Venom and Shishiliza discuss Riky Rick’s impact on ‘Love is Pain’


On the accomplished musical duo Venom and Shishiliza’s debut album “Love is Pain,” expect to find more gems in that sonic direction if the hit song “Sondela” (featuring Yumbs, Raspy, Blxckie, Riky Rick, and Tshego) was up your alley.

Sebastian “Shishiliza” Jameson, a multi-instrumentalist, producer, visual artist, and music business guru who was born in Zimbabwe and reared in Botswana, and DJ Venom, a Zambian South African hip-hop DJ, radio presenter, and entrepreneur, collaborate on “Love is Pain” for the first time.

On Friday, September 2, the 13-track album was made available, setting the tone for spring among music fans.

The album’s songs dominated charts the weekend it was released; “Cold Outside,” featuring DBN Gogo and Blxckie, debuted at the top of Spotify’s new Music Friday chart.

The songs on “Love is Pain” were created at a three-day writing camp that Venom and Shishiliza organised in April 2022 to bring together established and up-and-coming artists.

The artists the duo collaborated with were split evenly between those who were already well-known and those who were just starting out and who they wanted to give a platform to.

Venom and Shishiliza had 21 songs when they left the “#LetsOperate” writing camp, and choosing which ones to include on the album was a particularly challenging decision for them.

They sought assistance from their record company, Sony Music, as a result.

“They simply suggested that we stick to 12 to 13 songs. Shishiliza advised IOL Entertainment to “stay with this one theme for this project, and release the other theme in the future”.”

“Love is Pain” is a mashup of smoothed-out melodic sounds called “sondela” by Venom and Shishiliza, a combination of hip hop, amapiano, afro-pop, and R&B. It is “easy music that can be listened to anywhere and something that almost anyone can relate to,” according to Shishiliza.

The songs’ messages are directed at anyone in a “ship,” whether it be romantic or platonic or a past relationship involving love. Everyone at the writing camp was intensely focused on creating the magic, and the intense emotions that occurred in the studio sessions left everyone in awe.

Venom claimed that the phrase “You have to go through the pain to get through to the happiness” is what inspired the album’s title, “Love is Pain,” in a video by the late Riky Rick.

“When we first entered the recording studio, we were writing a lot of love songs. Love has so many different facets, and given how our year has been, it only felt appropriate to give it the subtitle “Love is Pain.”

We just connected with “Love is Pain” on a deep level because of how we felt and the indications God provided us, said Venom.

The late Riky Rick, who died suddenly only two weeks after the publication of “Sondela” in February, not only served as the inspiration for the album’s name but also for its musical style.

“He and the music he was doing before he went away profoundly influenced the tone of this album. He introduced us to a lot of the composers and producers.

Shishiliza said, “It’s almost like he revealed us the path we need to go with our music.

Venom and Shishiliza’s admiration for the opulent African brand Maxhosa is another way that Riky Rick influenced them. They are now considered to be the brand.

They wore their cover art’s Maxhosa attire throughout their performance at the SAMAs as well. It’s quite difficult to avoid thinking about the group and Maxhosa.

“It’s simply that Laduma has decided to be there for us now that Riky Rick has departed, just like Riky was there for him and he was there for him. We’ve developed a friendship centred around Riky.

Simply said, it’s a really pure thing. We are parting ways even while we are not dressed in his garments. It simply kind of happened effortlessly,” Shishiliza said.

(Samas) Venom and Shishiliza had the opportunity to honour their late partner at the 28th South African Music Awards with a performance that was both appropriate and respectful to the rapper.

Several performers, including Lady Du, DJ Maphorisa, Makhadzi, and Zakes Bantwini, have criticised the awards event, adding to the controversy.

On the other hand, Venom and Shishiliza avoided it and instead to emphasise their fantastic experience in Sun City.

“We had fun performing. Every aspect was rad. It was a lovely remembrance of Riky. We were simply delighted that Blxckie won. For us, Blxckie winning an award was the most significant event of the evening, said Shishiliza.

While celebrating the late cultural and musical icon’s life, the concert also hailed the development and revolution of SA hip hop.

Due to the diss track trend started by Big Zulu, which saw OG artists K O, Kwesta, and Cassper Nyovest respond with some potent verses, SA hip hop has recently been a big subject on social media.

Shishiliza stated that jazz and other musical genres have often been sampled in hip hop as part of its experimental nature. Mzansi hip hop is now in an experimental period as musicians search for the true sound of South African hip hop.

He does forecast that the genre will have recovered its true tone in the next year.

All digital outlets are offering “Love is Pain” for streaming.


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