Venna - Release ‘Prophet’

Grammy-Award Winning Saxophonist and Producer Venna Releases First Single in 2 Years “Prophet”

+ Alongside Cinematic Aymane Alhamid Directed Video

Today, 26th March 2025, South London’s Grammy Award winning saxophonist and producer Venna has released the bewitching self-produced single “Prophet”, dropping alongside a cinematic masterpiece of a video - a precursor to his upcoming debut album. “Prophet” is a deeply personal artistic musing on where Venna thinks his art can go. Although inspired by and raised by jazz, Venna wants to encourage his fans to see each track and offering as an individual work that has its own genre leanings.

The performance credits for the track boasts many familiar names whose creative collaborations stretch back to Venna’s previous projects Equinox (2023) & Venology (2021). Featuring top tier talent of the music industry: Yussef Dayes, an Ivor Novello winner and BRIT nominee; Rocco Palladino, an Ivor Novello winner; Marco Bernardis, who has collaborated with Pharrell, 6LACK, WizKid, Alicia Keys; AoD, who’s worked with Ayra Starr, J Hus, FKA Twigs, Stormzy; and Alexander Bourt, Yussef’s percussionist, who contributed to Black Classical Music and toured worldwide with him.

With these long lasting partnerships at its centre and Venna’s steady hand guiding, Prophet is allowed to transcend the mundane through shared intent and a united vision. Performance credits: Venna - Alto Saxophone & Vocals, Yussef Dayes - Drums, Marco Bernardis - Piano & Tenor Saxophone, AoD - Guitar, Rocco Palladino - Bass, Alexander Bourt - Percussion.

The French Alps shot video operates on a truly magnificent scale from setting to shot range. Hazy, majestic and alluringly desolate, Alhamid has a vision that matches the grandeur of the music.

Speaking on Prophet, Venna says: “Prophet was the first record that was received during the creation of the next body of work. A record that showcases a lot of my reflections & feelings at the time. I strive to make art that will stand the test of time & with that goal comes a lot of studying & travelling for that to come to life. Paying close attention to what I sonically consume is key for me to make the art I desire. Prophet proved to me that there’s no limit in where I could take the album.”

The video’s director Aymane Alhamid elaborates on the creative process: "We wanted to create something that felt timeless—a visual piece inspired by classic cinema, designed to age gracefully. Our goal was to stand out by taking a different approach: we believed that if someone else had access to the same tools, they wouldn’t make the same film. The mountain wasn’t meant to be the central subject but simply a backdrop—we aimed to craft a second layer of meaning within every shot. We imagined how a child might perceive a journey to the mountains alone, without an iPad or toys—what thoughts would cross their mind in that solitude?

The key themes were nature, of course, but more importantly: achieving a goal, being alone against the wild, and striving for the summit.”

Venna has built a world like no other. In spite of his last project being over 2 years old, he has 1m monthly listeners on Spotify, supported superstar Raye at Shepherd's Bush Empire last year and has a growing fanbase with an ever-expanding appetite for new music.

More info on Venna:

A sought out presence behind the scenes in the music world, Venna has had a hand in many musical projects we all know and love. After learning piano from the tender age of six, a young Venna moved onto the Alto Sax at 12 years old, and the rest is history.

In 2020, Venna won a Grammy Award for his work on Burna Boy’s ‘Twice As Tall’ album on which he worked on “Alarm Clock” with P2J. In 2021 Venna received 2 more Grammy Nominations for his work on Wizkid’s “Made In Lagos” & Snoh Aalegra’ “Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies”, Venna’s accolades don’t stop there, having also played saxophone for some of the biggest Afrobeat records, including “Anybody”on African Giant & “Ja Ara E” by Burna Boy on the Beyoncé Lion King album & Wizkid’s 2022 album More love, Less Ego. In 2023, Venna was nominated at the Ivor Novello Awards as a co-writer on Knuck’s “Leon The Professional”, the following year performed at Summer Dayes festival, Cross The Tracks Montreaux, We Out Here, Rock En Seine & North Sea Jazz + his first headline tour in the UK & EU, and this April he is supporting Kamasi Washington at the O2 Academy Brixton.

Allowing himself to be a vessel through the music, Venna permits it to come out in various ways; a truly inspiring creative. An undoubtedly talented and unstoppable talent, Venna has received accolades from the likes of British Vogue, NME, Wonderland, AnOther, 10 Magazine, Complex UK, Dazed, Clash, Dummy, and more. Prophet is a statement of intent for what will be his greatest year yet.

Single artwork: