Nigerian music star Timaya has shared the inspiring story of his early career struggles, revealing how a chance meeting with a roadside CD vendor in Port Harcourt paved the way for his breakthrough.
During an appearance on the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, the 44-year-old artist recounted his relentless efforts to secure a deal for his 2007 debut album True Story, shuttling between Lagos and Port Harcourt in search of a marketer.
According to Timaya, his fortunes changed when the street vendor connected him to a marketer in Lagos’s Alaba market. “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.
The artist described how he presented his demo at the marketer’s shop: “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.”
The immediate public interest convinced the marketer to make an offer, though it fell far short of Timaya’s 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.”
Timaya revealed the marketer’s ultimatum: “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.”
The artist described his decision to accept the deal: “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.”
Though disappointed not to receive his initial asking price, Timaya acknowledged the ₦500,000 offer marked a pivotal moment in his career, representing both validation and his first significant professional breakthrough.