Genesis Owusu’s Red Star Wu’s Pirate Radio Tour, in support of his new album REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE, travels to NYC with two shows at Baby’s All Right on November 12th and 13th.
Born Kofi Owusu-Ansah in Ghana and raised in Canberra, Australia, Genesis Owusu first made a name for himself releasing songs with his older brother, Kojo (aka Citizen Kay), followed by a series of neon-tinted funk-rap singles, including “WUTD” and “Good Times.” Still operating as a solo artist, he later formed a five-piece with indie innovator Kirin J. Callinan on guitar, EDM producer Touch Sensitive on bass, Julian Sudek of World Champion on drums, and manager Andrew Klippel on keyboards, who serve as his primary touring band as well as the backing band for his 2021 debut album, Smiling With No Teeth, released through OURNESS (co-founded by Klippel). A deeply personal concept album that follows Owusu’s experiences with two “Black Dogs!,” racism and depression, over an eclectic mix of soul, electro-punk, psychedelic funk, alternative rap, and more, his debut peaked at No. 27 on the ARIA Albums chart and took home a whopping eight awards including Album of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Release at the ARIA Awards, Best Record at the Rolling Stone Australia Awards, the Australian Music Prize, Australian Album of the Year at Triple J’s J Awards, and Independent Album of the Year at the AIR Awards.
Wanting to make something more universal, he followed up in 2023 with STRUGGLER, another concept album, based partly on Samuel Becket’s Waiting for Godot, Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, and Kentaro Miura’s Berserk, that tells the post-apocalyptic story of the protagonist, the Roach (a metaphor for us humans), as he embarks on a surreal journey through nihilism, existentialism, and absurdism, and is opposed by the antagonist, God (a metaphor for the systems we built to improve life, but have ultimately slipped from our control). Meant to portray a journey that all of humanity undergoes in the quest for “meaning, self, and the will to live,” especially in the midst of environmental disaster, financial crisis, and the aftermath of the pandemic, the music itself reflects the emotions that come along with it, embodying a variety of sounds from hectic and punky to smooth and languid.
Genesis Owusu released his most recent album, REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE, in May, which, in response to his sentiment that “living in the 2020s has been such a strange experience. I feel like hatred and greed, prejudice, have become cool again. It’s a plague, or a scourge—a worldwide scourge,” stresses the need for community in the face of the political and societal ills plaguing the world. While his previous albums utilize fantasy to disguise their real-world discourse, here he doesn’t shy away from mentioning real people with lines like “Elon’s a fucking weirdo/Who gave these incels moolah?” on “PIRATE RADIO” and “Home Alone 2, of course I’m seeing the Tory. Leave me, orange man, let me enjoy my Macaulay” on “DEATH CULT ZOMBIE,” and talking about specific issues, including fighting against the manosphere on “BLESSED ARE THE MEEK,” election paranoia and misinformation on “MOST NORMAL AMERICAN VOTER,” uniting against a common enemy on “STAMPEDE,” and employing “joy as an act of resistance” on “RUNNIN OUTTA TIME.” The music itself embraces a wide range of styles including urgent punk (“PIRATE RADIO,” “MOST NORMAL AMERICAN VOTER”), dancey post-punk (“RUNNIN OUTTA TIME,” “DEATH CULT ZOMBIE”), dizzying electronica (“LIFE KEEPS GOING,” “BIG DOG”), synthy ambience (“4LIFE”), and laid-back R&B (“SITUATIONS,” “BLESSED ARE THE MEEK”) and includes features from American rapper DUCKWRTH on “post-apocalyptic sludge funk love jam” “HELLSTAR” and New Zealand indie-pop singer Ladyhawke on the apathetic “FALLING BOTH WAYS.”
Having held a residency at the Sydney Opera House, soundtracked commercials and video games, topped multiple charts, racked up countless awards, and earned praise from Barack Obama for his grand artistic vision with its strong conceptual drive, scathing social commentary, mastery of different genres, signature deep voice, fabulous fashion-sense, and cinematic, expertly-choreographed concerts, Genesis Owusu continues to inhabit his role as Australia’s most unpredictable and commanding artist.
Catch Genesis Owusu on Red Star Wu’s Pirate Radio Tour at Baby’s All Right on November 12th and 13th!
How To Get Genesis Owusu at Baby’s All Right Tickets
Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.
Date: November 12th
Location: Baby’s All Right
Address: 146 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Show Time: 7 p.m.
Doors Open: 6:30 p.m.
Ticket Price: $256.39
Ages: 21+
Date: November 13th
Location: Baby’s All Right
Address: 146 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Show Time: 10:30 p.m.
Doors Open: 10 p.m.
Ticket Price: $218.30
Ages: 21+
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