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On his debut Smiling With No Teeth, Ghanaian-Australian artist Genesis Owusu struck nerves with a distinctly '90s-born perspective on how to shape a characteristic sound: a style that could technically be traced back to roots in hip-hop. That only served to highlight how easily he could take that route into a post-genre expression where R&B, synthpop, and alt-rock all played on the same frequency. And that was reflected in his multifaceted perspective as a singer-songwriter—given to stretching his range from steely, emphatic raps to vulnerable-not-fragile falsetto in the former half of that equation, and an often-strident yet necessarily frank confronter of social cruelty and oppression in the latter. Struggler maintains Owusu's startlingly adept eclecticism as a musician: the needling synth sequencing on opener "Leaving the Light" is pure Freedom of Choice DEVO with a touch of P-Funk swing. The new-wave funk of "Tied Up" feels like an anthem for a hundred-year empire built on the Minneapolis Sound, and the gauzy semi-industrial grunge-gaze of cuts like "The Roach" and "Old Man" make for more daring takes on the open-ended possibilities of '90s alt than half the bands that got signed post-Nevermind. But those feel less like retro moves than an attempt to use the context of the past to make sense of a future that seems short on promise, and Struggler doesn't just confront it—it perseveres through it, building off an existential anxiety-drive that draws as much on Beckett and Kafka as it does on the immigrant-diaspora persistence of an outsider just trying to live. © Nate Patrin/Qobuz
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Jason Evigan, Composer, Producer, RecordingEngineer - Jeff Gitelman, Composer - Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Ben Silverstein, Composer - Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman, Producer - Smile High, Producer - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Big Tall Guy Music (BMI) (administered by Sony/ATV Songs LLC), MusicPublisher - Gitty Got Goals Publishing (BMI. All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC, MusicPublisher - SMILEY SILVERSTEIN / A Little Chutney Music (ASCAP) administered by Sony Tunes, MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Simon Christensen, Composer - Psymun, Producer - Mikey Freedom Hart, Composer, Producer - Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Bad Roommate Music/These Are Pulse Songs (BMI). Administered worldwide by Concord Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - Rainbow Party Music / Ark Music / Administered by Concord, MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Simon Christensen, Composer - Psymun, Producer - Mikey Freedom Hart, Composer, Producer - Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Bad Roommate Music/These Are Pulse Songs (BMI). Administered worldwide by Concord Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - Rainbow Party Music / Ark Music / Administered by Concord, MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Hamish Stuart, Composer - Jono Ma, Composer - ANDREW KLIPPEL, Composer, Producer - Control, MusicPublisher - Jonti Danilewitz, Composer - Michael DiFrancesco, Composer - Julian Sudek, Composer - Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Future Classic / Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Mushroom/AWAL, MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Jason Evigan, Composer, Producer - Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Big Tall Guy Music (BMI) (administered by Sony/ATV Songs LLC), MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Sol Was, Composer, Producer - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Henry Was, Producer - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher - I Loves Humes (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Sony, MusicPublisher - ANDREW KLIPPEL, Composer, Producer - Control, MusicPublisher - Michael DiFrancesco, Composer - Kirin J Callinan, Composer - Julian Sudek, Composer - Dave Hammer, Producer - Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Mushroom/AWAL, MusicPublisher - Future Classic / AWAL, MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Jason Evigan, Composer, Producer - Control, MusicPublisher - Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Jackson Rau, Composer, Producer - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Big Tall Guy Music (BMI) (administered by Sony/ATV Songs LLC), MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Nate Campany, Composer - Kyle Shearer, Composer - Valley Girl, Producer - Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Dear Cleveland Publishing/Where Da Kasz At (BMI), MusicPublisher - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Concord Sounds / HELL YEAH BROTHER Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Pat Morrissey, Composer, Producer - Bmg Platinum Songs Us, MusicPublisher - Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Jono Ma, Composer - ANDREW KLIPPEL, Composer, Producer - Control, MusicPublisher - Michael DiFrancesco, Composer - Julian Sudek, Composer - Genesis Owusu, MainArtist - Kofi Owusu-Ansah, Composer - Future Classic / Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Ourness/Kobalt, MusicPublisher - Kobalt / Mushroom, MusicPublisher
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
Album review
On his debut Smiling With No Teeth, Ghanaian-Australian artist Genesis Owusu struck nerves with a distinctly '90s-born perspective on how to shape a characteristic sound: a style that could technically be traced back to roots in hip-hop. That only served to highlight how easily he could take that route into a post-genre expression where R&B, synthpop, and alt-rock all played on the same frequency. And that was reflected in his multifaceted perspective as a singer-songwriter—given to stretching his range from steely, emphatic raps to vulnerable-not-fragile falsetto in the former half of that equation, and an often-strident yet necessarily frank confronter of social cruelty and oppression in the latter. Struggler maintains Owusu's startlingly adept eclecticism as a musician: the needling synth sequencing on opener "Leaving the Light" is pure Freedom of Choice DEVO with a touch of P-Funk swing. The new-wave funk of "Tied Up" feels like an anthem for a hundred-year empire built on the Minneapolis Sound, and the gauzy semi-industrial grunge-gaze of cuts like "The Roach" and "Old Man" make for more daring takes on the open-ended possibilities of '90s alt than half the bands that got signed post-Nevermind. But those feel less like retro moves than an attempt to use the context of the past to make sense of a future that seems short on promise, and Struggler doesn't just confront it—it perseveres through it, building off an existential anxiety-drive that draws as much on Beckett and Kafka as it does on the immigrant-diaspora persistence of an outsider just trying to live. © Nate Patrin/Qobuz
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 11 track(s)
- Total length: 00:37:58
- Main artists: Genesis Owusu
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Ourness
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
(C) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd (P) 2023 OURNESS under exclusive license to AWAL Recordings Ltd
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