Genesis Owusu Sets Sophomore Album ‘Struggler’

18 May, 2023

The struggle is real, and Genesis Owusu is taking us for a closer look.

Announced today (May 18), the Ghana-born, Australia-raised funkster will release his sophomore album Struggler on Aug. 18, via Ourness.

Spanning 11 tracks, Struggler was recorded between the United States and Australia with such producers as Jason Evigan (Rufus Du Sol, SZA), Mikey Freedom Hart (Jon Batiste’s 2021 Grammy of the Year Album, We Are), and Sol Was (Beyoncé’s Renaissance).

The first taste from it is “Leaving The Light,” a tale of survival and perseverance, and, musically, a fusion of punk and rap over a synthwave soundbed.

On it, he sings: “Put my hand up on my heart, I beat my chest/ The chaos moving down and down, seep in my flesh/ The obstacles wont block my path, I see the test/ They can try and swat me down, boy I’m the pest.”

The official music video, a collaboration with visual artist Lisa Reihana, dropped Thursday (June 18) and can be seen in full below.

Owusu was anything but a struggler with his debut full length album from 2021, Smiling with No Teeth, which cleaned up nearly every major award in Australia.

By the time it had completed its victory lap, Smiling with No Teeth had won the Australian Music Prize, triple j’s J Award for Australian album of the year, ARIA Awards (including album of the year), a hattrick of AIR Awards (including independent album of the year), an APRA Award (for breakthrough songwriter), and his song “Gold Chains” won the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition and earned a spot on President Obama’s 2021 playlist.

Few artists in living memory has swept the Australian awards calendar quite like Owusu.

The forthcoming set is said to take inspiration from a close friend who hitting rock bottom, but got through, along with Owusu’s contemplations of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis.

Genesis is currently touring North America in support of Paramore and Bloc Party, including dates at Madison Square Garden. He’s set to return home later this year for a six-date tour, kicking off Friday, Dec. 1 at Ice Cream Factory in Perth.