“Every experience, every memory, every conversation, anything new, any encounter has influenced how this album sounds. I might like a particular guitar tone from it, and then I bring it into my world. Everything has come and conjured into one place, and it's beautiful to also hear and see,” Venna says.
MALIK is where listeners can get lost and find themselves again. The album also features a long list of musicians including Rocco Palladino, Elijah Fox, AoD, J Warner, Marco Bernardis and longtime collaborator, Yussef Dayes.
Venna speaks on the reason behind the album title: “The album MALIK was named by my mother 26 years before the album was made. A strong name that means King or leader in Arabic. A name that I’ve lived with all my life. A name that my nearest and dearest have called me & a name that I learnt to become. Throughout the whole process of the album - I’ve had another name that I loved but I felt like I wasn’t living in my undeniable truth & what better way to live in one’s truth than naming their debut album the name that their mother named them. I present my debut album MALIK.”
Tracklist:
1. Yoshi’ Intro
2. Numero Uno
3. Myself (feat. Jorja Smith)
4. Prophet
5. +Star101
6. Day x2 (feat. MIKE & Marco Bernardis)
7. São Paulo’ Interlude
8. Twisting (feat. Leon Thomas)
9. Zazu
10. Mr Popular (feat. Smino)
11. Raggo Rock
12. Veranda (feat. CARI)
13. Alchemy
14. Clarendon Fable
15. Indigo
16. My Way
17. Eternal Reflections (feat. Yussef Dayes)