Genesis Owusu at The Sinclair, 4/3
Genesis Owusu is a name you should remember. The Ghanian-Australian touched the hearts, minds, and molars of critics with his 2021 debut, Smiling With No Teeth, but his show at The Sinclair in Cambridge brought a whole new dimension to his already thematic and highly conceptual breakthrough album. The lights of the small but cozy venue went dark to rapturous applause, only for the Kids See Ghosts track Feel The Love to come blasting out of the speakers. The dark and booming song set the tone for what was to come, as the actual stage was set up with prison-yard style barbed wire, fences, and floodlights. The lights flashed and blinded the audience as red bodysuit-clad dancers rushed onto the stage, holding a banner reading “BEWARE: BLACK DOGS.” Owusu emerged with his face wrapped in bandages, gold streaks running through his locs, and gold grills shining through his smile: a spitting image of his debut album cover. His accompanying dancers doubled as hype men, barking ad-libs over opener What Do I Fear? and hitting synchronized choreography.
The show was just as meticulously crafted and dramatically executed as I expected a show from Owusu to be, combining the production value of an off-Broadway show with the offbeat flair of an underground hip-hop gig. Minutes into the third song, Centrefold, Owusu tore off his bandages and exposed his face, revealing a new man. He made the stage his own, interacting with the set and framing himself between the fences to the slower cuts in the set like Waitin’ On Ya and Gold Chains (my personal favorite). I couldn’t help but burst into hysterical laughter when the boys onstage hit an abrupt transition into Soulja Boy’s Crank That, complete with ringtone-era dance moves, milly rocks and dabbing galore.
The serious, conceptual feel of the show was pleasantly broken up by Owusu’s occasional banter with the crowd. “Any good places to fish around here?” he asked the crowd before breaking into A Song About Fishing. The energetic closer Good Times was unfortunately cut short due to technical difficulties, leaving Owusu to joke with the crowd: “I feel like I should do a standup set right now or something.” In a triumphant climax, the music was restored and everyone on the stage lost their collective bananas to an encore of Black Dogs. Owusu left the stage to the tune of a deafening crowd and with a smile on his face that would make a crocodile envious. The Aussie innovator made one of his first shows in the U.S. as memorable and addictive as his small but impressive body of work.
