Hip Hop Headquarters : Genesis Owusu - Sideways

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Genesis Owusu - Sideways | @genesisowusu |

https://soundcloud.com/genesis-owusu/sideways/s-Qj339

19-year-old gift from the music gods Genesis Owusu returns with new track ‘Sideways’, made with the talented Grammy-nominated musicians Simon Mavin and Perrin Moss from Hiatus Kaiyote. Genesis Owusu is an Australian/Ghanian musical genius who makes catchy and very idiosyncratic hip-hop. He was a Top Five finalist in the Triple J Unearthed High School competition at age 17, then went on to win the 2016 Triple J unearthed Laneway competition, and then at 19 he was Triple J Unearthed’s featured artist in January/ February of 2017.

Born in Ghana, West Africa, Genesis’ family moved to Canberra in 2000, when he was two. “Being put in that situation automatically made me an outlier, which was something I quickly grew to accept and own,” he said in a recent interview. “So since then I just unapologetically did really cool shit.”

And do cool shit he has, with explosive live sets at Groovin’ The Moo, Spilt Milk and St. Jerome’s Laneway. When creating his laid back, jazz infused-jams, and experimental genre-bending hardcore hip-hop, Genesis’ influences include Jimi Hendrix, Frank Ocean, Wu Tang and Kanye. Simon Mavin and Perrin Moss are two top-notch musicians from a Melbournian act called Hiatus Kaiyote. They were nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Performance for their song ‘Nakamarra’, performed with Q-Tip. The song ‘Breathing Underwater’ from their second album Choose Your Weapon was also nominated for Best R&B Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards. No biggie, but more importantly 2017’s two biggest albums — Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. and Drake’s More Life — both sampled Hiatus Kaiyote tracks. Mic drop.