O.T. Genasis

O.T. Genasis first drew serious attention when Busta Rhymes observed the rapper delivering “Touchdown” four times in a row to an exacting yet fully engaged audience. That encounter opened doors, resulting in the 2014 pop hit “CoCo,” which reached number 20, followed by the 2015 Top 40 single “Cut It.” After the 2016 Atlantic-distributed mixtape Coke N Butter appeared, O.T. continued issuing individual tracks, among them “Bae” in 2018 and “What Is Your Name” in 2021.

Born in Atlanta and raised in Long Beach on the West Coast, Odis Oliver Flores drew inspiration from stark rap and dancehall figures that stretched from 2Pac to Shabba Ranks. He first surfaced in the early 2010s as a G-Unit affiliate with the 2012 mixtape Black Belt. Once Conglomerate Entertainment, Busta Rhymes’s label, signed him, he promptly cut the 2014 project Catastrophic 2 and released a version of “Touchdown” that included guest verses from Busta and French Montana. The more laid-back follow-up, “CoCo”—another track centered on cocaine distribution—arrived that November, climbed to number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, and later earned multi-platinum certification. A second multi-platinum success came with the number 35 single “Cut It,” featuring Young Dolph and appearing on the 2015 mixtape Rhythm & Bricks. Coke N Butter generated further notice in 2016 through “Push It,” a track that bypassed the charts yet received gold status. For the next five years O.T. focused on standalone releases, several of which accumulated millions of streams, including “Bae” and “Back to You,” the latter featuring Chris Brown and Charlie Wilson. In 2021 he put out “What Is Your Name.”