced audio backtracks, this album delivers on all fronts.
For the most part, the album has samples to start most of the tracks, and the samples give you a feel for what the track is going to be about.
Honest Expression has a man explaining that expressing yourself honestly is harder than putting on a show, which in most cases are true. In some instances samples in the beginning of a track can lower the value of the album, but not in this case. Consistency holds up the idea strongly, since they have reasons to be there and are all over the album.
One part of album of course is the rhyme flow. Mainly their flow consists of a really smooth way of talking, and they rarely ever leave the monotone sound. Overall the songs sound like spoken word over a beat and with a little more rhythm. The way they emphasize a statement or a word is by doubling over the voices between the two MC’s which work very well with their beat style. One Be Lo has more of a higher pitched voice, which is complemented by Senim’s lower more baritone sounding voice.
Lyrics are the highlight of the album, for the imagination is remarkable. The primary concept of the album is for the listener to understand that they’re not another Hip-Hop group for flashing their big rims, or insisting that they’re hard in any manner. However, there still is plenty of other songs about entirely different topics, such as,
I Know Why The Cage Bird Sings. The track describes the evolution they took while spending their nights and days in prison. The flow and poetic edge give the song a perfect and full feeling. Another highlight track to display this album’s diversity is,
The Evolution of Man which typically can be described as a song devoted to love. It flows between One Be Lo and Brenda J. The two voices work perfectly together throughout the entirety of the song, they flow seamlessly with amazing poetry and compassion. The content of their lyrics separates them from other Hip Hop artists by cradling much more content and depth. The Evolution of Man demonstrates their diverse writing style by shifting the albums concept into an entirely different realm. At a glance, this album could be thrown off as another Hip-Hop album, but it’s the lyrics which hold it much higher than competition.
Most of the albums beats were produced Decompozed except for a few tracks including,
Reality Check, Binary Shuffle, Onemanarmy, and
The KGB. The beats work hand in hand with the flow of the MC’s, rather perfectly since both the beat and the voices are smooth and calm. There are some beats that deliver more of a punch and upbeat tone such as,
Binary Shuffle which sounds like an late 80’s Hip-Hop beat, think Eazy-Duz-It. However most of the tracks sound a little jazzy, slow jazz mixed with the Hip-Hop beat. In the track,
Glen Close, it starts with a relaxed jazz beat, but about half way into it, the beat switches up to a faster and more diverse sound. Most of the tracks aren’t by any means special for the beat, but they’re definitely good. The tracks are carried by the MC’s mainly, however in some spots scattered throughout the album you’re greeted by some DJ scratching and breaks in the beat. Although mainly the tracks are carried by the MC, the beat constantly is undergoing changes that work perfectly with the overall calmness of the album. For a good example listen to track,
New Hip Hop.
Regardless of your taste in music, this album is great. Its diversity spreads its fashion into everyone’s appetite, with awesome lyricism and interesting beats. The story alone of how this group was formed is interesting, and to multiply that they’ve created a fantastic album with plenty to dig out of. Likewise with all of conscious Hip-Hop records, the lyrics are the best quality and they work so well to describing what idea they’d like to promote. Binary Star is a Hip-Hop group to be reckoned with.
