JOSHUAZ

Timaya, the 1977 born son of a Banker father, and a trader mother, who happens to be the last of his family, recently opened a big tap that ran his life history. This is one story that shows that good things always come to the diligent in their works, and very well for those that never give up.

“Many of those who write about me do not know who I really am. They only listen to my music, they don’t know the real me. Yet when they write, they portray me in a bad way and that is not who I am. Now some people see me and think I am the kind of person that carries a gun. When I had nowhere to stay, I had to go and live with a woman friend who turned me into a prisoner. I had to live by her rules. I could not go anywhere until she allows me to. I could never stay out until 7pm, or else I am in trouble. She was older than me by four years and I did not have a choice.

Anytime I complain, she threatened to throw me out of her house. If I failed to make love to her, she would accuse me of sleeping with other ladies, and she will again threaten to throw my things out. That was when I was in Porthacourt. It was not easy for me then, but what could I do? It was when I was able to save some money to get another place that I was able to escape. Eedris was a good person. One thing I like about him is that he is fearless, and believes in himself so much. He knows how to perform on stage. He knows how to carry the crowd, and that is one thing I have learnt from him. He could carry the street along, he could relate to the people, I learnt all that from him. What I did not like about him is the fact that he only tolerated his boys. Till date he never paid me a dime.

The only money he gave to me was one thousand Naira after a show we did at Kuramo beach. That I did not copy from him. I treat my boys fine. I don’t owe them. They all have cars. I know that they all have their own family and their own dream, so I don’t mess with that. Eedris had time only for himself,” Timaya said

EXCERPT

Timaya‘s new album is set to drop online very soon and in preparation for the release of the Album UPGRADE ,he has decided to drop two new singles for our listening pleasure. Its not a secret that Young D as been behind Timaya’s recent singles in the last 1 year and he is doing a great job.

Timaya is switching styles from the usual Egberi Popsi we use to know, going more commercial and putting in more effort and i see a great deal of success from this new album .Meanwhile listen to the new singles  Malo Nogede ft Terry G and  iLLuminati .

Early life

Music career

He started out with a couple of early collaborations with some underground artists and was a back-up singer for Eedris Abdulkareem. He featured in an unreleased video by UDX, a rap group based in Lagos. Namse Udosen was one of his early mentors in the music game back in Lagos in the early 2000s. Namse Udosen (AKA Menthol X) laced the rap verse on Pomporo, a hit track on his debut album "True Story".

His first major hit was the song "Dem Mama" an account of the 1999 destruction of Odi, a riverine community in the oil producing Niger Delta, by soldiers hunting down militants whom where alleged to have killed 8 policemen. The village was burnt down and numerous people killed. Timaya bravely tackled the topic years later and won instant street credibility for his boldness.

Timaya is also called the Egberi Papa 1 (the peoples town crier) of Bayelsa or Mr. Timaya. Timaya is currently the rave of the Nigerian music scene, with a lot of other musicians interested in doing collaborations with him. He has collaborated with J Martins and P Square on the J Martins award winning Owey (Which Kind Life), with Kefee on Kokoroko, Spyder Man and others.

Discography

Albums

True Story (2007)

Gift and Grace (2008)

Timaya (2008)

Timaya Alabha

Awards

African Hip Hop Awards 2008, 2009