Sham Pain
What do you call a man with too much Swagg and a tight Fortune 500 business acumen? We call this man… Sham Pain!
Femi Olu aka Sham Pain is the true definition of Swagg & a hard hitting hustler. The buzz surrounding the album “Recession Proof II (Cocked & Reloaded)” and the first single “Feeling Me” has created a sizeable following on all his social networking sites (facebook, myspace, youtube etc).
CEO/ Rapper/ Singer/ Song Writer/ Producer /Entrepreneur Sham Pain is the true definition of Swagg and a hard hitting Universtiy Educated hustler. Writing, performing and producing all of the songs on the album “Recession Proof II (Cocked & Reloaded)” created a mass buzz surrounding this album and the first single “Feeling Me” and the follow up “Sexy Black Chocolate” this has catapulted this artist into the Hip Hop and R&B world. Able to Rap and Sing equally as good is a great asset to have. He has been called “Sham Pain” since his early school days and the name was given to him by his school teacher when he was just 12 years old after she noticed that all/most females liked him and his presence made everyone feel good… so she gave him the name “Champagne”, to add a twist to it he just changed the way to spell it to ‘Sham Pain’.
Sham Pain was born and raised in the harsh surroundings in Peckham SE15, London (UK) to Nigerian parents of which his Father is a Doctor and Mother a PA Secretary. He says to be an African was the best thing that could have happened especially after visiting Nigeria on many occasions for family holidays saying it gave him a sense of belonging and to know who he was from the start surely saved him a lot of time. He did not allow the drug and gun culture of his environment to capture him. As a young boy he steered himself into sports and academics where he had many accomplishments and ended up garnering several archievements for his local borough and represented his school and college at many academic and sporting events.
Although his parents were professionals it never materialized into the household as neither one could get a good job back in the 1960′s in the UK. Coming from Nigeria into the UK they had to settle for lesser jobs and lesser housing than what they had initially studied for and were used too living back in Nigeria. Making ends meets between three children was always going to be hard and Sham Pain remembers going to school with holes in his socks, torn trousers, holes in the front of his shoes, no spending money and would always be the butt of all poor man jokes at school, this is where he learnt how to fight (he had no choice) and made a promise to himself that he was not going to be poor when he grew up and to help others in similar unfortunate situations he experienced when growing up.
Sham Pain has voiced several mixtape remixes with top acts such as Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Fabolous, T-Pain, Omarion just to name a few.
Sham Pain hits the streets with a HOT Album filled up with 15 tracks which encompass a plethora of topics and guaranteed club bangers mixed with clever punch lines and real life situations. Still unbelievably an unsigned artist, he has managed to set up his own Record Label – gRock Records, Film Company – gRock Films, Publishing Company – Sham Pizzall Music (ASCAP) and Music Production company – Beat U Up Ent.
The album “Recession Proof II (Cocked & Reloaded)” was recorded in the USA and in France. Sham Pain executes Pure Swagg, Southern Hospitality and a refined Haute Couture treatment on every track successfully.
Born and raised in London (UK), he left the UK in 1999 and parted for Dallas (USA) where he says it was a big culture shock but showed him how to do many new things with a smile on his face, now back in Europe since Dec 2009 he really wants to solidify his mark on the world music scene.
Moving consistently between Dallas and Atlanta since 1999 has really shaped this hot independent Nigerian unsigned artist. The Southern influence is apparent and very raw with a twist, that twist being he was born and bred in the UK but sounds like he is from the deep South when he sings and then blurbs out his native Yoruba language or speaks in Pidgin. He said “.. the USA Southern swagger has really rubbed off on me in a natural and good way, this mixed with my UK & Nigerian/African roots I just can’t lose… I have an accent unto myself”
Every track on the album is a standout track and was written from the perspective it had to stand up by itself as a Single release. All of the tracks on the album are Club and Radio hits and fans will be spoilt for choice as too which ones they prefer. Ladies will surely be drawn to Sham Pain especially after hearing the track “She Got Skillz, Sippin & Sexy Black Chocolate”. “Naija Hustle” is a track where you will hear Sham Pain speak in English and Yoruba. ‘Gettin Money’ is another track that is gaining momentum and the music video is viewable on major video websites.
As a singer/songwriter/producer it is evident that Sham Pain will break new grounds. Sham Pain went all out on this album speaking a lot of truths on very different topics. After hearing the album it will surprise many how diverse Sham Pain’s lyrical content, intelligence and acute delivery is. He is on point on every track. Not afraid to touch sensitive matters many have steered away from or felt uneasy to display that much “heart” on a track, Sham Pain digs deep inside himself and spits out fire!