Egberi Papa act, Timaya,
speaks with JAYNE
AUGOYE about his past, career
and his secret
ambition
Popular singer, Enetimi Odom,
aka Timaya,
seems to have been off the
entertainment scene
for awhile. It was a tough call
chasing him
around Lagos for many weeks
before he finally
gave our correspondent an
appointment for an
interview in his home in the
Lekki area of Lagos.
It was obvious that the self-
styled Egberi Papa 1
had not quite recovered from
the impact of his
breakup with a controversial
actress that he
dated a few years ago.
Although it is common
knowledge that Timaya
broke up with the actress in
2009, he confessed
that the relationship had
robbed off on him
badly and wished he could be
rid of the
attendant negative aura.
“You should not date
somebody who already has
a negative record. In my own
case, it affected
me at that time. I feel that a
relationship should
be between two people and not
exposed to the
rest of the world. Only a smart
man is able to
keep his relationship private.
“You see, Desmond Elliot and
Jimmy Jatt are
both married, but you will never
see their wives
in public. Naturally I’m a
private person. The
only thing that takes me out of
my shell is my
music, which is what I do for a
living. It seems
that the only thing people know
about me is
that ugly episode. So I don’t
like to talk about
it,” he says, adding that he has
learnt a lesson
from the experience.
However, the singer is currently
involved in
what he describes as a healthy
relationship and
he has since moved on with his
life.
Apart from that single dark
spot in his life,
Timaya seems to have been on
top of his game
since his fortunes shot up
about a decade ago.
During that period, he earned a
fat bank
account, recorded six
successful albums and
scored several chartbusting
hits. The seventh
album is currently in the works.
In spite of his achievements,
the artiste, who
considers his maiden album to
be the turning
point in his career, nurses a
secret desire.
“I wish I had the power to heal
people. I am
always inspired whenever I see
men of God like
Bishop David Oyedepo
preaching and teaching
people. They practise the same
teachings and
become millionaires overnight. I
wish I can do
that with my music. I would
love to be a pastor.
I really want to be one,” he
says.
Describing himself as
‘privileged’ to be
considered relevant in the
competitive Nigerian
music industry, Timaya says he
has reached the
point where there should be a
change in his
career and focus. To prove that
he is serious
about this, he has shed his
dreadlocks and
started experimenting on a new
music style
with his last album. The album
is titled
‘Upgrade’ and it was released
in 2012.
Although many fans think the
album is riddled
with lewd songs, such as
‘Ukwu’ and ‘Shake
your bum’, the singer
expresses a different
opinion.
“A lot of people think I love the
female backside
a lot and that is why I sing
about it all the time.
But then, people will always
complain, no
matter what you do. When I
was still singing
conscious music they
complained that my songs
were always full of bile and
loathing. The truth
is that I sing about the way I
feel at any point,”
he says.
Interestingly Timaya is
currently writing his
memoir, which will be out in
2014. Regarding
his decision to write the book,
he says, “I am at
the point where I feel that
people can read and
be inspired by my story rather
than me singing
songs.”
When probed further about the
content of the
book, he lets out a teaser, “I
have also told the
story of a ex-girlfriend of mine
who always
wanted to have sex whenever
she was in the
mood for it.”
Although the singer enjoys
being a father,
marriage is not in his plans yet.
“I am not considering marriage
for now. But it
is something I must do. Before
now, I wanted a
child and God gave me one. I
don’t want to have
children from different women.
My father had
15 children and I am the last
child. I don’t want
to live like that. The truth is,
I’am not ready to
get married now,” he says.
Unlike most other successful
artistes, Timaya is
not the type to show off his
wealth or material
acquisitions especially on the
social media.
“I don’t show off on social
media because It is
not just my thing. I bought a
Bentley two years
ago and everyone started
buying theirs. I m not
even sure some people know I
own one. I
bought my G-Wagon two years
ago. Some
people will buy a shoe and put
it out there for
everyone to see. I simply don’t
fancy that. Music
has made me rich and it gave
me the
opportunity to travel out of the
country,” he
says.
For now, all that matters to the
artiste, who was
once a backup singer for Eedris
Abdulkareem,
is promoting his newest artiste,
Patoranking, as
well as re-positioning his label,
DM Records, for
the future.
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