TUNE TUNA | Music Reviews and Appreciation
ALBUM REVIEW: Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth
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INTRO
Kofi Owusu-Ansah, better known as Genesis Owusu, is a very exciting artist born in Ghana and raised in Canberra, Australia. Since releasing his EP, “Cardrive EP” in 2017, he gained some notoriety in his country of Australia, but it wasn’t until March 5th, 2021, that he dropped his debut album, “Smiling with No Teeth”. After releasing this 15-track record, he received many positive reviews from critics and fans alike. I too was one of those fans who really enjoyed the album, and today I just wanted to write a little something about it to really show my appreciation. To get a sense of the general appreciation for albums, I like to look at Metacritic[1], they basically give you to different combined scores for albums, one from fans and one from critics. The Metacritic score for this album was around 8 to 9 out of 10, which is very good for any artist, and in my opinion, very deserved for Owusu. Before getting into the review itself, I just wanted to clarify that Owusu’s style is very difficult to pinpoint, he draws influences from anywhere and everywhere. If I had to call it anything, it would be a mix of hip-hop and funk, but realistically, I like to use the term genre-less.
REVIEW
Going into this album, I remember never having heard this artist before and honestly, I think the album cover was the main thing that drew me in. However, I was very pleasantly surprised after listening to this great piece of art. The first thing you notice is that the sound on every song is unique and energetic in its own way. Owusu said in an interview that the members of the band were really given a lot of freedom in creating the instrumentation and it seems as though they really encouraged the experimental sound. For me this is literally and figuratively music to my ears, when an artist goes down a more experimental route, it is very bold and risky, but if done correctly, can be extremely impactful.
During the entire record, he pretty much recollects on his entire path and talks about sensitive subjects, such as depression and racism that he has endured. He explains the hardships of growing up in a predominantly white area in Australia and the struggles that came with that. There are very few things I respect more about artists than when they are vulnerable on any song, when it is an entire album, that feeling is simply amplified. To me, vulnerability adds so many layers of emotion to songs, and in a way, influencing emotion on the listener is one of the main goals of artists when creating their art. That is one of the beautiful things about music, and Owusu does a great job of that on this project. It surely takes a lot to talk about these topics, although this is not the first and will not be the last time that depression and racism is the subject of songs, Owusu does a fantastic job of showing his own perspective on the issues. One artist in particular that Owusu drew a lot of inspiration from is Kendrick Lamar, more specifically, his album “To Pimp A Butterfly”. Kendrick Lamar’s album deals very heavily with racism and is one of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time. When listening to “Smiling with No Teeth”, you certainly hear the parallels between both projects.
In general, there is not much about this album that I can criticize. The direction of this record is so unique that it is hard to compare it to other records. I would say that I wish it was longer, but at the time of writing, he just released the deluxe version which includes 5 other tracks that I’m looking forward to giving a listen.
FINAL THOUGHTS
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After listening to the entire album, it is very clear that Owusu is a gifted artist. His lyrical and vocal ability is something I am simply in aww of. I also love the album cover he used, I think album artwork plays a big part in the record’s success, at the end of the day, it is the image that listeners will relate the songs with. The artwork is weird, attractive, has good imagery, and ultimately entices people to listen. I love the experimental direction of this record too, and the fact that this is his debut album only makes me very excited to see what comes next for him.
[1] https://www.metacritic.com/music/smiling-with-no-teeth/genesis-owusu
REFERENCES
Chow, L. (2021, March 10). Genesis Owusu's 'Smiling With No Teeth'. The Monthly. https://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/lesley-chow/2021/11/2021/1615381200/genesis-owusu-s-smiling-no-teeth#mtr.
D'Souza, S. (2021, March 5). Genesis Owusu: 'I'm Prince, if he were a rapper in 2020s Australia'. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/mar/05/genesis-owusu-smiling-with-no-teeth.
Metacritic. (2021, March 12). Smiling With No Teeth by Genesis Owusu. Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/music/smiling-with-no-teeth/genesis-owusu.
Peavey, A. (2021, March 3). Genesis Owusu's debut album 'Smiling With No Teeth' doesn't shy away from issues of race. The World from PRX. https://www.pri.org/stories/2021-03-03/genesis-owusus-debut-album-smiling-no-teeth-doesnt-shy-away-issues-race.