Many times we all have that one love story that was never really told. Not many of us do but perhaps, some of us have experienced the throes of unrequited love. I know I have. I have pined after someone so much that I was willing to let myself get hurt over and over again if he would just look at me.
This experience was what made this song all the more relatable for me. Maybe that’s why it’s been on repeat. The song checks all the boxes in my books and then some.
Sweet Pain is an Afropop/dance genre released by Saxy featuring Kikii. Released 2025, Sweet Pain is a melodious mix of Afro rhythm and dance energy boasting poetic lyricism and artistic chemistry.
Sweet Pain is a song around the theme of unrequited love. Inspired by true events and backed with excellent delivery, Sweet Pain boasts potential ability to hit the charts with the right amount of PR. There is really no reason not to like this song, unless of course, you have poor taste in music (evil cackle).
Listening to the song, the chemistry between the artists was very obvious. In fact, that was more than chemistry. It was pure magic. The flow from Saxy, his words and the total turnaround we got from Kikii. It was beauty to my ears. Trust me, if I heard this song randomly, I would think it was already dominating the charts. That leads me to the lyrics.
Boy! Saxy took no prisoners. As mellow as this sound was, the words that danced with it in harmony said a lot about the artist. Remember I said it was inspired by true events? Saxy told us on the TikTok live how he would always see this girl (right from the days of secondary school) and just couldn’t summon the courage to take it to the next level.
A reviewer said, ‘Omo unrequited love no be anybody mate sha. Literally everyone can relate to this stuff sha’ which is true. It is relatable. Maybe that’s what made it more beautiful because I have experienced what Saxy was talking about. My sister made a passing statement of how the song reminded her of one of our favorite novels, Bringing the Nation’s Husband Home. It is a novel based on thirteen years of pining and want. She said Saxy could just be the Nigerian Lu Jinnian.
“Few years gone and I’m still stuck here…
…Girl I loved you in your school uniform”
That was enough to transport me back in time. I could literally see him with my minds eye looking through louvred glasses, trailing a silhouette with focused eyes. Ha! Omoh that love go sweet o!
“…but now you posting with your man on Instagram, his hands on your waist while you hold his hand…
…maybe cause I pictured I was gonna be your man…”
Boy. I can’t explain it but that was a whole story there. Saxy didn’t need to use too much words, he had just the right ones and he used them the right way.
Now, Kikii. Before I spread it out, a commentator on the live said, “Kikii don collect song from owner hand”. I say truer words have never been spoken. Saxy referred to Kikii as poetic and I say, she rendered poetic justice to this song.
Let’s look at these lines,
“Tell me how many times I go bleed, then you go fix bandage and repeat…”
Back track a bit and we have AD (Adeleke) who hosted the live gushing about it. She mentioned how that was toxicity wrapped up in a few lines. I never even thought about it until that and then it clicked, “Sweet Pain”. That’s what unrequited love is!
Kikii went further to blow our minds by rendering,
“I don dey love since they cut my umbili, umbilical…”
Saxy mentioned how that “bursts his head”. He went to say that she could have gone generic and used common lines about not being able to do without someone but she just nipped it in the bud with a few words.
Apart from her excellent lyrical construct, Kikii was so impressive with the vibe she brought to the table. It was like watching a roulette wheel or rather listening to it spin.
Kikii confirmed that she drew her inspiration from a relationship in the past and that she happened to write those lines towards a song she was recording but it just felt right inserting them into this song. I’m so glad she did.
In conclusion, I’m glad I got to be at the front row seat to this one. I’m also glad and feel honoured that they gave me permission to write about it. This is a Headies winner for me! A solid 10! You can follow this Link to listen to the song.
