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Nigerian music icon Timaya has revealed how a humble ₦500,000 deal helped kickstart his journey to stardom.
That ₦500K meant the world to me. I just wanted people to hear my music,” Timaya said.
In a candid chat on the Afrobeats Intelligence Podcast hosted by Joey Akan, the dancehall legend shared how he sold his debut album, True Story, to a marketer at Alaba International Market in Lagos for just ₦500K.
“That ₦500K meant the world to me. I just wanted people to hear my music,” Timaya said.
His album True Story, released in 2007, turned out to be a massive success. Tracks like Dem Mama, Ogologoma, True Story, and Timaya became street anthems and introduced him as a force in the Nigerian music industry.
Impressed by the album’s performance, the marketer later gave Timaya ₦7 million to shoot music videos and even gifted him a car. “He told me I was good market,” Timaya laughed.
Following that success, Timaya released his second album, Gift and Grace. When marketers offered him ₦10 million, Abu Ventures stepped in with a better deal—₦24 million, a figure only stars like 2Baba, P-Square, and D’banj could command at the time.
Timaya used that experience as inspiration for his hit song I Don Blow, which celebrated his breakthrough moment in the Nigerian Afrobeats scene.
Now, with nearly two decades in the industry, Timaya continues to drop chart-topping hits and remains one of Nigeria’s most respected and consistent artists, known for blending dancehall, Afrobeats, and highlife into signature bangers.
