The Canberra native/creative all-rounder/musical chameleon has been stacking up a series of impressive and diverse releases, most recently serving up a double dose of very danceable singles.
Simultaneously showcasing his silky falsetto and rap credentials, ‘WUTD’ and ‘Vultures’ pick up where ‘Wit Da Team’ left off in 2018, and round out a trio of songs in collaboration with the formidable Callum Connor of The Free Nationals. Ahead of his packed show at The Lansdowne on Saturday night, Genesis Owusu dropped in to chat Canberra, dance moves and world domination. Check out the full interview below:
You’re currently on tour to celebrate the release of two singles in ‘WUTD’ and ‘Vultures’. Tell us a bit about those two tracks and why you decided to drop them at the same time.
So, I released two tracks called ‘What You Trying to Do?’ and ‘Vultures’. I made them in LA with a guy named Callum Connor, who’s the DJ and producer for The Free Nationals which is Anderson Paak’s band. We’re going on this run of shows to celebrate that, and we kind of put it together to make sense and not make sense at the same time.
I guess, me as an artist, I never really like to be in the same place sonically for too long. I like to throw a lot of curve balls wherever I can. I like to keep people on their toes I guess. We put them together, because they’re nothing alike. So it kind of makes sense and doesn’t make sense at the same time.
They are completely different kinds of songs. Obviously the pacing is different but the different ways you use your voice are really interesting too. What kind of things are you thinking about when you make creative choices about how to sing this, say that, or tell a particular story?
Like you said, everything’s really different. I suppose I try to do everything with intention, and I guess I try and find the medium that’s best to portray the message or the intention that I’m trying to get at. So I guess with ‘What You Trying to Do?’ for example, the intention’s literally to get people to shake their ass, you know, have a boogie. So we hit up the silky Pharrell falsetto, nice little disco soul vibes. I guess I try and just … and that’s not even musically. If I have a message, maybe I’ll put it on a shirt, or maybe I’ll write a poem. I just try and find the best medium to portray whatever message or intention that I’m trying to do at the time.
Are there artists that you’ve looked up to or learned from in that regard?
Kanye, definitely. Kanye West and Pharrell are probably my spirit guides in creativity. They showed what it looks like when a young black guy breaks boundaries that they’re not expected or supposed to break, and how they do it successfully. So I guess they’re my two guides.
The video for ‘WUTD’ is really interesting too, what was the inspiration for that clip?
Just shake your ass. That’s the inspiration, that’s the intention man. Like I said, we try and do everything with intention, and the intention is to get people to dance. So what better way to do that, than take your shirt off and dance for six hours?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=213Z173FhME
Did you have a choreographer or are all those your moves?
No they’re all mine. They’re all Genesis Owusu originals.
And you touched on this a second ago, but that connection with Callum Connor from the Free Nationals is crazy. How did you establish that relationship, and then what was it like working with him?
We met for the first time because I was doing this little show in Brisbane, and it was like at some little pub. Probably like max a hundred to two hundred people capacity. It was in Brisbane, and the day before, I was supposed to see Moses Sumney at the Sydney Opera House. And I live in Canberra, so I was driving from Canberra to Sydney, but my car broke down halfway through, and I had to get towed back to Canberra and miss the whole concert.
And the next day, I had the show in Brisbane, I was walking into the venue, I swear I see some guy who looks exactly like Moses Sumney just sitting at the door. I’m like what’s going on here? Turns out the guy is Moses Sumney, and now obviously I’m like, “What’s happening?” And I see Mac DeMarco walk past as well, and then I see all the members of The Free Nationals walk past. So I have no idea what’s happening.
Turns out it was during the Laneway circuit, so they were all playing in Brisbane the next day, and they all just happened to wander upon this little pub that I was playing this set in. So I played the set, just pretending like they weren’t there. Pretend everyone’s in their underwear type shit. And then they said they liked it, they said it was great. And Callum was just like, “Next time you’re in LA, let’s link up, let’s make some music.” So I booked that flight. I booked that flight and made it happen.
That’s a great story. Did he drop any jewels on you, any pearls of wisdom?
Nah. They’re very regular, chill kind of goofy people. They’re just normal people who are blessed with godly talent. We were just there chilling, like any other person I know. Listening to Prince. Eating snacks. Indulging in all the American snacks and shit. We were just chilling, just having a good time.
Does that leave the door open for you? In terms of recording in the US or meeting the right people and doing shows.
Yeah, definitely, definitely. That collaboration has definitely opened a lot of doors. Because obviously he knows a lot of people, and through that, those people would have some sort of knowledge of who I am. It’s opened a lot of doors. It’s opening doors in Paris right now, which is pretty unexpected. So I’m going over there to do a couple shows now. It’s definitely helped a lot.
And bringing it back to a more local scale, what do you make of hip hop in Australia at the moment where it seems like even more local artists are getting visibility and going on tour in the US and across Europe?
It’s amazing man. It’s like we’re finally coming into our own, and getting the recognition that I think we deserve. For a long time, you go over to any of those places and they have no idea that any of this exists. They know surfers and kangaroos, but now you have your Sampa the Greats, your Kaiits, your Kid LAROIs, Manu Crooks, people are actually getting a grasp of the fact that stuff is happening down here, and you should pay attention to it. We’re finally breaking through, which is really great.
Proximity has a huge affect on what kinds of music and artists people are exposed to. Is there anyone from Canberra that’s maybe flying under the radar at the moment and that we should be keeping an eye out for?
Yeah, there’s an artist called SLACK, who does really cool trip hop, r&b kind of, soul-y type vibes and she’s also a really sick visual artist. There’s a rapper named Jedbrii who’s just like a fire-spitter, bars on bars on bars, forever. There’s a group called Weirdo Gvng, who are doing some really cool stuff. Canberra has a lot of vibes, man. Canberra has a lot of vibes. We’re only just beginning.
What are you working on at the moment? Are these singles leading into something or are you focusing on some of your other projects outside of music?
I’m doing everything man. I’m kind of just shooting in any direction and seeing where it takes me. So I’m designing a lot of clothes, doing a lot of music, doing sessions with anyone that’ll have me. We were doing a session with Touch Sensitive and Kirin J. Callinan the other day. Yeah, just trying to do everything. Designing, making music, doing shows and creating concepts and trying to create my own events and maybe trying to put on a show in a museum or some shit, and just doing everything I can.
It sounds like you’ve got a lot going on. What does a regular day look like for Genesis Owusu at the moment?
It is a lot, but a lot of it is so boring because it’s just on my laptop. I’m just on Photoshop designing clothes on my laptop, listening to instrumentals, writing music, then I’ll put on some Naruto in the background or something like that. It’s full on, but if you were just to look at it, it would just be really boring.
Your Spotify bio is definitely on the short and sweet end of the spectrum. It’s literally just ‘anti-hero’. Can you expand on that?
No. Nah, it’s exactly what it needs to be, man. Short and sweet, you don’t need to know anything about me, man. When the thing is there, it’s there. When the music is there, just take it and interpret it as you will. I don’t really like to explain what I do that much. I kind of just like to put it out there and have people digest it and take their own meanings from it. It just is what it is. I feel like once I put out there it’s almost like I lose a bit of ownership over it. The poem becomes the reader’s poem rather than the writer’s poem. It’s yours now. It’s yours in whatever way you want to take it. I made it in a certain way but now it’s yours in whatever way you want to take it.
I can try and convince you of who I am all I want, or what this is, but at the end of the day, if you have something in your mind, that’s going to be the first thing in your mind. And I’ve taken that from a long … not even long, I’m 21 … from a short time on this earth. In a positive aspect and in a negative aspect, just being a young, black guy. I can do all this but some guy across the street is going to see me and think I’m just some thug or whatever. People are going to have their own perceptions in any capacity, so I’m just going to put out what I put out and you digest it and interpret it how you want.
I can appreciate that. What’s going on for the rest of 2019?
World domination, baby. We trying to get that Billy Ray Cyrus remix, that’s what’s going on.
