GENESIS OWUSU Shares 'Stay Blessed' From New Album 'STRUGGLER'

Genesis Owusu releases his highly anticipated sophomore album, STRUGGLER, this Friday, August 18 via OURNESS / AWAL.

Today, Owusu also shares the album’s third single, “Stay Blessed,” and the Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore-directed video featuring Owusu and his Roaches – fans from across Australia that showed up to the video shoot in Melbourne ready to shave their heads and dawn the album’s iconic red stripe on their heads.

The “Stay Blessed” video is more scaled back and raw than the album’s previous videos for “Leaving the Light” and “Tied Up!,” directed by globally-celebrated Aotearoa (New Zealand) visual artist Lisa Reihana.

STRUGGLER is an imminent exploration of the chaos and absurdity of life, and our ability to endure. Where his celebrated 2021 debut album, Smiling With No Teeth, uncovered the battle against depression and racism, STRUGGLER is about how to get through its struggle.

The album takes inspiration from a close friend hitting the brink and coming through the other side, in conjunction with prompted questions of life and beauty that Owusu found himself contemplating during readings of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis - references that are explicitly featured in recent single “Tied Up!.” 

One of Australia's most-celebrated recent albums, Smiling With No Teeth demonstrated the beginning of Owusu’s profound artistic revolution and soul-bearing expression. The album secured radio support from NPR stations across the US (KCRW, KEXP, WXPN and more) and BBC Radio along with being named Australia’s triple j “Album of the Year” and winning four ARIA Award titles including “Album of the Year.”

Global acclaim also came from tastemakers and critics alike, including Los Angeles Times, AV Club, KCRW, Paste, The Needle Drop, BET, American Songwriter, OkayPlayer, and many more. Owusu additionally saw his album track, "Gold Chains," included in President Obama's Favorite Music of 2021, and he made his late night debut performing the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He followed the album with his Missing Molars EP and acclaimed standalone singles in 2022 – “GTFO” and “Get Inspired.” 

Genesis Owusu is also set to bring his vibrant live show to North America this fall for a headline tour, and follows his arena tour this spring supporting Paramore. Owusu has also previously given notable performances at North American festivals including Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Boston Calling, Osheaga Festival and This Ain’t No Picnic, as well as Barcelona’s Primavera Sound and Australia’s Splendour in the Grass. He also played support dates with Glass Animals, Khruangbin and Thundercat in the US and Tame Impala in Australia. See his headline tour dates below and be sure to catch him live!

GENESIS OWUSU 2023 TOUR DATES

10/12 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line

10/13 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall

10/14 Ferndale, MI - The Loving Touch

10/15 Pittsburgh, PA - Thunderbird Music Hall

10/17 Toronto, ON - The Velvet Underground

10/18 Montreal, QC - Le Studio TD

10/19 Boston, MA - The Sinclair

10/20 Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere

10/21 Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts

10/25 Washington, DC - Union Stage

10/27 Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theatre 

10/28 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West

10/29 Nashville, TN - The Basement East

10/31 Austin, TX - Empire Control Room & Garage

11/01 Dallas, TX - The Studio at The Factory

11/03 Denver, CO - Globe Hall

11/06 Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theatre

11/07 San Francisco, CA - The Independent

11/09 Seattle, WA - Neumos

11/10 Portland, OR - Star Theatre

11/11 Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre

11/15 London, UK - Heaven

11/16 Paris, FR - Café de la Danse

11/17 Berlin, DE - Hole44

12/01 Perth, AUS - Ice Cream Factory

12/08 Melbourne, AUS - Festival Hall

12/09 Canberra, AUS - UC Refectory

12/14 Brisbane, AUS - Fortitude Music Hall

12/15 Sydney, AUS - Hordern Pavilion

12/16 Adelaide, AUS - Hindley St Music Hall

photo by Bec Parsons

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