Nigerian music star Timaya has revisited the defining moments that shaped both his career and personal life—from his early hustle in the music industry to the painful memories of the 1999 Odi massacre in his native Bayelsa State.
In a revealing appearance on the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, the 44-year-old singer walked listeners through his humble beginnings and the challenges he faced while promoting his debut 2007 album, True Story. Long before the fame and recognition, Timaya said he struggled, shuttling between Lagos and Port Harcourt in search of a marketer who would believe in his sound.
His breakthrough came by chance, thanks to a roadside CD vendor in Port Harcourt who introduced him to a relatively unknown marketer in Alaba, Lagos. Timaya recalled presenting his demo CD, which included the track “Ogologoma,” to the marketer, who played it casually while cleaning his shop. The song instantly piqued the interest of walk-in customers, sparking a demand that surprised both the marketer and the artist.
Impressed by the spontaneous reaction, the marketer took Timaya out for a meal and asked how much he was willing to sell the album for. The singer confidently quoted ₦3.5 million, but the marketer laughed it off and offered ₦500,000—a figure Timaya eventually accepted after weighing it against previous offers as low as ₦45,000. “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 moment became a turning point. On Monday, Timaya returned to the market to collect the payment, and the album that would launch his career was officially in motion.
But behind the artist’s rising fame was a deeper story of loss, grief, and activism. Timaya also revisited the 1999 Odi massacre—a military operation ordered by the Nigerian government in the predominantly Ijaw town of Odi, Bayelsa State. The operation, carried out by the Nigerian Army, resulted in widespread destruction and loss of lives.
“It was part of me, too, because my mum had a bakery in the village and was supplying the whole villages… It was the village that was attacked,” he said. “It’s very touching because we lost lives, a lot of things and history. You know when the government just says ‘go and shoot these people down’.”
Timaya turned that traumatic experience into art with his 2007 hit single Dem Mama, which chronicled the violence and devastation of the massacre. The song earned him not just recognition, but also the title Egberi Papa 1 of Bayelsa—a symbolic acknowledgment of his role as a voice for the people.
“I sang about it [the massacre]. That is the most I can do,” he said. “I told the story, how they sent the military to burn down the village. I narrated my story and it helped me to get an impact. I became the voice, which they gave me the title of the Egberi Papa 1 of Bayelsa State. That is the mouthpiece of the people.”
From near rejection in music markets to becoming a cultural mouthpiece, Timaya’s journey is a compelling blend of hustle, heartbreak, and finding purpose through pain.
