Genesis Owusu on REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE, Ghana And Finding Hope
“I just wanted to say something. I just wanted to scream, especially because it felt like people weren't screaming.”
I got the chance to chat with seven-time ARIA winner Kofi Owusu-Ansah, known widely as Genesis Owusu who just released his third studio album REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE. A collection of 14 unflinching and vulnerable records unfolded into a beautiful conversation about what artistic intention can offer in world aflame. “It felt like it was a very paranoid time, where you could just see the seams ripping apart”, Owusu mentioned, “Every political figure was just there smiling in your face.” These eerie modern-day moments are scattered throughout the album between Musk digs and “toupeed totalitarian” cracks. Fearingly, political reform is one of the world's most vexed questions, but Owusu is here to offer a moment in time that captures the world's monstrosities yet pushes for collaborative celebration.
The making of REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE took place in none other than an abandoned church in Wales owned by Owusu’s friend/ producer on the project Dann Hume. “It took about two months to make. I was living up top, he was living down the bottom, and every day we'd meet in the middle and just throw shit at the wall for about eight-ten hours.” Owusu mentioned being able to tap back into his childlike curiosity of music-making in the process, allowing the sutures of his most candid feelings to burst open.
“I don't want there to be a million different interpretations of what I'm saying. I just wanted my work to be as direct as possible here. Like, here it is, boom. Take it.”
Despite the Ghanaian/Australian artist’s background in storytelling and motif-driven narratives, REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE provides a mic for Owusu to take his craft to places dense, live, and reformative. “People are kind of bombarded by this information, often creating a sort of apathy, indifference, and sadness” Owusu remarked about modern day warfare. “But I wanted to give people electricity in the music, like a battery so they feel energized to go make some sort of change.” Each nook and cranny explored throughout the album places your ears and mind on a different pedestal of perspective, offering a sort of freedom of choice in how we experience our grief and understanding of what’s happening around us.
Although Owusu didn’t travel to fantastical narrative-driven worlds with characters who hold stories in their eyes, he didn’t need to; He executed a beautifully direct and candid project that pushes for world-building, communion, and collective healing, often highlighting that pushing
for growth doesn’t always need to be a rally cry, but can also be taking a breath and letting things be. “We need to cool it down for a second and try to build some coalition…So we can move forward together” says Owusu.
Owusu remarked, “We're fighting for the ability to have a comfortable life and love. And so I think when it comes to creating a whole package, it has to reflect all of those points of life itself,
I guess. Right?” This wasn’t just a political album, it was a piece of life, all encompassing. Between the roars of “PIRATE RADIO” and the chilling soliloquy of “THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE”, moments of release and resignation find a place to flourish too. “It is about recognizing the resignation. The album isn't trying to paint a world that isn't there. It's trying to highlight all parts of the journey.” “ONE4ALL” offers a perspective of release and peace, “SITUATIONS” understands the nuance of life and not everything pertains to the blueprint we’re offered. Owusu took his time to reflect on both flexion and release.
Amidst the flames and smoke, REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE took Owusu back to his home of Ghana for the first time in 11 years to shoot the phenomenal video for track “STAMPEDE”. In the process of returning to himself, Owusu was able to tap into the local biking and horseback scenes of Ghana to execute the video.
“It was cool to just be able to capture these subcultures that were already happening and then showcase them to my audiences back west, but also for myself as well. I hadn't been back to Ghana in 11 years. So being able to see it with fresh adult eyes for the first time, it was a really beautiful experience.”
The making of the “STAMPEDE” music video didn’t require massive orchestration from Owusu either, as he was able to walk the streets of his childhood and immerse himself in everything given in its natural form. The artist shared that the video itself became a symbol of unity, and global essence; Being able to share his artistry with his roots, and indulge himself in modern-day subcultures pushed for the album's cross-cultural celebration.
In a way, REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE’s push for coalition and community reunited Owusu with himself, literally and figuratively. “Yeah, each album I've just gotten to put myself in a slightly different context, but I've always been this Genesis Owusu, this Kofi. And I hopefully always will be”, says Owusu.
This project found Owusu amidst the epitome of duality; Explosive yet cohesive, contemplative yet hopeful, free of restrictions in any shape.
“I often feel like I’m the narrator in my music, and I’m fighting between who I am versus who I want to be. I’m a human being with sadness and anger and frustration, and who I want to be is the person who's extending the olive branch.”
This album pushed for the communion of all of Genesis Owusu’s selves, past, present, and future. In doing so, the project stands as a testament to live, and to live freely, accepting the highs and the pits. Owusu emphasized the importance of indulgence in all that life has to offer:
Fear, anger, resignation, hope, celebration, and much more. At the end of the day “LIFE KEEPS GOING”.
REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE out everywhere now.
Photography By: Jamieson Kerr