An Honest Ranking of BINI's Catalog

With two world tours, a Coachella set, a song for an upcoming DreamWorks animated film, recognition from the Senate and Congress, and being poised to become Philippine tourism ambassadors, the "Nation’s Girl Group" isn’t a mere nickname anymore for BINI.

It's turned into a title that carries an undeniable weight and responsibility that comes with representing the country on the world's biggest stages.

Others may have come before them, but BINI’s unprecedented success and surging popularity have launched a wave that left new groups rushing to replicate their success. No one since has made the same impact. BINI is in a peculiar predicament right now since while they simultaneously struggle to balance an inevitable creative evolution and a refusal to be defined by their megahits, they have to keep their growing fanbase happy by maintaining their distinct sound that catapulted them to meteoric global superstardom.

It’s a gamble that seems to pay off, but with frustration from fans expecting the group to double down on one signature sound.

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In all honesty, I’m sometimes one of those fans.

But 3 studio albums and 3 EPs attest it is futile to resist. BINI persists and grows. However, to refuse to look over BINI without the lens of “massive local darling-turned-global monolith” is dishonest to some degree. To the fans, to the group, and to the P-pop phenomenon itself.  

So in an effort for an evaluation, evident as it may be in its biases, here is a ranking of BINI’s albums and EPs from least to most favorite.

By this point, Bini’s imperial phase had staggered, casual fans were wavering, and skeptics were writing the group off as washed. BINI has turned global, and Flames was their effort to appease their local base. What the album proved is that you can’t catch lightning in a bottle twice. 

Some tracks are imitations of their past hits. “Infinity” echoes "8." “Katabi” echoes “Huwag Muna Tayong Umuwi." They are good in their own right, but one can’t help but hear them as rethreads. Meanwhile, “First Luv” and “Paruparo” are plagued by awkward lyricism.

And the album has “Shagidi,” the single BINI track I can confidently describe simply as offensive slop. “Bikini” just borders the label.

The album does have two good things going for it. One, it has “Sweet Tooth,” a very underrated city pop English track. Two, it filters the fanbase. You'd know those who stayed past this point would probably stay until the very end.

Fine, I may be shooting myself in the foot by placing BINI’s debut effort second to dead last. There was a time when Born to Win was okay—it exists as the debut album, sure. But even then, it takes the back seat compared to Talaarawan and Feel Good.

Other records have come and gone, and Born to Win was only pushed further back in my mind. It’s not to say it’s a bad album. The gap between this and Flames is wide. “Golden Arrow” is honestly an overall top ten track. And “8” formed the base of the group’s heart. Other than that, sad to say, the album is dismissible.

Focusing on what’s important, Born to Win served its purpose as a debut album: to launch BINI off into to a brave frontier.

There’s no denying Coachella was a monumental milestone for BINI. If anything else, it reinserted the group back to the national headlines. To accompany this venture, Signals was released, and it, well, signaled a new lease on life. 

The group is currently on a world tour with Signals at the forefront, so the dust hasn’t really settled yet. But come on, if there’s an album to cater to the national and the international audience, it has to be this. Signals is what Flames failed to be.

“Unang Kilig” and “Tic Tac Toe” hearken to their original bubblegum pop sound. “Honey Honey,” “Blush,” and “Step Back” are trend-ready bops that aren’t brain-numbing to hear. “Sugar Rush” is a hidden gem reminiscent of late 90s-early 00s pop-rap classics you belt drunk with friends at karaoke that I’m racking my mind wondering how it hasn’t caught fire by now.

For Flames, “safe” is derogatory. For Signals, it’s alright. The Signals era is yet incomplete, but time can only be kind to it.

BINIverse is a really, really competent record bogged down by its position and obligation. First, the EP was released when local fans, including me, were clamoring for more of what Talaarawan offered. Second, it has the herculian task of spearheading BINI onto the international stage. Its tracks were crafted for foreign ears, and I don’t think any of us were ready (or at least willing) for the transition from local, mass-oriented tunes to a global, homogeneous sound.

With these said, at the end of the day, BINIverse achieved its task. Sure, it’s a tad bit alienating, but BINI’s imperial phase at this point was still so strong that we went along eargasming with tunes like “Cherry on Top” and “Blink Twice.” I just wish both weren’t milked to death.

“Secrets” marked the group’s first major collaboration with a foreign act. Production wise, “Zero Pressure” is one of BINI’s best English tracks. “Out of My Head,” reportedly recorded years before, is not far behind. The last two have heavy traces of Eurodance; it’s hard not to be hyped listening to it during your morning routine. BINIverse has circumstances stacked up against it, and it’s fair to say that in hindsight, it rose up to the challenge.

There are some days when I would’ve put Feel Good at the top. “Lagi” and “Huwag Muna Tayong Umuwi” are god-tier records, with the former being my absolute favorite BINI track. The latter, then, to me, is the quintessential P-pop ballad. “Strings” remains the outlying dark track ironically used every time to introduce each BINI member.

Feel Good and Talaarawan exist inseparably from each other. There are even times I get confused, thinking some tracks from one record come from the other. “I Feel Good” is the biggest victim. It goes to show bubblegum pop courses through well into both records’ DNA.

The comparison may be unfair to Feel Good, and it feels unjust to say little about a damn great album. But think of it this way: Feel Good walked so Talaarawan could run.

I’d say this sliver of truth, though: FlipMusic did wonders for BINI and the studio remains the group's biggest asset, and biggest loss.

And so here we are. The EP that, to most, made BINI. Talaarawan cannot be replicated, and BINI has proven they, for better or worse, are uninterested. 

The importance of “Pantropiko” in igniting the wick is undeniable, but in this fan’s humble opinion, it did not carry the charge. It takes more than one track to lift a group from obscurity to mainstream success. Other TikTok trends that came and went can attest to that. So while “Pantropiko” heralded the group’s arrival, the others made them stay.

“Karera” got me through some of the toughest times as it did many others. For that, it will always hold a special place inside. “Na Na Nandito Lang” is its companion piece acting like a warm, comforting embrace.

“Salamin, Salamin” is the perennially upbeat track played in parties, celebrations, and gatherings. Its tunes never ever falter. And “Diyan Ka Lang” is the playfully teasing sleeper, like “Ang Huling Cha Cha,” that gets better every time I hear it.

What Talaarawan has is heart, depth, and connection that penetrates through a people’s psyche. It’s a record that confers you the honor of being a nation’s girl group.

BINI became celebrities overnight through Talaarawan, sure. But to sustain such impact years after, permutations and obstructions considered, demands something else.

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