Genesis Owusu is an alt-rap MC with a prog-rock mind, fond of exploring the human condition in fabulist form. On his 2021 debut, Smiling With No Teeth, the Ghanaian Australian dynamo depicted the twin burdens of depression and racism as two black dogs gnawing at his conscience; for the 2023 follow-up, Struggler, he inhabited a character named The Roach, an unsubtle avatar for the underclass rising up against an omnipotent adversary dubbed God, who, in this case, was less a religious deity than a shadowy stand-in for capitalism and authoritarianism.
But despite his affinity for elaborate world-building and comic-book characterization, Owusu is not immune to breaking the fourth wall. Deep into the latter album, he offered perhaps his most self-aware observation when he teed up the reggae/drum’n’bass hybrid “What Comes Will Come” by announcing, “Make some noise for your momma’s favorite agitator!” Because as confrontational as his work can be, Owusu has crossed over in surprising ways: Back home in Australia, he’s racked up “ARIAs like Stark,” held a residency at Sydney Opera House, and soundtracked KFC ads. In North America, he’s appeared on Colbert, toured with Paramore, and landed a sync in a EA Sports game. And if all that wasn’t enough to win over your mom, perhaps a co-sign from Obama would do the trick?
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As Owusu admits, his fantastical concept-album gambits are a means to “sugarcoat” the grim real-world discourse at the core of his work. The title of his third album, REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE, suggests an MCU movie in which our hero attempts to take on every problem plaguing the planet—and this time, Owusu isn’t giving his adversaries code names. “Elon’s a fucking weirdo/Who gave these incels moolah,” he spits on the album’s acidic rave-rock opener, “Pirate Radio,” working his way down a shit list that also includes “toupee’d totalitarians,” Twitter trolls with brains “burnt by blue-check mania,” and perhaps the cohort he’s most disappointed by, “Kanye fans.” Owusu’s just getting warmed up—on the frenetic follow-up, “Stampede,” he’s issuing an electro-punk directive for the rabble to storm the castle. But for all his eat-the-rich bloodlust, he’s ultimately interested in justice: “Find an oligarch/Get him taxed,” he declares, making “Stampede” the rare revolutionary anthem grounded in sound fiscal policy.
That sort of pragmatism is Owusu’s true superpower. It’s the same utilitarian impulse that allows him to fold together post-industrial dissonance, globe-trotting influences, and stinging social commentary. He could very well call his project Guerillaz—and with the brisk, bass-popping groover “Falling Both Ways,” he comes up with a “Feel Good Inc.” to call his own, capped by a soothing chorus hook from New Zealand indie-pop singer Ladyhawke. With time, it’s become easier to identify the patterns in Owusu’s seemingly impulsive genre-hopping and, like its predecessors, REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE balances out its motorik rippers with woozy ’70s-funk flashbacks (“Hellstar”) and ’80s-coded neon pop (“Running Out of Time”). But now more than ever, his omnivorous aesthetic represents a unifying node in a post-everything landscape where big-league MCs are going punk rocky; Afro-indie forbears like Bloc Party and TV on the Radio have re-entered the chat; and the alternaverse teems with DIY synth-funk auteurs, Death Grips descendents, and polemical punk-rap crews.
