Up-and-coming Khayelitsha actress and singer Viwe Valencia Venkile recently released her debut single titled True Love.
The 26-year-old says she penned the house single, inspired by the endless love her late grandfather showed to her grandmother and it talks about the importance of showing love and appreciation to those who are close to our hearts.
While she is busy promoting the single, she says, she is also working on an EP.
“I hope this song inspires anyone who might listen to it to show love to their loved ones. I strongly believe that true love stories never have endings. I want us to love one another more than before,” she says.
“In this song, I’m spreading the spirit of love and care. I urge all of you to get this song on various digital platforms.”
She tells Vukani she discovered her passion for music and acting when she was at primary school and over the years she has participated in many youth arts groups.
She was in Grade 11, in 2012, when she recorded her first song, but it was never released.
After she completed her schooling in 2013, she looked for work so that she could support her self, but two years later went to study fitting and turning at City Varsity in Kimberley and graduated in 2016.
Her desire to be a performer, however, did not die down and so she joined another community art group
to enhance her skills and volunteered as a radio presenter at a local radio station in Joburg.
Her career took a turn in 2018 when she was featured in the TV soapie, The Queen.
This, in many ways, she says, opened doors for her in the industry. “While I was doing odd jobs, I felt that I was delaying myself because this is what I believe I was meant to do.
“I then decided to give it another try and I’m proud that I made the right decision. I want to become one of the biggest actresses and musicians that the country has ever produced,” she said.
Her career got another boost, says Viwe, when in 2018 she won a modelling competition in Pretoria.
And last year, she acted in a film produced for the Swedish market.
Currently, she says, she is working on another project which she is directing and which she hopes will be aired locally.