Contact Sports Drops "ATTENTION ECONOMICS" Feat. Genesis Owusu, Debut LP Out Oct. 2
The track features Genesis Owusu and arrives alongside a companion visual from the Illumitati-fronted project.
Contact Sports – the musical persona of Illumitati, the culture-shaping visual artist, director, and model (Tati Bruening), whose digital art and liminal worldbuilding have amassed over 3M followers across Instagram and TikTok – has shared her latest single, 'Attention Economics (feat. Genesis Owusu),' available everywhere now via Queens Road Music/Atlantic Records. The frenetic electronic track is accompanied by an official visualizer shot by creative director Kurt Johnson (COBRAH, Eartheater) and edited by Tati herself, streaming now on YouTube.
On the new song, Contact Sports shares, 'I used to consult for several large tech and social media companies, and the phrase 'attention economy' always made me feel a bit strange. Corporate entities are brutally transparent nowadays on how they've commodified the human attention span and compete with, as they say, 'the irl.' It feels like a sick game or competition, rather, that reduces your attention span to corporate interests. I used to play a childhood game called 'concentration,' which is also a gamification of the attention span but far less evil. It felt appropriate to use in the chorus section of this track. The German voice in the song is actually a recording of my father, who worked in the world of economics - he's ranting about ADHD and how touching grass would solve a lot of the youth's problems.'
She continues, 'Genesis was a perfect fit for the track considering a lot of the themes he writes about align with my world of commentary - and him saying WMD's (GRWM) getting ready with me was pure genius. I couldn't have asked for a better feature.'
'beepboopbeepboopbeeeeep, all hail the almighty algorithm,' Owusu adds.
'Attention Economics (feat. Genesis Owusu)' marks the latest single from Contact Sports' eagerly anticipated, self-titled debut album, Contact Sports, arriving everywhere on Friday, October 2. Pre-saves are available now.
Written and produced by Bruening and 2x ARIA Music Award-winner Konstantin Kersting (Fisher, Mallrat, Tones and I), mixed by Victor Verpillat (Don Toliver, Zara Larsson, horsegiirL), and mastered by Dale Becker (SZA, Billie Eilish, Kim Petras), the new album sees Bruening work with various collaborators, including Genesis Owusu, 9mice, and Weiland. Among its tracklist is 'BP Oil Spill 2010 (feat. Weiland),' marking the first new music featuring underground rapper and pluggnb pioneer Weiland in more than two years. The song is accompanied by an official visualizer, streaming now on YouTube. Shot by underwater photographer Jeff B. Hester (known for his award-winning work for Netflix, BBC, Apple, Disney+, and National Geographic), 'BP Oil Spill 2010' captures Bruening free-diving through dense kelp fields, a skill she learned specifically for the new visual.
Contact Sports also includes 'Me & My Machine,' which, like the album itself, is driven by a core theme of humanism versus technology. Directed by Kurt Johnson, the accompanying video utilizes practical effects, including a 35-foot Shibari 'Tree of Life' installation hand-woven from electrical cords and Ethernet cables by artist Moir Div. Filmed in Latvia, 'Me & My Machine' contrasts the clinical labs of the Bulduri Biotechnology Center with the vast greenhouses of Dižskudras, grounding the high-concept piece in reality.
Bruening's immersive worldbuilding extends well beyond her music and videos. This summer, she teamed up with multidisciplinary artist Edward Skeletrix to host Analytica, a subversive art exhibition operating under her visual persona, Illumitati. Showcasing music programming by Weiland, the sold-out event drew over 1,000 attendees, all of whom were required to wear paper bags over their heads upon entry, and was featured in an office magazine article. Further live events included a series of North American live dates alongside Mietze Conte, a standout performance at Brooklyn, NY's BODY BAG Presents: Witch Project 002, and a recent DJ set at Los Angeles' subculture.REBLOG event.
As revealed earlier last week, Contact Sports will join Madeon on a North American tour alongside performers such as Toro Y Moi and MGNA Crrrta. She will also support Danny L Harle on select upcoming dates.
Contact Sports - 2026 Tour Dates
SEPTEMBER
24 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater *
25 - Seattle, WA - WAMU Theater *
26 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom *
29 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory *
30 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory *
OCTOBER
2 - San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium *
3 - Sacramento, CA - Channel 24 *
9 - Salt Lake City, UT - Sky SLC *
10 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues *
14 - Tucson, AZ - La Rosa *
23 - San Diego, CA - The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park *
24 - Los Angeles, CA - Shrine Expo Hall *
NOVEMBER
6 - Chicago, IL - Subterranean †
7 - New York City, NY - Knockdown Center †
* supporting Madeon
† supporting Danny L. Harle
About Contact Sports
Contact Sports is the music project of visual artist, director, and model Illumitati (also known as Tati Bruening). At only 25 years old, Bruening has worked with artists and brands including FKA Twigs, xaviersobased, A24, YSL Beauty, Google, Grailed, among others, building a following of over 3M followers across socials through haunting digital art and liminal-space world-building. As Contact Sports, blasted and bulbous synth shards dot her music, mapping onto the doom and gloom of a generation morphed by a pandemic and an internet era that feels all-consuming. Raised in Newport Beach, CA, Bruening says she was 'bred to play sports,' born to parents who met playing professional basketball in Germany. She played the sport at a varsity level in school, but found herself more drawn to music, fashion, and art. During high school, she discovered the sprightly EDM corner of YouTube shaped by channels like Majestic Casual and TheSoundYouNeed. Further inspired by reference points including Lapalux, Leon Vynehall, and Clams Casino, she released her first singles, 'Enzyme' and 'WWW' in 2024, followed by 'Hydroxyzine' and the collaborative 'Radioaktives Mädchen' with Miguel Angeles. She continued to evolve with her 2025 single 'Malaysia Airlines.' Now, this year, with her full-length debut album on the horizon, a new era of Contact Sports has just begun.
'In a time and generation where we are entirely hopeless for the future, I want to plant a seed in an AI data center and cultivate an entire forest,' Tati Bruening says. 'This is the true expression that I would want to put out to the world without it being interrupted by algorithms or the influence of whatever audience I have on Illumitati.'
About Genesis Owusu
Ghanaian-Australian visionary Genesis Owusu has become one of Australia's most distinct and innovative artists. His first two culture-shifting albums, Smiling With No Teeth (2021) and Struggler (2023), drew 19 ARIA nominations and 7 wins, including two Album of the Year titles. In 2026, REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE (recorded with producer Dann Hume) welded Owusu's wide taste palette seamlessly into a state-of-the-day album, threading Neo-Soul into Alt Pop, Synth Punk into Deep Funk, Brit Rock and more. It debuted at #1 on the Australian Artists ARIA chart and #1 on the SubModern Albums chart in the US, drawing critical acclaim worldwide. The record's singles were premiered by Zane Lowe and BBC 6Music before finding homes at BBC Radio 1, the 6Music A List, KEXP, KCRW and Sirius XMU. It was named Feature Album at triple j and across community radio in Australia, and has since earned two nominations at the UK's AIM Independent Music Awards - Best Independent Track for 'STAMPEDE' and Best Release Campaign. Now past 18M streams and 1M YouTube views, his REDSTAR WU'S PIRATE RADIO Tour took the record from nine Australian headline shows to sold-out EU/UK dates, with festival stages at Roskilde, Bergenfest, Best Kept Secret and more along the way. Next up, fans can catch him at triple j's One Night Stand and Yours & Owls festival, with a sold-out US and UK/EU headline tour to follow in November.
Photo Credit: Kurt Johnson
Photo Credit: Kurt Johnson
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