Popular dancehall singer, lfred Inetimi Odiom, otherwise known as Timaya, has revealed that a lot of artistes lose their careers due to skepticism.
Speaking with music journalist, Joey Akan of Afrobeats Intelligence, Timaya said people around him planted doubts in him regarding the music career he was so keen on exploring, adding that this is the situation for a lot of artistes.
Tiamaya said, “There are a lot of people. I’ve got a lot of friends, a lot of uncles that time, they’d tell you ‘if this music thing no work again now, wetin (sic) you go do?’ And that thing has made a lot of creative people lose their career.”
When asked when did he start considering himself to be a music professional, Timaya explained that it took him a lot of time due to the doubt people have about his music career, but he’s just finding his feet.
“Do you know at some point in my career, one of my guys told me I should invest in marine equipment. I bought a couple with my music money and I was not shooting videos. The job now would be suffering. Then you’re going to invest in something that you don’t even know. Why do you think Jay-Z and Beyonce keep coming back to the music? It is now that they have realised that it is this music that has saved them. Because it is the music money that you used to invest in everything. So it has happened. If Jay-Z falls now, who would help him? The world would laugh. So that’s why I say na (sic) now I just realise say na (sic) this thing I wan (sic) do,” he explained.
The singer continued: “My brother, even if I go (sic) and buy a big estate anywhere and do one thing..it’s still Timaya, Papi Chulo the musician. It has happened. That’s why I can smoke in public now. Oga, you can unlike me, that’s your business. It has happened, it has happened. I’m not one of those guys you want to be telling that ‘you’re driving this car, you’ve not paid me rent. Why are you living like this.’ Or one brand would tell me ‘why are you drinking another brand?’ Like when I was a Hennessy ambassador, I was drinking Gold Label in the club. One of the guys from Hennessey saw me. He came to meet me that ‘O boy, this is not nice o, why are you drinking Gold Label and you’re a Hennessy ambassador?’ I looked and said ‘I’m sorry bro,’ and we laughed about it and I shoved the bottle to the side and I got an XO. But I told myself I don’t want to be an ambassador. I want to live my life, I want to be free. I can’t be anybody’s brand ambassador again. Except you want to give me a percentage, then let’s talk. I can’t suffer that kind of…it has happened.”
During the interview with Akan, Timaya further revealed why he relocated from Bayelsa to Lagos.
His words: “I moved because it was the right thing to do. It was the best thing, it was the greatest decision in my life.
“This is where my work is. You can’t be working on the mainland and you’re staying on the island. That doesn’t make sense. So there are no offices on the mainland, which is Port Harcourt.
“If you want to be a big-time politician, you go go Abuja na. Abi? (sic) Abuja is the centre of politics. Some people for this Lagos, they go say ‘he’s a local politician.’ True or false? When you never go Abuja, them go say ‘no, your level never reach (sic).” So I had to take that step. Of course, there must be a starting point, that was Port Harcourt. And what I needed that time, I needed to collaborate with other artistes. Even in America, it’s the same thing. You have to go to Los Angeles, you have to go to New York, Atlanta. But it’s so unfortunate that when it has to do with music, it’s just Lagos, which was why I moved.”