Nigerian music star Timaya has opened up about the early struggles of his career, sharing how a chance encounter with a roadside CD vendor in Port Harcourt led to his first breakthrough in the Nigerian music industry.
During an interview on the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, the 44-year-old recounted how he tirelessly moved between Lagos and Port Harcourt in search of a marketer for his debut 2007 album True Story.
According to Timaya, despite several failed attempts and disappointing offers, his fortunes changed when the street vendor linked him to a marketer based in Alaba, Lagos.
“He said ‘go and look for my brother now, he is in Alaba’. I called the guy, the guy said ‘who is this?’ and I said ‘it’s Timaya, your brother said I should call you’. He was like I should bring the demo to his shop the following morning,” Timaya recalled.
“So I went there with all the songs I have been doing in the studio, immediately I gave him the CD, he slotted it in and we sat down. He was not a big marketer at that time but he was the one who marketed them Sky B and some other guys.
“He was concentrating more on the East. So when I gave him the demo, he played it while cleaning his shop. When he played ‘Ogologoma’, people were coming in to ask him that they wanted the song. He told them that it was not yet out.”
Timaya said the growing interest in his music convinced the marketer to make an offer, even though it fell far short of his initial expectations.
“Different people came. He carried me to go eat and while eating, he asked me how much I was going to sell the album. I told him N3.5 million and he looked and smiled, saying no one is going to give me that amount. I asked why and he told me the last money he was going to give was N500 thousand.
“He also told me that if I did not come back to him by Monday, I should not call his phone again and this was Friday. Mind you, the first day I went to look for a marketer, they priced me N45,000 outright sale. As I was going back that day, I heard other upcoming artistes talking about how they were priced N25,000, N40,000.
“When I told them they priced me N500,000, they did not believe me. As I got down from the bus, I called him and told him I was ready. Then he told me to come to the market on Monday and take my money and that was it.”
Despite the initial disappointment of not receiving his asking price, Timaya admitted that the ₦500,000 offer was a significant improvement over earlier deals and marked a turning point in his music journey.
