Genesis Owusu

Over a string of singles released between 2017 and 2019, Kofi Owusu-Ansah—a.k.a. Genesis Owusu—appeared to be Australia’s next great R&B hope. Born in Ghana in 1998, but raised in Canberra from the age of two, Owusu first got on the national radar through tracks like “Wutd” and “Good Times,” smooth, neon-tinted funk/rap hybrids that betrayed his formative obsession with Prince. Not wanting to be just another R&B singer beholden to his producers, Owusu formed a proper five-piece band—including celebrated indie maverick Kirin J. Callinan on guitar and EDM producer Touch Sensitive on bass—to realize his true artistic vision. Inspired by the conceptual sprawl of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, Owusu’s 2021 full-length debut, Smiling with No Teeth, channels his experiences with racism and depression into a gloriously chaotic collage of mutant rap, digital dub, electro-punk, and psychedelic funk, heralding the arrival of Australia’s most unpredictable auteur.