When Baraka Ongeri, better known as binki, talks about his music, it’s not with the polish of a marketing campaign. He’s not selling a scene, a genre, or even a moment. Raised in North Carolina by Kenyan parents, binki’s sound doesn’t slot neatly anywhere — it’s an instinctive fusion of post-punk sharpness, indie looseness, funk’s bounce, and hip-hop’s swagger.
On August 13, 2021, he released Landline as part of his debut EP MOTOR FUNCTION — and it’s still resonating, with over 1 million YouTube views and counting.
Landline doesn’t grab your attention with big choruses or stadium-shaking drops. It locks you in. Distorted guitars and a looped drum pattern set the scene, while binki’s delivery — half-rapped, half-sung, all presence — dances just ahead of the beat.
“There’s this tension in it,” he says. “Like… I’m not yelling, but I’m not calm either.”
The track never explodes, but it’s never still. It simmers. There’s frustration in it, sure — but also style, restraint, and a steady pulse that makes you want to hit replay before the last note fades.
Landline might feel raw, but it’s anything but careless. The production lineup — Justin Raisen, SADPONY, and Chasen Smith — treat minimalism like an art form. Every element has breathing space, yet nothing feels empty.
“It’s gritty on purpose,” Raisen explains. “There’s room for the track to teeter on the edge — like it could fall apart at any second — but it never does.”
Credits:
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Produced by Justin Raisen, SADPONY, Chasen Smith
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Engineered by Jaclyn Sanchez, Anthony Paul Lopez, Ainjel Emme
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Mastered by John Greenham
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Written by binki, Chasen Smith
The official music video leans into the track’s uneasy energy. VHS grain, jarring jump cuts, digital glitches, and absurdist vignettes collide into something that feels like scrolling the internet at 3 a.m. — overstimulating, slightly disorienting, but impossible to turn away from.
“It’s a mess… but it’s a curated mess,” binki laughs. “Like how the internet feels most of the time.”
Landline is just one piece of MOTOR FUNCTION, a five-track debut that embraces ambiguity. The EP doesn’t spell itself out; instead, each song acts like a quick flash of a bigger picture — imperfect, jittery, and magnetic.
“Every track was like a different thought,” says binki. “I didn’t want it to feel too polished or too certain. Life’s not like that.”
Landline isn’t built for virality — it’s built to stick. It’s fresh without trying too hard, simple without being hollow, and once it’s in your rotation, it’s hard to shake loose.