Day 259: Genesis Owusu – Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge
I listened to Genesis Owusu’s STRUGGLER on day 193 of the project and said I’m looking forward to his new album. The new album came out yesterday, so what better way to spend my early Saturday evening than to give it a go. I love that I’ve discovered artists during this project whose new stuff I get to look forward to, Genesis Owusu is among the top of that list.
Album cover courtesy of Ourness
Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge was written in 2024 in a Welsh church that Genesis Owusu’s friend had converted in a studio. The name comes from his alter ego, Redstar Wu, taken from the black star of the Ghanian flag but converted to red, and the worldwide scourge is the hatred and far-right ideology that has taken root in people all around the world.
It’s a concept album of post-punk, neo-soul, hip hop and funk, or I guess those would be the best ways to label it because he’s doing his own thing to a degree where it’s hard to label it. It’s also protest music, which I’ve really had a hankering for – better yet, it’s good protest music.
Owusu has such a way to dissect what’s going on in the world today in a way where you feel his frustration, but it’s far from being a depressive whinge about the state of the world that just reminds you of how shit everything currently is. It’s almost uplifting. It feels good for the soul to hear someone say the things he’s saying. It’s almost like a call to action.
Hope is a hard thing to hold on to when you’re acutely aware of the things that are happening these days, but luckily Genesis Owusu is holding on. It’s such a high-energy album that it can’t help but to pump you up and feel the sense of righteous anger and optimism that we can feel connected with each other again and things can get better. He’s one of those artists where you think I’m happy he’s out here doing his thing, he’s adding something important to the current musical landscape.
Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge only ever sounds like Genesis Owusu, it’s nice that he’s doing something that feels very unique to him. I had a feeling this album would be a good listen and I wasn’t disappointed, I’m giving it a 9/10.