Though he is the current vice-president (student services) for the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA), George Owusu-Mensah is the first to admit his own imperfections.
And he does so, repeatedly, in his new single, aptly titled “NOT PERFECT.”
Released under his stage name, Legacy, the song details Owusu-Mensah’s revelations about his own shortcomings, and the fact that he’s okay with them.
“I’m not perfect,” croons an autotuned Owusu-Mensah atop a mid-tempo beat. “But we gon’ keep on fighting.”
Sitting in his office at CUSA headquarters, Owusu-Mensah explained that the song isn’t just about him, it’s about everyone.
“‘NOT PERFECT’ is addressing the elephant in the room,” said Owusu-Mensah. “You’re not perfect. We’re all not perfect. We’re all trying to figure it out.”
Owusu-Mensah has been trying to figure it out for a while. He grew up in Ghana, and said he always found himself drawn to music.
“I always used to tell my friends, when I was younger, that ‘I’m the only one on this planet that hears things differently,’” he said. “I hear deeper than what everybody hears.”
He first picked up music in church, and quickly became a multi-instrumentalist. Owusu-Mensah can play keyboard, guitar, drums, and “a little bit of bass.”
Soon enough, he was making his own music. Owusu-Mensah dropped his debut single, the beachy “Summer Time,” earlier this year. Though that may have technically been his first real foray into music, Owusu-Mensah said “NOT PERFECT” is more indicative of his artistic vision.
The song features a woozy guitar loop and a beat that Owusu-Mensah described as an Afrobeat-hip-hop fusion. Owusu-Mensah wrote the lyrics to “NOT PERFECT,” but he did not produce it. Despite this, he said the production style of the song was a deliberate choice on his part.
Owusu-Mensah wanted to honour his Ghanaian heritage by incorporating elements of Afrobeat into the song, but said he worried the typically dance-friendly rhythms of most Afrobeat songs might drown out his lyrics. So he made sure there were elements of hip-hop.
“The idea was to dial it down with the hip-hop to make it more calm so that people will actually listen to the words of the song,” he said.
Owusu-Mensah described himself as a role model for those in the Carleton community who may have tread a similar path to his.
“A lot of people look up to me,” he said, “Just because not a lot of international students get to make it this high in the student leadership realm when it comes to Carleton.”
Both Owusu-Mensah and CUSA president Lily Akagbosu are African and international students. Owusu-Mensah said he hopes he and Akagbosu can be trailblazers for other international students.
“Two execs are international students, African, and Black,” said Owusu-Mensah, referring to himself and Akagbosu. “It’s made them aware that it’s possible.”
It’s all part of his greater plan to construct a grand legacy for himself. Hence the name.
“Everywhere I go, before I leave, I need to leave something there,” he said. Becoming a CUSA exec, dropping singles, according to Owusu-Mensah, it’s all part of the plan.
“Everybody’s going to know that there was somebody called George that went to Carleton.”
His legacy may be on his mind, but Owusu-Mensah said his hopes for “NOT PERFECT” go beyond that.
He said he wants the song to help people–particularly his fellow university students who may be pushing themselves too hard. “I want people to get the message, that’s the most important thing,” he said.
“This world is not for perfect people,” he added. “You don’t have to have it figured out.”
“What matters is that you’re working on getting it figured out.”
Feature image screenshot.
