We might as well face this from the start, this album is gonna be slept on. Its the sort of album that contains all the qualities of a solid debut but you have the feeling not enough people will be listening to this duo so that they get their full props. Binary Star dropped their great EP early 99 and I was lucky enough to catch it, maybe a lot of you didnt, the 4 tracks appear here from the New hip hop EP so you aint missing out. This group from Detroit are definitely dripping in skills.
In the 99, its seems everyone's trying to take hip hop in a new direction, using the sound of 99, now it seems about 4-5 years ago no one seemed to be doing this, maybe no one wanted to or maybe the Indy scene wasnt as successful as it is today. Binary star seemed to have taken the sound that was the mid nineties and given it that 1-9-9-9 touch. It seems they have taken that unused parallel that was '95 and took it in their own direction. Now to a lot of you it seems like I just told you that this album sounds dated, fuck that, this album is fresh.
Like I already mentioned, all four tracks from that High quality EP appear here so what better way to remind ya, introduce ya or just make a wicked opener than having New hip hop start the flow. The beat remains clean in production with some nice piano looping and vocal samples cut up for these 2 emcees to flow over. Dat Fast Food Joint was also evidence of what was to come and appearing in this collection of 17 tracks it seems to fit in with their ethics of bringing you the hip hop ya hungry for, please dont expect no corny RNB hooks anywhere. Reality check is one of the best tracks I heard in a long time, its definitely one of the best tracks here anyway, over a sort of premier-ish beat that can only be described as beautifully layered, Binary star do nothing but compliment this loop and show how much passion they have for rhyming. I also gotta comment on the way the track stops with samples and they just bring it back in making it more intense, arrrghhh this is great. Ok let's not give that track too much attention because itll put the rest in the shade. Indy 500 is also another great track, the title and lyrics hold double meanings, D-Compoze breaks down how similar the Indie scene is with the grand prix scene, and I mean in a metaphorical way and its pretty fucking clever. Lyrically this guy is a patriot for our ever-growing independent scene and he speaks some real sense. The pace of the track also seems to build to bring further atmosphere to the track making it more intense. Its done in the same way as the brilliant Glen Close the track switches pace for its intense moments, and if you dont know why its called that its because this emcee suffers a fatal attraction type encounter but no boiling bunnies here, just a great skill for storytelling displayed.
Evolution Of Man is nothing but butta! This track displays the jazziness of a common or Pete Rock and CL, it takes you on a trip to those good old days, the way they rhyme, the way the track works and the structure of the whole thing. Dedicated to the completion of Man, if you didnt know were talking about the need for the woman, so again they displaying some versatility. Still a soldier is one of the final highlights fore this album closes and they are going for the jugular, this sounds like nothing else on the album with a hectic attack on the mic with equally hectic production to back it up itll have the hardest of the head-nodders with whiplash.
The album isnt without its flaws, mainly the fact that when Binary Star produce a great track they blow your mind which kind of puts the rest of the material in the average category when coupled with excellency. There are a few mediocre tracks like Freakin Flows and Conquistadors but thats what the skip button is for. Overall though this is a pure hip hop album and a more than worthy debut to our earphones and sound systems
Go out and get this album when it drops, lets make sure this group is noticed, supported and not slept on because we'll only regret it.
