Yo! Who is this kid? I ain’t never heard of this dude until now. He’s got a sound that is similar to Lupe Fiasco, but in his own authenticity, and most certainly a different taste in beats. Doing some research on the guy, he is OneManArmy of Binary Star. Did a stint for Armed Robbery, and is now a muslim. He has a couple of albums out, but this is one we should be focusing on. It is new goddamn it!
- Rebirth. The album title’s song. Rebirth. A discussion of moving from OneManArmy (old name with Binary Star) to his new identity. How I can do, what I can do. One Be Lo does his thing doing a bit of chest puffin, but in a softer sense. "Only god can stop me".
- Born & Raised. Just a little autobiography, who I am, what I do.
- Keep It Rollin’. Introduction beat just knocks in and rolls real smooth. Not bass heavy, perfectly selected samples. Keep it rollin boy, we see how you do, what you do, just keep it rollin. The track is impressive again. Not too different, but the beat has your number!
- Smash. Smash is a butter track with lots of knowledge and a bit of shit talking. The beat is flavor with some Mister T quotes from Rocky which adds some flavor to it. Some nice cuts from the DJ scratching. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album. I dunno how he got Sylvester Stallone (Rocky) on this album, but I am sure he had to pay a pretty penny to the movie production company.
- Headlines. A knowledge popping record talking all about the headlines on the newspaper, current events, and trying to understand it all. The lyrical content is not razor sharp, but it is more story telling and getting you to slow down and think about what’s going on. This is a very good song considering the content. The beat is irrelevant, but not very creative.
- War. Audio sample. We got a track about violence! Nice. It’s not some G-Unit type of violence. I can see this record is a direct influence of his religious beliefs and how we are at war with our country and government. Tool up, and defend what’s yours. You know happens if you violate the team, this means WAR. Movie sound bytes again.
- Don’t Sleep. A nice hip hop jazzy kind of beat. The trumpet hits lovely, the rhymes go perfectly with this track and I will say it is the best record on the album if not second best to Smash.
- House Rules. The rules of the game are not as great as what we expect.
- Snap Shot. Marvelous. I must say. The introduction to this song is ripe! He mixes in really well with the beat hear, spitting at a different speed than the other tracks, giving us a showcase of his vernacular and ability. The beat on this track is premium. But…. Once again… the movie bytes. Rocky again.
- The G Gap. A sound clip again starts with this track. On Be Lo loves his audio samples from movies. They are cool, but seem to be overly abused. We haven’t seem all of these movies. The content of the track is growing up, having family issues, having adolescent issues, started selling drugs, getting in trouble, and the end result. The beat is mediocre, it improves and gets pretty dope when the hook rolls in, but he shows us his lack of hook skills by putting in an movie sound byte once again. The track is alright.
- Gray. This song is very fruitful with an illustrious beat. Not too soft, not hard, just smooth as hell. I don’t know who did production on this beat, but it is marvelous. Knowledge poppin track again. Gray I believe is the mood of the weather in people, and how it can get dim. "Sun rise, sun sets". The saxophone does not fit in this beat at all. It makes it feel like cheesy elevator jazz. Other than that, this record is good.
- Hip Hop Heaven. This is a like a jungle, beat made in Siam with the King and I. I love it. They lyrics and song is alright, but the beat is one to fall in love with.
