Rapper BILLER was born Tos Benson in Lagos, Nigeria in 1998. With a passion for music and inspiration from artists like Travis Scott, Bryson Tiller, Chris Brown, Logic & Drake, he started creating his sound in early 2016. BILLER gained local attention in Oxford, and also his hometown of Feltham after releasing his first single “Colours” which was aired on Kiss FM Radio. BILLER is a lyricist, and the EP “THRESHOLD” is his magnum opus. He uses a plethora of interesting and varied literary techniques along with pulsating exotic beats to get his points across, but it’s those points that he gets across that will speak to audiences. His identity and confidence creates an unmistakable image which goes hand in hand with the undeniable style of his music. Here BILLER takes a look at the rap industry and its players, especially those artists who, in his own words, “leach off the rap industry without respecting the art.” His flow is as tight as ever, working angry and fiery stylings into his performances seamlessly.
As a display of his potential, this EP confirms the tour de force of BILLER’s charisma and talent, especially when working with a large variety of productions and with different sampling techniques to add a large amount of spice and flavor to the beat selections.
BILLER’s adventurous vocal inflections, in which he bends his voice and flow in a multitude of ways are just as attention grabbing as they always have been. Plus he’s got a hungry focus here and everything seems to come together in a truly great way. Because of this, “THRESHOLD” undeniably fulfills its purpose – showcasing this U.K. based rapper as a bigger deal, and a more serious craftsman than anyone may have thought.
Here, BILLER croons, raps, and auto-tunes his way through a focused seven tracks. The concise run-time of this project, and each individual song seems to help the poignancy of the tracks, with none overstaying its welcome in the timeline present. From the kick off, “Never Last” with its space-age ethnic-styled bouncing percussive beat, BILLER delivers his hard-to-define flow that somehow will roll around in your head long after the EP ends.
The title track “Threshold”, sees the artist successfully melding his melodic singing and breathless rapping to an introspective, lush beat. Proving that his dynamic vocal tricks can keep things interesting enough while the beat leads him through the twists and turns.
BILLER’s power is in his ability to subvert the barriers of hip-hop into unknown territories, places where only the spontaneous voices can go. By the time you hit on the slow burning “Cuff Hunnids” and subsequently the catchy “Beast Mode”, you get the sense that BILLER is ready to ascend to the next level of his sound.
“Make A Scene” ft. Kevin Hues is an obvious, tight application of BILLER’s laidback style where he lets his flow drip and collect in sharply crafted spaces. On “Trippin” ft. Big Colt the instrumental rides ahead unassumingly, giving a wide lane for BILLER to make his impression. And the format works incredibly well.
The EP closer, “Paladin” offers another fantastic explication of the capabilities BILLER has been honing. The delivery and fluidity of his style is entrancing, establishing an extremely listenable brand, which is simultaneously effortless, fierce and smooth. It functions perfectly in setting up an ultimately satisfying EP that is a lesson to his contemporaries within the industry.
