Rapper and vocalist Genesis Owusu has made his sonic signature lurching through disparate genres. From punk-inflected spoken word to sweetly sung falsetto melodies, Prince-esque funk and thumping post-punk guitars, the Ghanaian-born Australian artist trades in an excess of creative energy. Coming to prominence with 2021’s debut Smiling With No Teeth, Owusu channelled the isolation and aggression of his upbringing as a Black man in majority-white Canberra through a sprawling 16 tracks of snarled rap, synth-funk and 80s rock. Largely picking up where that record left off, Struggler continues to convey his strife with a remarkable singularity.
Opener Leaving the Light sets the tone, with its thundering bassline and chugging drums, reminiscent of the avant-garde rap of British trio Young Fathers. A similar bass-driven rhythm continues on Freak Boy and Balthazar, but it’s when Owusu lets his melodic softness come through that he really excels. Highlights Tied Up! and That’s Life (A Swamp) bounce funkily, with the latter switching into a delightfully sultry bossa riff. On What Comes Will Come, he traverses earworming synth-pop, head-nodding rap and breakbeat euphoria in under four minutes. There aren’t many artists who wear such experimentation so lightly.
