MUSIC
Genesis Owusu ★★★★
Crowbar, August 19
On Friday, 25-year-old Ghanaian-Australian artist Genesis Owusu released his second album, Struggler. Before his run of Australian shows in December, Owusu will tour North America, capped off by gigs in London, Paris and Berlin. His last Sydney concert was with the 40-piece Sydney Symphony Orchestra in March. When he’s back, he’ll play the Hordern Pavilion. Owusu’s silhouette on stage is growing increasingly remote.
Genesis Owusu performs at Crowbar to launch his new album Struggler.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
Which explains the buzz about his secret show in the front bar of Parramatta Road pub Crowbar. But buzz alone can’t explain how we end the night kneeling on the sticky carpet, our faces upturned like blossoms to the sun as Owusu spins in slow circles in the middle, conducting us through A Song About Fishing and calming the packed-out, jacked-up room like a rocked baby.
A few plays of Struggler’s immaculate mash of rap, soul, rock, R&B and G-funk, threaded together by a dark and twisted genius that’s all Owusu’s own, confirms his days of small venues are done.
On his 2021 debut Smiling with No Teeth, Owusu’s metaphor was the black dog – a symbol for depression and a racial slur he heard growing up in Canberra. This time, influenced by Franz Kafka’s novella Metamorphosis, Owusu’s concept is the survivalism of the cockroach. And “through pandemics, bushfires and wars”, we’re all invited to the roach party.
By the end of the show, we have faith in the church of Owusu.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
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Hanging by the pool table in a faux-fur coat, Owusu poses for photos, flexing his high-wattage smile far and wide. A barber station is mimicking Owusu’s do for lovestruck fans: shaved, with a red streak down the middle.
The tracks are played through the sound desk, so it’s just Owusu and his pogo-ing entourage, drenched in fuchsia-coloured light. “This is the first time I’m playing songs from Struggler,” he says, taking the exclusive stakes up another few notches.
