Smiling With No Teeth by Genesis Owusu | Album Review
Owusu’s debut album tackles the hounds of depression and racism on the multi-genre crossing conceptual project.
Listen to Smiling With No Teeth on Apple Music and Spotify.
I had heard rumblings about Genesis Owusu’s, the stage name of Ghanian/Australian musician Kofi Owusu-Ansah, through the Instagram stories of fellow Australian musician and provocateur Kirin J. Callanan. After hearing Kirin’s collaboration with Owusu, I knew something special was on the horizon. In March 2021 Genesis would drop his debut album Smiling With No Teeth. The title alludes to putting on a fake smile when everything around you is buckling in. The project is a conceptual album. The main concept revolves around these two black dog characters (one being depression and the other being racism). Genesis talks more about this in his Atwood Magazine interview:
“I was writing these songs about depression, and the black dog is a commonly used euphemism for depression, but then I realized I’ve been called a black dog, in a racial context, as a racial slur. So I thought this term was really interesting to encompass both of the issues I was talking about… The first half deals with the internal black dog, which is depression. These are the songs where specifically, sonically it’s a bit more ambitious, the sonics are more upbeat and at points sensual to complement his personality of wanting to lure you in and be your only one… And the second black dog, which takes the second half of the album is kind of more direct. It deals with the brunt of racism and oppression and it’s angry, it’s more in your face than the more lurking personality of the internal black dog.”
The album experiments through a variety of genres anywhere from funk and R&B to punk and alternative rock. To keep with the general concept of the project, I will speak to and review the album in the two themes that Owusu has set on the album.
Part I: Depression
The opening track “On The Move!” has this heavy electronic edge to it. Owusu’s words cut through the thick synth bass and sizzling percussion like a chant. This track begins our concept of the two black dogs entering this world that Genesis has created. It comes more as a threatening force as he speaks to miasmic energy enveloping his being, “I can feel it in my skin/ I can feel my soul move/ I can feel all of your sin/ I can feel your fangs too/ I don’t feel the light within/ I’m the blackest dog too.”
“The Other Black Dog” continues the electronic/alternative vibe as the backing synth repeated climbs behind him. His flow comes across smooth and melodic which brings the work of Outkast to mind. We’ve very much entered the smiling through the pain facade that this first half revolves around. This internal void pierces through the upbeat vibe in the opening verse, “Scars inside our shoes but we just tap it off, clap it off/ Watch me coat in rainbow as I fade into the black/ And see, I switched myself to plastic, don’t know how to change it back/ I’m being eaten on the inside, at least I look like a snack.” I really like this duality as Owusu struggles to fill this void.
We bring in the funk on “Centrefold”. This is one of my favorites off the record. The groove of bass and spit of the electric guitar cast everything is a haze of smoke and laser lights. Owusu’s vocals sound fabulous against some of the cut and spun backing parts that accompany the chorus. This centrefold character comes from the perspective of this wicked depressive dog that seeks to consume you, something he speaks more to in this Apple Music discussion:
“It’s told from the perspective of the black dog, as a sort of distorted love song from the place of an abuser. It doesn’t respect you at all. It wants to consume you and use you for its own pleasure. And it manifests itself in this distorted love song that sounds groovy and sexy and alluring.”
The reversed sections in the chorus, “A swimmer in the ocean isn’t bothered by rain, no fear no pain, no fear no pain,” brings a sense of strength to fight against this biting sorrow that seeks to take hold of you.
“Waitin’ on Ya” takes on a sultry R&B vibe through the pulse of keys and hum of the saxophone. This is yet another highlight off this project. Genesis’s upper register is fantastic. Everything comes off velvety soft through the production. This track continues the alluring vibe of “Centrefold”, but takes a more greedy edge through promises of relief, grandeur, and riches under a rather malevolent manner. Owusu really displays the looming presence of depression in the track’s chorus, “Said I’ve been preying on ya/ You brooding all alone/ I’ve been weighing on ya/ A crack upon your throne/ I’ve been laying on ya.”
“Don’t Need You” has some hip-hop, electronic, and funk flavors that come across solidly through its inspired production. Owusu blends rap and sung verses through as he takes aim at the toxic relationship that he has with himself. I quite like his sense of humor at this force of sorrow in the lines, “I said, your ass is stinky/ And you built like a mole/ And I’ll boot your ass to London if you can’t take a stroll.” This realization sees him pushing this depressive force out of his life. The chorus’s biting delivery hits in such a way that you vividly feel the kick of Genesis’s foot against this emotion. It’s got a great groove that will get you moving at the start of the track.
“Drown” brings in fellow Australian and alternative/synth-pop artist Kirin J. Callinan. With Callinan taking the helm on the electric guitar, the track takes on a groovy sort of alt rock sound. Coming off the last track, we’re at the point of letting go of this darker side of yourself. This can be heard well in the metaphor of death in the track’s chorus, “You’ve got to let me drown.” I found the duo to work quite well together. The bright synth pop edge adds a sense of hope to this underlying depression that he sings about.
The mix of funk and alternative sounds on “Gold Chains” really works well on story that Genesis is weaving. The track highlights the realty of trying to make it in the music industry verses the fantasized image of being a rapper. Owusu speaks more to this duality in his Apple Music discussion on the track:
“As an artist, I feel like I’m just starting to turn some heads and break out, but I’ve been touring and playing for years. Going from city to city in a van. Playing to no one. But so many people are like, ‘Oh, you’re a rapper, right? Where’s your gold chain? How much money do you have?’ So the song plays into the perception versus the reality — ‘It looks so gold, but it can feel so cold in these chains.’ The music industry can exacerbate mental health issues and stuff like that when you’re overworked or commodified. Instead of an artist creating a product, you become the product.”
I really like the honesty that he takes in his verse, “What a profession/ Sleep in sessions, curse or blessings, need refreshing/ See progression ’cause I beat depression/ They throwing pills like M&M’s and I’m hoping they don’t relapse/ On stage, the crowd.” The metaphor of gold chains acting more like shackles against the glamor of the funky instrumental really makes the track. It plays quite well into the themes of isolation and depression that the first half of the album has grown upon.
Part 2: Racism
Owusu uses “Smiling With No Teeth” as our sort of intermission between the narrative of depression into that of racism on the second half of the album. You can hear a sonic change from the first half the album. Owusu keeps a slow glimmer of funk to the track, but the darker tone takes the facade of joy out of the equation. The chorus dives into the general apathy of many around the suffering of others in their pursuit of happiness, “Everybody wants the sweetness without tasting the bland/ Everybody wants the help but they ain’t lending a hand.”
“I Don’t See Colour” is one of our more socially conscious tracks on the record. Owusu’s rhymes are delivered starkly against a pulsing beat and synths. I appreciate this take as it forces you to focus on his words around the continued proliferation of racism that exists in white culture. He even highlights the use of Christianity as a weapon against people of color in the lines, “And the burning of a bush told me that I was great/ But the burning of a cross told me to play it safe.” I find this to be a highly effective and thought provoking track.
Genesis goes in almost punk direction on “Black Dogs!”. The biting delivery and subtle electronic landscape reminds me of a darker take on some of Santigold’s work. Owusu comments on the numerous microaggressions that people of color experience on a daily basis. This abrasive tone scratches at you as his anger around this treatment pours over you through his vocal delivery. There really isn’t anything else like this on the album. I really like the energy that Genesis brings to the track.
“Whip Cracker” continues some the aggression that past two tracks have been putting across. Owusu speaks more on the bite that song delivers with Apple Music:
“It’s the ‘I’ve had enough’ moment. The lyrics — ‘Spit up on your grave/Hope my thoughts behave/We’re so depraved’ — play into the bogeymen that people want to see, but obviously as a satirical guise. And then it goes into bigots of all facets, essentially saying enough is enough, times have changed, it’s over. And musically speaking, halfway through, it just explodes into this funk-rock section. It was very ‘What would Prince do?’”
You can clearly hear this hard line on the outdated and racist behaviors that continue to exist in the lines, “This ain’t the 50s, you ain’t talkin’ shit/ Know your place, know your role/ ‘Fore you get tripped/ You ain’t no masters/ Your place has been flipped.” I love that Genesis left his raps rather sparse against the beat until a more funk/rock inspired instrumentation takes over by the second half. You definitely hear those Prince inspirations he spoke of.
“Easy” looks at the relationship of indigenous people with their homeland and that of the colonizers who have taken that land from them. All of this is done through the metaphor of a relationship between two people. The homeland character turns its back on its people for the allure of the new European immigrants that have come to take over this land. The track mixes funk and hip-hop in an icy cold kind of way. I love the personality that Genesis brings to his rapped verses. The dark sexuality captures the loss of one’s territory to the lust for land that the Europeans have.
Owusu leans back into the themes of depression and despondence on “A Song About Fishing”. Similar to the main theme of smiling through the pain, the metaphor of fishing in empty streams relates pushing forward even when no relief or prize seems to be in sight. There is something a bit humorous to the sort of folk inspired sound on this track. This one of the few tracks that doesn’t really work for me. It’s airy tone doesn’t work with some the rapped sections presented on the song.
“No Looking Back” sees Genesis putting these dark emotions behind him in an attempt to heal and move forward with his life. I love the cool wash the keys and backing vocals give to the song. I quite like its warm presentation that lulls you into a sense of calm. While Owusu has lost time to this miasma of hate and depression that had enveloped him, he knows he can’t look back at the past and only press on for a better future.
The final track, “Bye Bye”, loops us back into the pathway of these demon hounds of racism and depression that he has been trying to escape. Owusu told Apple Music the following around ending the album with this sentiment:
“‘No Looking Back’ was going to be the final track of the album. It was going to end on a very positive note, but it was too much of a Hollywood ending for me. It felt unrealistic. I’ve learnt a lot throughout my journey, but there’s no point where you can dust your hands off and be like, okay, racism over, depression over. So with ‘Bye Bye,’ the themes are crawling back to you. It signifies that this is an ongoing journey I’m going to have to face. I had to be clear and real about it.”
Genesis brings back a sense of tension through its dark thick synth organ tones that swallow you up. This evolves into a more 70s inspired funk sound by the song’s chorus. His rapped verses and ominously smooth vocals on the chorus play to this dichotomy rather well. I find this ending to album to be a much more realistic take on the battles with the world and mental health.
I quite enjoyed Genesis’s interplay through a variety of genres across this record. The conceptual themes around the black dogs of depression and racism come across very well thought out and interesting throughout this record. Genesis’s ambitious work through a variety of genres could have sounded a bit cluttered or scattered, but he executes this presentation rather well. My only real criticism is that a very tracks, such as “A Song About Fishing” and “Whip Cracker”, feel a little disjointed sonically to the stories they are trying to tell. “A Song About Fishing” is really the only track I wouldn’t revisit off this project and even that could be swayed by further listens. If you like aspects of alternative music, rap, and funk together in a thought provoking narrative on racism and struggles with despondency, I think you’ll get quite a bit out of this record. My album breakdown:
Loved It/Add To Your Playlist: “On The Move”, “Centrefold”, “Waitin’ On Ya”, “Don’t Need You”, “Gold Chains”, “I Don’t See Colour”, “Black Dogs!”, & “Easy”
Liked It/Worth a Listen: “The Other Black Dog”, “Drown” (feat. Kirin J Callinan), “Smiling With No Teeth”, “Whip Cracker”, “No Looking Back”, “Bye Bye”
Disliked It/It’s a Skip: “A Song About Fishing”
My Overall Rating: 6.5 out of 10
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