Struggler
Two blocks of darker red separated by a line of lighter red with a black border
Studio album by
Genesis Owusu
Released18 August 2023
Studio
Genre
Length37:58
Label
Producer
Genesis Owusu chronology
Smiling with No Teeth
(2021)		 Struggler
(2023)
Singles from Struggler
  1. "Leaving the Light"
    Released: 19 May 2023[1]
  2. "Tied Up!"
    Released: 12 July 2023[2]
  3. "Survivor"
    Released: 1 December 2023[3]

Struggler is the second studio album by Australian musician Genesis Owusu, released on 18 August 2023 through Ourness.[1]The album was supported with a world tour, across North America, Europe and Australia between October and December 2023.[4]

At the 2023 ARIA Music Awards, the album won Album of the Year, Best Independent Release and Best Hip Hop/Rap Release and was nominated for Best Produced Release, Best Engineered Release and Best Solo Artist.[5][6]At the 2023 J Awards, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.[7]The album was nominated for the 2023 Australian Music Prize.[8]

"Survivor" was added to the tracklisting on 1 December 2023.

Content

In a press statement upon announcement in May 2023, Owusu said, "The struggler runs through an absurd world with no 'where' or 'why' at hand. Just an instinctual inner rhythm, yelling at them to survive the pestilence and lightning bolts coming from above. A roach just keeps roaching."[4]

As with Owusu's previous album, Smiling with No Teeth, Struggler has been described as incorporating elements from a wide variety of genres. Timothy Monger of AllMusic observed a "collision of experimental post-punk, rap, and R&B",[9] while Wesley McLean of Exclaim! described the album as "amalgamating elements of post-punk, R&B, hip-hop, funk, new wave, psychedelic rock and more".[10] Tracks such as "See Ya There" and "Tied Up!" were stylistically compared to the work of Prince.[9][10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Exclaim!8/10[10]
The Guardian[12]
NME[13]

Struggler received a score of 82 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on eleven critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[11] Sophie Williams of NME considered Struggler "the work of an artist giving power to some of his most radical sonic ideas. Songs don't often build to a crescendo, they begin there" as "Owusu's stylistic choices are both unexpected and impressive, visiting all corners of his eclectic taste".[13]

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Timothy Monger claimed that, "Owusu could have gone any number of ways on his sophomore set, but it's a testament to his artistic conviction that he chose to make something so risky and complex. Even better, he pulled it off."[9] Shaad D'Souza of The Guardian contrasted it to Owusu's "brilliant debut" album Smiling with No Teeth as "an ill-defined retread that plays it too safe" and "comparatively mild, Owusu-Ansah seemingly riffing and stalling in hope of a grand set piece that never arrives".[13]

Consequence ranked Struggler 37th on its list of the 50 Best Albums of 2023.[14]

Track listing

Struggler track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Leaving the Light"
3:10
2."The Roach"
2:38
3."The Old Man"
  • Owusu-Ansah
  • Christensen
  • Hart
  • Hart
  • Psymun
2:24
4."See Ya There"
Klippel4:39
5."Freak Boy"
  • Owusu-Ansah
  • Evigan
2:28
6."Tied Up!"
  • Owusu-Ansah
  • Sol Was
  • Sol Was
  • Henry Was
3:09
7."That's Life (A Swamp)"
  • Klippel
  • Dave Hammer
5:26
8."Balthazar"
  • Owusu-Ansah
  • Evigan
  • Jackson Rau
3:00
9."Stay Blessed"
  • Owusu-Ansah
  • Nate Campany
  • Kyle Shearer
Valley Girl2:57
10."What Comes Will Come"
  • Owusu-Ansah
  • Pat Morrissey
Morrissey3:51
11."Stuck to the Fan"
  • Owusu-Ansah
  • Di Francesco
  • Klippel
  • Ma
Klippel4:16
Total length:37:58

Notes

  • ^[p] signifies a primary and vocal producer.
  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer.
  • ^[c] signifies a co-producer.
  • ^[v] signifies a vocal producer.

Personnel

Musicians

  • Genesis Owusu – vocals
  • Jason Evigan – bass, drums, guitars (1, 5, 8); keyboards (1, 8), background vocals (1)
  • Jeff "Gitty" Gitelman – additional background vocals (1)
  • Ben "Smiley" Silverstein – additional keyboards (1), keyboards (5)
  • Mikey Freedom Hart – guitar, programming, synthesisers (2, 3); bass (2); baritone guitar, dubs (3)
  • Psymun – bass, programming, synthesisers (2, 3)
  • Max Freedberg – drums (2, 3)
  • Melody English – background vocals (2)
  • Julian Sudek – drums (4, 7, 11)
  • Andrew Klippel – keyboards (4, 7, 11), backing vocal arrangements (4)
  • Kye – backing vocals (4)
  • Hamish Stuart – drums (4)
  • Jonti Danielwitz – guitar (4)
  • Blush – background vocals (5)
  • Steinj – background vocals (5)
  • Sol Was – bass, guitar, synthesisers (6)
  • Henry Was – programming (6)
  • Michael Di Francesco – bass (7, 11)
  • Kirin J. Callinan – guitar (7, 11)
  • Jackson Rau – guitar (8)
  • Valley Girl – performance (9)
  • Pat Morrissey – programming (10)
  • Jono Ma – synthesisers (11)

Technical

  • Joe LaPorta – mastering
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing
  • Chris Galland – mix engineering
  • Jason Evigan – engineering (1, 5, 8)
  • Mikey Freedom Hart – engineering (2, 3)
  • David Hart – engineering (2, 3)
  • Simon Christensen – engineering (2, 3)
  • Simon Cohen – engineering (4, 11)
  • Jackson Rau – engineering (5, 8)
  • Sol Was – engineering (6)
  • George Nicholas – engineering (7)
  • Dave Hammer – engineering (7)
  • Kyle Shearer – engineering (9)
  • Nate Campany – engineering (9)
  • Pat Morrissey – engineering (10)
  • Ramiro Fernandez-Seoane – mixing assistance
  • Jess Dess – additional engineering (4)
  • Kofi Owusu-Ansah – additional vocal engineering (3, 7, 11)
  • Nicolas Mendoza – engineering assistance (4)

Visuals

  • Kofi Owusu-Ansah – art direction
  • Lisa Reihana – art direction, photography
  • Ady Neshoda – art direction, artwork
  • Kiran Best – art direction, artwork

Charts

Chart performance for Struggler
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 4

References

  1. 1 2 "Genesis Owusu Announces New Album Struggler, Shares "Leaving the Light": Stream". Consequence. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "Genesis Owusu is 'Tied Up!' on new single". NME. 12 July 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  3. ↑ "Genesis Owusu Is a "Survivor" on New Song: Stream". Consequence of Sound. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 Singh, Surej (19 May 2023). "Genesis Owusu announces sophomore album, Australia, North America and Europe tour". NME. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  5. ↑ "Nominees Announced for 2023 ARIA Awards". Music Feeds. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  6. ↑ "ARIA Awards 2023: Troye Sivan takes home four awards, tearful G Flip wins two. Here's the full list of winners". ABC News. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Check out all the nominees for the 2023 J Awards". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Brandle, Lars (28 November 2023). "Troye Sivan Shortlisted for 2023 Australian Music Prize". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Monger, Timothy (8 September 2023). "Genesis Owusu - Struggler Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 McLean, Wesley (15 August 2023). "Genesis Owusu Puts the World on Notice with Struggler". Exclaim!. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Struggler by Genesis Owusu Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  12. ↑ D'Souza, Shaad (18 August 2023). "Genesis Owusu: Struggler review – moments of brilliance in an otherwise limp record". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 Williams, Sophie (16 August 2023). "Genesis Owusu – Struggler review: an artist at the top of his game". NME. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  14. ↑ Krueger, J. (4 December 2023). "The 50 Best Albums of 2023 Ranked". Consequence. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Genesis Owusu – Struggler". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
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