Genesis Owusu has shared “Gold Chains,” the newest single off his upcoming album Smiling With No Teeth, which will be released on March 5 via House Anxiety and Ourness. Alongside the new single, Owusu has shared a music video for the track, which had been directed by Riley Blakeway.
“‘Gold Chains’ got me thinking about the flaws of being in a profession where, more and more, you have to be the product, rather than just the provider of the product, and the public misconceptions about how luxurious that is,” Owusu said in a press statement. “Lyrically, it set the tone for the rest of the album.”
The song features steady drumbeats and glitchy guitars, the synths grooving over Owusu’s smooth vocals. The luxurious sounds match the sparkling gold topic, Owusu’s lyrics painting a darker picture. “I hope the stress don’t kill me/They chip away my heart, expect a coin to fill me/Oh man, my joy so filthy/I pray to some, I’m still me/But boy these demons gleaming, scheming, preaching, leave them.”
“The video is about the hollowness of a lot of the things we hold as idols,” Owusu said to The FADER. “The video is about the hollowness of a lot of the things we hold as idols. The shiny things that get made to look like goals from the outside looking in, but in reality won’t be the source of happiness that we’d hoped for. The gold chains become shackles.”
Owusu dons countless gold chains, his dreads wrapped in gold to match his gold grill and gold background. He wears a gold swimsuit and gold socks, sitting beside a pool as he holds a gold phone. He stares blankly at his TV, appearing alone despite the friends around him, bringing forth the topic of his lyrics.
In 2015, Owusu released his debut EP Cardrive. The artist had been born in Ghana, moving to Australia at the age of two. Born as Kofi Owusu-Ansah, his brother is also a musician and performs under the stage name Citizen Kay.
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