Smiling With No Teeth
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CRITIC REVIEWS
90
A triumph from top to bottom, Smiling… sets the stage for Genesis Owusu to become a potentially generation-defining star.
90
Owusu’s debut offering not only manages to deftly balance style with substance, but does so with a jubilance that gives as much reason to curl up your own most toothy grin.
90
Via forays into multiple musical genres, Smiling with No Teeth creates a space both for Owusu to express his own personal experiences, and for others to question nuanced complexities.
90
His dynamic approach to music has allowed him to put forth a body of work that is diverse and eclectic yet still cohesive across the board. It shouldn’t work, but it does.
90
The whole album is a visceral sonic attack on the senses and should cement Genesis Owusu as an international renaissance man.
90
It’s an album that’s easy to feel intimidated by at first listen, due to its sheer scale and ambition. However, after a few listens you’ll be in no doubt that Genesis Owusu is one of the most exciting names of the year.
86
Once it sinks its teeth in, this thing is packed with enough sweet syrup and grooves to get your hips gyrating and pelvis popping, while simultaneously dark and twisted enough to make you blow chunks.
80
Owusu is a charis- matic anchor throughout this boundary-pushing debut.
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1y
80
Though the album itself could have been cut down to at least half its size, Genesis Owusu’s first full-length is a triumphant beast that’s broken defiantly out of its cage.
80
Like Gorillaz, Outkast or even The Weeknd before him, he plays well with dark and sinister, throwing theatrical voice in a musical hall of mirrors with real versatility.
80
With strong, clear-eyed subtext, overlaid by compositions that touch on every influence from TV on the Radio to Prince, Childish Gambino and Radiohead, Smiling With No Teeth is not so much an album as it is a memoir.
80
The record could be shorter, but its disjointed brilliance sweeps away any urge for cohesion. What ties these tracks together is Genesis Owusu’s talent, ambition, and imagination.
80
With ‘Smiling With No Teeth’, Genesis Owusu has delivered a riveting album that underscores the power of self-knowledge, perspective and art – one that should be cranked loud.
80
Smiling With No Teeth brings to mind an overdose of references, but the musical magpie-ism is more Prince than pastiche.
80
Genesis Owusu's full-length debut is impressive, occasionally even overambitious.
80
Smiling With No Teeth is a swaggering, hyperactive ride, Owusu showing scant regard for convention as he unpacks his inner conflict in a highly charged, often fun, genre- flouting trip.
80
Stylistically, Owusu traces dimensions of hip-hop, synth pop, funk, and more, never quite settling for long enough to band Smiling with No Teeth under any single banner.
70
Smiling With No Teeth has plenty of not only good, but great, songs and whether you are a fan of high energy hip-hop, raw punk-esque guitars or soulful R&B, there is something on the album for you.
Woaahh… this came out of nowhere
In the seemingly always-changing music scene, versatility seems like a necessity in music for an artist to retain longevity now more than ever. For a debut album to be successful, I feel as if the artist should provide both a welcoming introduction to who they are, oozing charisma and personality out every pore, along with showcasing what they have to offer in the larger scope of musical culture. Whether that’s through staying in one specific lane ... read more
This was like Death Grips, Steve Lacy and Thundercat all had a love child.
I don’t think you need any other reason to check this out!
This is something special. It’s times like these where I’m so grateful for a place like AOTY where I can stumble upon a project like this.
I had never heard of Genesis Owusu, but I saw the reviews this was getting and was immediately intrigued. When I heard the first track, I wasn’t blown away, but once The Other Black Dog started I knew I was in for something special. I stopped listening to the album and just put that song on repeat for like an hour. I didn’t think it ... read more
took me more than a year to finally listen to this and i want to slap myself cuz of it
fav track : drown
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Track List
| 1 | On the Move! 1:47 | 79 |
| 2 | The Other Black Dog 4:23 | 91 |
| 3 | Centrefold 3:16 | 85 |
| 4 | Waitin' on Ya 5:44 | 89 |
| 5 | Don't Need You 3:05 | 88 |
| 6 | Drown 2:57 with Kirin J Callinan | 84 |
| 7 | Gold Chains 3:38 | 88 |
| 8 | Smiling with No Teeth 4:59 | 82 |
| 9 | I Don't See Colour 2:56 | 82 |
| 10 | Black Dogs! 2:00 | 82 |
| 11 | Whip Cracker 4:41 | 83 |
| 12 | Easy 3:02 | 82 |
| 13 | A Song About Fishing 3:25 | 87 |
| 14 | No Looking Back 3:42 | 88 |
| 15 | Bye Bye 4:09 | 84 |
Total Length: 53 minutes
Year End Lists
| #11 | / | Double J |
| #13 | / | DIY |
| #16 | / | The Needle Drop |
| #18 | / | KCRW |
| #24 | / | MondoSonoro |
| #26 | / | The Young Folks |
| #29 | / | NME |
| #29 | / | PopMatters |
| #35 | / | Sputnikmusic |
| #39 | / | The Line of Best Fit |
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5mo
Let's Go! Cleaned up at the Arias! Won Cover Art of the Year, Independent release of the Year, Hip-Hop Album of the Year & ALBUM OF THE YEAR!
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Added on: November 20, 2020