O.T. Genasis

Biography

Odis Oliver Flores (born June 18, 1987), better known by his stage name O. T. Genasis, is an American rapper. Flores is best known for his 2014 single "CoCo" and its 2015 follow-up "Cut It" (featuring Young Dolph), both of which peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and received double platinum certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Early life

Flores was born on June 18, 1987, in Long Beach, California to Garifuna parents from Belize. Genasis states that his influences include Cutty Ranks, Buju Banton, T.I., Ludacris, 2Pac, Shabba Ranks, and 50 Cent.

Career

In 2011, Flores signed with G-Unit Records. The following year, he released his untitled debut mixtape under the label. He then after parted ways with G-Unit and signed with Busta Rhymes' Conglomerate Records. He released the singles "Touchdown (Remix)" (featuring label boss Busta Rhymes and French Montana) and "CoCo" in 2014. The latter had success on the charts, peaking at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2018, American singer Beyoncé used his song "Everybody Mad×Everybody Mad6 October 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Everybody Mad3:19" as part of her Coachella performance and as part of her and Jay-Z's On the Run II Tour.
In 2022, Flores' single "I Look Good×I Look Good30 April 2020 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track1I Look Good1:41" was featured prominently in the "Doin' Laps" commercial for the iPhone 13. In 2023, O.T Genasis joined the eighth season cast of The Surreal Life on MTV. The eighth season premiered on July 23, 2024.

Personal life

Flores is a father to son Genasis Flores, who was born on March 25, 2010. In a 2016 interview with The Shade Room, he stated his son has autism. On March 14, 2020, Malika Haqq, an actress and TV personality, delivered their baby boy Ace Flores.

Dispute with Keyshia Cole

In December 2019, Flores released "Never Knew", which he rapped over the instrumental to and mimicked the vocal delivery of singer Keyshia Cole's 2005 single, "Love". Cole disapproved of the remake, especially on her Fox Soul talk show, One on One with Keyshia Cole, due to its gang culture. In response, both artists attacked each other online with social media posts, infamously with Flores performing the "Never Knew" remake at a Christmas party during karaoke. A music video for the remake was published on YouTube during the holiday season, but was later pulled off. The extent was pulled further as the video was later uploaded on the controversial adult content site, Pornhub.
The dispute reiterated in July 2021, when Cole's mother, Frankie Lons, died, with Flores claiming he sold drugs to her in his early years, which he caused backlash for. Cole's estranged sisters and brother, respectively, Neffeteria "Neffe" Pugh, Elite Noel and Sean Cole (known as rapper Nutt-So), criticized him in response, with the former claiming to "finish him". However, Flores appeared with Cole during her performance of "Love" in the midst of her Verzuz competition against former Ja Rule protege Ashanti, which both Pugh and Noel still disapproved.
Though their dispute died down afterwards, Flores publicly apologized to Cole once again when on April 1, 2024, he appeared on-stage during a concert in Los Angeles. He said of her to the audience, "When I met this woman, she is the sweetest, one of the greatest personalities, the greatest sense of humor, she’s really sent from God. She got a very, very, very good soul." In response, she consequentially called the rapper a "ninja turtle" for his past remarks about her mother. Flores and Cole both claimed love for each other and embraced, squashing their feud. Cole's sisters, Neffe Pugh and Elite Noel, however, still disapproved of Flores' apology, with the latter saying via social media, "Ho, go kiss my [mother]'s grave and then I'll forgive you." [sic], with Cole (the following day) understanding her siblings' rights to their feelings, while adding "I chose differently with forgiveness. It all happened publicly so he apologized publicly."