Photo by Bec Parsons
Audio By Carbonatix
If you’re going to Wednesday’s Paramore concert, get there early if you want to hear something completely different. Opener Genesis Owusu delivers a high-energy sound that dips its toes in everything from funk to metal to trip-hop. The Ghanaian-Australian singer admits that Paramore fans are often shocked when he steps on stage.
“People are like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ Not a lot of people know me,” Owusu says. “It’s cool to see the transition from people saying, ‘Who the hell is this?’ to enjoying themselves. Converting people to my music is nice to see.”
Owusu says he came from a musical family, with his older brother first dabbling in sounds as the rapper Citizen Kay.
“He was obsessed at first with the Red Hot Chili Peppers,” he says. “Then, when I was 10, he got into hip-hop and turned our family computer room into a studio. I was reticent to do music at first. I wanted to do my own thing, but he took over the center of my house, so I got into it.”
In 2021, at 22, Owusu released his first album, Smiling With No Teeth. Its eclectic mix of rock, rap, and electronica took off Down Under, winning several prestigious awards. Artists like Prince, the Talking Heads, and JPEGMafia influenced the album. For his upcoming sophomore effort, Struggler, due to be released in August, Owusu says he didn’t have any musical influences in his mind or ear.
“I was listening to the least amount of music I ever listened to in my life between the two albums. First album I made during COVID, so I could put all my energy into it. This one was recorded in the midst of touring the world. I met some cool producers in Los Angeles and did some day sessions with them. Other songs were made by my band in Australia.”
The concept of Struggler came from Owusu reading absurdist literature like Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot. “I thought it was interesting how they put their narrative,” he explains. Owusu’s narrative for Struggler involves a cockroach running around trying not to get stepped on by God. The roach gets existential and questions why it’s running, finally asking if running at all is necessary.
Is this a question Owusu is asking of himself?
“I feel like I’m getting there,” he says. “Everyone looks up at the sky sometimes.”
The music video for the album’s first single, “Leaving the Light,” has an impressive surreal aesthetic that looks like something ripped out of a Game of Thrones spin-off.
“It was definitely not big-budget, ” Owusu says. “It was made with the New Zealand artist Lisa Reihana. My manager saw her art exhibition and was like ‘we need to find her.’ She liked the music. I had conversations with her and gave her free reign to interpret it. Most of it was me standing in front of a green screen, I spoke to her my ideas in words, and she made it a reality.”
His Wednesday slot opening for Paramore will mark Owusu’s South Florida debut. For Paramore fans unfamiliar with Owusu’s live performance, he paints a picture of what they can expect when he takes the stage.
“It’s chaos, destruction, debauchery, and a good time,” he says. “It’s me and a troupe of chaotic people who hype and dance and create crazy formations. I put on my outfit. I scream and yell as much as necessary to get all my emotions out on stage.”
Paramore. With Genesis Owusu and Bloc Party. 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, at Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood; 954-797-5531; myhrl.com. Tickets cost $75 to $155 via ticketmaster.com.
