Nigerian music sensation Timaya has recounted his early struggles in the music industry and how a single opportunity transformed his career.
Speaking on the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, the 44-year-old revealed that during the early stages of his journey, he frequently traveled between Port Harcourt and Lagos in search of someone willing to market his debut project, True Story, which dropped in 2007.
His big break, he said, came through an unexpected encounter with a roadside CD seller in Port Harcourt who introduced him to a marketer in Alaba, Lagos.
“He said, ‘go and look for my brother now, he is in Alaba.’ I called the guy… he said I should bring the demo to his shop the following morning,” Timaya recounted.
The singer visited the shop with a collection of his studio recordings, including the song Ogologoma. The marketer played the CD while tidying up his shop, and to their surprise, several customers immediately showed interest in buying the track—even though it hadn’t been released.
“Different people came. He carried me to go eat and while eating, he asked me how much I was going to sell the album,” Timaya said. “I told him N3.5 million and he looked and smiled, saying no one is going to give me that amount… The last money he was going to give was N500 thousand.”
Despite being far below his asking price, Timaya accepted the offer after comparing it to previous offers he had received—some as low as N45,000. “As I was going back that day, I heard other upcoming artistes talking about how they were priced N25,000, N40,000,” he said. “When I told them they priced me N500,000, they did not believe me.”
That decision turned out to be life-changing. According to Timaya, the marketer not only bought the album but also invested in him further.
“He paid for the videos, paid me the N7 million and bought me a car,” the singer revealed.
Timaya also shared that when it came time to release his second album, the same marketer offered N10 million, but he felt the value of his work had increased significantly by then. While trying to negotiate a better deal, he met another distributor, Abu Ventures, through a mutual contact.
“He initially wanted to give me N18 million but I argued that he should give me N25 million before we eventually agreed on N24 million. The next morning Abu Ventures wired N11 million to me,” he said.
The success of True Story propelled Timaya into the limelight, eventually leading to multiple collaborations and a lasting impact on Nigeria’s music scene.
