ARIA Awards 2023: Musician’s cockroach-inspired album scoops three massive awards

Genesis Owusu cleaned up Wednesday night at the 37th annual ARIA Awards, earning three awards — just one behind Troye Sivan’s four.

What makes the win especially impressive is that the Ghanaian-Australian artist, 25, achieved the huge victory with an album he wrote about the tortured life of a cockroach.

Struggler, a conceptual album “about a cockroach that walks and walks,” was named Best Independent Release, Best Hip-Hop/Rap Release and Album of the Year.

In his first acceptance speech, Genesis said he owed his second album’s win to his team, praising them for “trusting the vision” of his bizarre musical ideas.

“If I told another team [about the cockroach idea], they certainly wouldn’t have put any money into it. “I am very happy to be on this team,” he said.

In his second win of the evening, the Canberra native, who accepted his awards via video link, spoke of his deep connection with the hip-hop genre.

‘This album contains a lot of different things, a lot of different sounds. “I explore a lot of different things as an artist, but I wouldn’t be here without hip-hop,” he said.

‘I started with hip-hop. Hip hop made me who I am. It allowed me to speak about the things I wanted to speak about. So I cherish it with my heart, always.”

What makes the win especially impressive is that the Ghanaian-Australian artist achieved the huge victory with an album he wrote about the tortured life of a cockroach

Struggler, a conceptual album ‘about a cockroach that walks and walks’, won Best Independent Release, Best Hip Hop/Rap Release and Album of the Year

When Genesis released Album of the Year, he explained what Struggler was really about by making a big political statement.

‘[Struggler] is about humanity and our stubborn perseverance to wake up every day and endure an oppressive existence,” he said.

To conclude the evening, Genesis took a definitive position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has seen the deaths of thousands on both sides.

‘[Struggler] is about humanity and our stubborn perseverance to wake up every day and endure an oppressive existence,” Genesis said of the album. Pictured at the 2022 ARIA Awards

He spoke out against the Israeli attacks on Palestine, saying: “There are horrible things happening in the world right now that I think as a community we need to put our minds, our hearts and our bodies behind us to stop at every intersection that we can achieve. .’

“That said, ceasefire now, ceasefire now, ceasefire now, liberate Palestine.”

This year marks seven official ARIA Award wins for Genesis, as well as its second win for Album of the Year.

It was a big winner at the 2021 ARIA Awards, winning Best Cover Art, Best Independent Release, Best Hip-Hop Release and Album of the Year.

To end the evening, Genesis took a definitive stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands on both sides.

“A ceasefire now, a ceasefire now, a ceasefire now, liberate Palestine,” he said