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?
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.
While REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE may not embrace an explicit narrative framework like Owusu’s first two records, it charts a linear journey from dystopian despair to cautious optimism. The first crack of light emerges at the very of end of “The Worldwide Scourge,” when, after a four-minute doomscrolling sermon on racism, Gaza, and anti-trans scapegoating that leaves him literally gasping for air, Owusu concludes: “But still we keep moving/Fuck else are we supposed to do?” He punctuates the point with the drum-machined post-punk sprint “Life Keeps Going,” where he delivers the titular sentiment in a tone that blurs the line between reassurance and resignation. In moments like these, it’s clear the real battle being waged on REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE is within Owusu himself—for him, the big question is whether moving forward requires an outstretched hand or a closed fist.
This is, after all, a guy whose happy place takes the form of “Death Cult Zombie,” a searing roast of the MAGA manosphere delivered as a cheery pub-rock jaunt in the tradition of Blur’s “Parklife” or the Streets’ “Fit But You Know It.” And while Owusu is shooting fish in a barrel here, the little details—like his mocking quote of Disturbed’s divorced-dad standard “Down With the Sickness”—home in on his target with laser accuracy. But that track is immediately answered by the simmered-down R&B soliloquy “Situations,” where Owusu recognizes that his perceived enemies should really be allies in a broader class struggle: “You may test my patience and boil my blood/And sting my eyes when I hear your tongue/But we a coalition of the ones from the mud,” he observes, adopting a conciliatory tone reflected in the song’s shoulder-rubbing, Mk.gee-like guitars. And while the foggy soft-rock synths on the closing “One4All” might signify the unclear path forward, it’s illuminated by a comforting, gospel-gilded chorus that plays like Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” by way of Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” and feels like Owusu’s bid to stay in the good graces of late-night talk-show bookers even as his politics turn more pointed. In other words: Your momma’s favorite agitator isn’t relinquishing the title anytime soon.
