Words by Rena Hoshino
Baraka Ongeri – better known as Binki – is an artist from Pennsylvania, creating songs with a range of dance, rap, and pop elements.
Seeking to kickstart his career, Binki moved to New York after finishing college, where fellow flourishing artists such as Clairo and Snail Mail were similarly finding their feet. Success came quickly: Binki’s debut single, ‘Marco’, was an immediate hit, garnering millions of streams. The 2018 release is built on the back of a snazzy guitar track and steady drumming, alongside smart wordplay and contagious repetition in its lyrics.
Binki’s following string of singles were few but consistent in quality and popularity, with ‘heybb!’ being used by Apple in an advertisement for iPad Air. Thus, from the start of his music career, Binki set expectations high for himself and his listeners.
Binki’s success relies partly on his use of metaphors and pop culture references, which especially formed the foundations of his sound in the first 3 years of his music. From lyrics like “I’m solo like Han”, to “On everything like Old Bay”, his lyrics are undoubtedly influenced by the 2010s bedroom pop era that he’s cited as having paved the way for his sound.
Binki’s portfolio mostly consists of vocals that fluctuate between speaking and singing, contributing to his distinct style. This means that even as he switches up his sound from the relaxed tones of ‘Wiggle’ to the more upbeat ‘Revolve’, his songs promise to be unpredictable but reliable in their catchiness and recognisability.
His EP Motor Function builds on this with less acoustic instrumentals and more synthetic layering of sounds. The EP is a distinct move away from his original laid back sound, with his voice instead put front and centre with a studio filter, meshing together to produce rousing songs.
Throughout his career, Binki has shown that his artistic talent transcends audio, finding itself more than apt in the visual arena. His experimental approach to both his music videos and cover art fit his specific energy, engaging the listener in sketching an alternate universe where seemingly random elements work together.
He clearly enjoys challenging the borders of normality and what possibilities can be reached in his artistic endeavours. Presented by Betamax Plus, his AI generated cover arts are based on old film aesthetics and introduce an eeriness to the well-established industry/cultural monopoly of Hollywood.
Subversion is also present in the songs themselves: the guitar intro in ‘Doomsday’ pulls the listener back to Binki’s earlier sound, and in ‘Hotel Window’ his audio is slightly fried, giving the song a spooky/science fiction sound to match the art.
It seems Binki is making an effort to acknowledge the roots of his earlier music while also pointing us towards the potential of our new era of technology, teaching us change goes hand in hand with growth. With an artist this creative, we’re excited to see what he’ll dream up next.