At last week’s Australian Recording Industry Awards (ARIA), Canberra singer Genesis Owusu was the big winner of the night. The Ghanaian-Australian won four awards, including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year, for Smiling With No Teeth. For comparison, the ARIA’s are essentially Australia’s version of the Grammy Awards, and Owusu’s feat is damn near Eilish-ian in nature.
Smiling With No Teeth is a jovial, soul-packed expression of hip-hop; more melodic than rugged, more danceable than pensive, more rock & roll than R&B, and cheekier than stoic. In short, it’s hella fun. Today, Owusu has shared a new video for the remix version of “Waitin On Ya” (which he performed at the ARIA gala.) It’s a time-and space-shifting visual that features Jagwar Ma’s Jono Ma assisting on the mix. There’s a lively snare drum beat with a hint of the amen break in the background, breathing new energy into the song. A spritely sax peppers its way in as Owusu plays a shady travel agent that teleports to tropical locales while smiling broadly through gold teeth.
Watch the video for “Waitin On Ya (Remix)” above and check out the tour dates for Owusu’s first US headlining tour below. Get tickets here.
01/13/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy
01/15/2022 — San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
01/17/2022 — Seattle, WA @ Neumos
01/19/2022 — Denver, CO @ The Bluebird
01/25/2022 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
01/28/2022 — Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
01/29/2022 — Nashville, TN @ Basement East
01/30/2022 — Austin, TX @ Antone’s
Smiling With No Teeth is out now via House Anxiety / Ourness