From 'MALIK' to Manchester's Keep Walking Live: In Conversation With Venna
We catch up with Grammy-winning South London saxophonist Venna ahead of the Keep Walking Live: Manchester event to talk about the success of his debut album, creative evolution and life on the road.
Venna in 2025. Image property of TJ Saw and Elliot Hensford.
After the whirlwind success of his debut album, MALIK, which captivated fans and critics while dominating the charts, Venna reflects on the incredible journey that has brought him to this skyward summit. The depth of his musical vision shows what happens when creativity is driven by the needs of the individual rather than the wants of the collective.
What began as a one-term trial of saxophone lessons at age 12 evolved into a career that felt like a natural choice. "I think that was the one thing I was really exceptional at. I just stick to what I know, what I'm really good at and what I really like, and that just happened to be music," Venna tells The Culture Crypt.
Studying the likes of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, jazz naturally became one of Venna's musical influences, but a "spectrum" of other sounds had already started to lay their foundations before he picked up the instrument. Through his Jamaican heritage, family occasions and his parents' personal loves, the melodies and rhythms of reggae, R&B and funk were just some of the elements that soundtracked Venna's formative years, paving the way to developing a timeless style suspended between nostalgia and novelty.
"My mum loves R&B. My mum would be playing Joe and Jagged Edge and all them joints up in the house as a kid. My dad, he's from New York, so he's like a human jukebox. He'd be playing all the house, that disco, all that funk like Earth, Wind & Fire and Cymande."
"I give thanks that I was exposed to such palettes and such textures as a kid because I think that's what's made me understand music to a different degree, and be able to make the music that I actually want to. A lot of people can't make the music that they want because they just haven't experienced or felt what they are trying to feel."
Experimentation and feeling are central guides of Venna's creativity, allowing him to become "a vessel of the music," but 2020 carried a different emotional weight he would pull from, one felt by the black diaspora after witnessing the murder of George Floyd and the violence enacted during the #EndSARS protests. It is the only time Venna can say specific events influenced his work, with the making of "June's Cry" and "Sun Moon & Herbs" happening on the same day of release.
"When 'Sun, Moon & Herbs' starts, it feels like blissful anger, and then the B section, where [Jvck] James is singing 'our planet is in retrograde,' it feels a bit more like a release. That's what we made in the afternoon and then in the evening we made 'June's Cry' that same day. 'June's Cry' felt like the release of the evening. JADA came through, emil came through. Marco [Bernardis] was there, Jvck James was there, and my bredrin Perry was there as well."
Both songs were featured on his EP VENNOLOGY, the first project where his sound "clicked". After years of producing and featuring on other artists' work, VENNOLOGY was built with the help of long-time collaborator and friend Marco Bernardis, and marked the start of a vast discography with Venna confidently at the helm.
"With VENNOLOGY—everything clicked, and it just made sense, and then EQUINOX was just another click and MALIK was the biggest click so far. I hope I receive many more clicks in this lifetime. All three of them were definitely moments and understandings of oneself—in what my mission is and what I'm trying to accomplish, and the music I'm trying to make and bring to people's lives."
Now seeing the impact of his music in real time, his gratitude does not go unnoticed. "It's beautiful to see people have their own memories and react to them. I've seen people cry, I've seen people dance, I've seen people laugh and I've seen people smile. I'm glad that people can find solitude and safety and peace within this, so they can express themselves. I definitely express myself through this, and it's probably the most honest expression I can ever give."
Performing across Europe, the US and Canada and recently in Manchester, Venna is continuing to draw ears away from the speakers and into real life. Honouring the musical impacts from up North and the wider international landscape, Johnnie Walker and NTS joined forces to curate Keep Walking Live: Manchester, a community-focused, music-filled weekend. Rooted in the celebration of music trailblazers and movements, Venna naturally graced the lineup. "Really looking forward to playing with NTS and Johnnie Walker in Manchester," he says. "It's on Mother's Day weekend, so I told my mum to come down to the show."
When drill first touched the UK, the sonic ties to its birthplace of Chicago were undeniable, with a shift in production style evolving and cementing the sound now known as UK drill. Venna and North London wordsmith Knucks were at the forefront of the sound's progression—carving out their own lane with jazz drill.
"I just messaged Knucks. I could see that he was using software MIDI saxophones, which is like a fake saxophone that you could just play on a keyboard. I could just see he had an ear for it, and I just said, 'yo, if you ever need it, just let me know', I stayed on his case for a while," and his perseverance paid off.
The potent lyrics, 808 slides, and skittering hi-hats and snares that define drill were cushioned by colourful chord progressions and melodies familiar to jazz. Their work on Knucks' 2022 LP, Alpha Place, undeniably pushed both artists further onto the map, but their collaboration began years prior on the single "Home", with Knucks leading the production, and Venna adorning the track with his saxophone.
"I recorded the saxophone in my bedroom. I remember going to my bredrins, and my bredrins were kind of underwhelmed by it. They were like, 'yeah, you should probably play a bit more sax.' I'm like, 'nah, I think I've done just enough, like I feel like I played at the perfect moment,' and I'm glad I stood by what I said."
Classic in style, tasteful in approach and self-assured in nature, Venna's mastery of balance is clear throughout his journey. His openness to being both teacher and student has made him adaptable, knowing where space is an empty vessel waiting to be filled or when it is the voice itself, evident in his work on "Home" and in early studio session visits. "I'd always go to all the studio sessions with my saxophone. Sometimes I'd bring it out, sometimes I wouldn't. Not every song needs a saxophone." Silence and sound are not opponents but interdependent, offering an equilibrium in his creative outpourings and process that is both intentional and intuitive.
“I’d always go to all the studio sessions with my saxophone. Sometimes I’d bring it out, sometimes I wouldn’t. Not every song needs a saxophone.”
Following from the first two EPs, Venna's debut album MALIK stands as a testament to an all-encompassing artistry that extends past him. Blurring the lines between the celestial and earthly, Venna both summons and channels emotions—each note and the breath in between alchemised into layers of an ever-expanding soundscape.
Nomadic in every sense, listeners are transported across Brazil, Morocco and Egypt in a bed of fluid melodies, driven by the bossa nova rhythms heard on "Numero Uno" and rich basslines of "Indigo". His vocals morph between subject and canvas, spilling into the background of tracks like the CARI-assisted "+Star101" and easing forward onto the hook of "Day x2", featuring rapper MIKE and multi-instrumentalist Marco Bernardis, later taking centre stage within an idyllic three minutes on "My Way", and the artwork mirrors the sound.
Standing on the edge of a cliff, the scenery of Egypt rolls out before and beyond Venna—the same way his music does. Shot by renowned duo TJ Saw and Elliot Hensford, the images "helped paint the narrative of the album," finalised as the cover, and in turn, solidifying the name.
"It was only meant to be press shots, and we ended up with the artwork. That's how I ended up naming it MALIK, because it had a whole other name before we went to Egypt. Once I saw the pictures, I was like, "Okay, this makes more sense," and sometimes you can have a whole next plan, but God just be like, "nah bro, you're tripping. Just cool it."
The ability to trust and surrender has been just as important as having a clear goal. MALIK started as an EP, but the first four to five songs composed only formed a skeleton for a body of work that was yet to come. With the paperwork completed, it took some encouragement, but Venna's manager Theo made it work. "God bless Theo, man. I've had the same manager since I was about seventeen, eighteen. Theo's stuck beside me."
The echoes of Venna's personal experiences, relationships and influences stretch beyond the music, traces found in his willingness to push the boundaries and have the best be drawn out of himself and those around him. "Everyone who works with me kind of knows I'm a madman," he jokes. "Not a madman in a mad way, but I know what I want and I'm not gonna tiptoe around it. We're all one, and if you're in this room, that means I trust you with my heart and I trust you with the music."
As he prepares for his largest show to date at Somerset House, Venna is increasingly aware that his contributions are no light feat. "I don't take this shit for granted, man [because] this is definitely something that is a lot bigger than me and I feel like the mission's a lot bigger than me. I'm there for the people. Although, I make the music for myself and no one else. I'm glad that people can feel the music and it can help people and do something that's a lot further than me."
Learn more about Keep Walking Live: Manchester on the NTS website here.Stream MALIK below: