Many artistes are living their lives for people – Timaya

Timaya: It doesn’t affect me in any way.  It depends on how you feel as a person. I don’t know how they see me though. In Nigeria, if a child is very sound and intelligent enough to speak for himself and stand up for his rights, then they say the child is spoilt and disrespectful. […]

Timaya: It doesn’t affect me in any way.  It depends on how you feel as a person. I don’t know how they see me though. In Nigeria, if a child is very sound and intelligent enough to speak for himself and stand up for his rights, then they say the child is spoilt and disrespectful. I am a man and I have pride for myself, it’s not like am proud or being pompous as they say. I’m just being me. The only thing that can affect me in life is when I lose my voice and can’t sing anymore.

WM: What was the beginning like before you got your first break in the entertainment industry through ‘Dem Mama’?

Timaya: It was really challenging. I tried my hands on a lot of things to make a living for myself. Every story that was told in the song was real. All my songs are inspired from what I experienced in life. I have gone through a lot and ‘dem mama’ was the big break I needed to shoot into lime light.

WM: Are you working on any album presently?

Timaya: Well I just came out with one named ‘Myself and my boys’. For now I don’t intend to release any album in the next three years. I will keep myself busy with dropping singles and shooting videos. So that’s it.

WM: Can you take us into the cross of the crisis between Empress and yourself?

Timaya: Whatever happened is in the past and I don’t talk about it anymore. So I will just say we are moving on with life as two mature adults.

WM: What is the relationship between you and Empress presently?

Timaya: She is my friend; I don’t see her as an enemy,  but   people out there   are cooking up stories about us.  You know, people, press and even the fans   are all different in terms of cooking up stories.  Most times the press cook up stories to sell their papers or media organizations and the fans just sit and believe everything they read. For me I don’t owe anybody an explanation, that’s why I don’t really come out to explain anything. I am looking for diehard fans who will be able to defend me at any time.  All the same, trust me I can’t do anything negative. I will do anything that will make me happy and I want to be joyful. So if I am here and I’m just me, so if anybody like, he should just get angry about that or remain happy.

WM: You once worked with Ummi Ibrahim Usman a.k.a Zee-Zee. She said you once had a relationship. How true is that?

Timaya: Zee-Zee is a dreamer! I never had any relationship with her. I don’t understand how she came up with such illusions. She was a friend so she came to Port Harcourt, then she wanted to do a collabo with me. She bounced so she started having problems with a lot of people. When this problem came up; she called the police for them so that was it. I don’t know anything about Zee-Zee.

She told the whole world in press interview that she had a relationship with me. May be she is a dreamer. A lot of people told me about it. Like I said, she can say whatever she wants to say but really, it never happened.

WM: So who is the real Timaya? Is there a different person from the usual bad boy you are known to be?

Timaya: Potentially, it depends on what they see. If you think I’m a bad boy, cool for you. You are not my God and I’m not answerable to you. If you think am cool then good for you, but trust me, am not living my life for anybody. If I die today, that’s the end of everything about me. I came to this world alone so why would I want to please anybody. So the Nigerian mentality is that people would always want you to please them, but trust me, I don’t care, because I live my life the way I want it.  So that’s why I said if you don’t like the way I behave, then keep off.

For example, if someone walks up to and slaps me and if I try to do something back to you, you will say am a public figure so I wouldn’t retaliate? Well sorry,  I would give you a public disfigure. So that is one thing I know about myself.  I don’t know about the bad boy, but for me I am an open person and not a sycophant.

WM: How will you describe your kind of music in the Nigerian music industry?

Timaya: My kind of music is just me.

WM: What is your assessment in the Nigeria entertainment industry?

Timaya: Yes, we are going bigger and we are progressing.  Right now we have musicians in Nigeria who travel abroad to sing with foreign musicians, which is very good because our people will learn and see why they are left behind and progress on such areas.

WM: How true is it about the rift between you and Duncan Mighty because he had dominated your kind of music?

Timaya: Duncan Mighty is my man and we are friends. I will be travelling to Port Harcourt and I will surely see him when I get there. He was with me throughout the Christmas period and we had fun together. So how can you say he has taken over my kind of music? The press has a way of making people quarrel, because they carry stories that are not true sometimes. Some of them don’t even do researches about their stories; they just pick up their pen and write rubbish. How can they say he took over my music, those days that I use, to perform in shows, they pay me 1.5million naira but now I don’t take that kind of amount again.  So tell me if I don’t agree to perform won’t they call in the next person that is available that will go with that amount?

WM: Talking about shows, how much do you charge per show?

Timaya: It’s a personal thing, if you want me at your show or at your event you call me and I will give you my bill. If you can pay, fine, if not we remain friends (laughing)

WM: Who are your role models?

Timaya: Before I became Timaya, I have loved 2Face Idibia and I still love him.   The other people I really admire and I can say I look up to as role models are Bob Marley and Fela, because they were real and lived their lives for no one. Every other person out there is fake and they are living their lives for people.

WM: What inspires your content of your music?

Timaya: I get ideas from where I come from. That is why I said the experiences in Nigeria alone can give you over 200 tracks. The problems of this country are too much, so the stress alone can even frustrate you into writing. It also depends on the mood I find myself, either happy or sad. No matter what anyone does to me, I don’t need to get sad about it, because I have joy in my spirit that nobody can take away.  No matter what they try to do, I just smile.

WM: Who is the woman in your life presently?

Timaya: It’s a personal question so let’s leave that. I will guard this one from the press. They say once bitten twice shy.

WM: How soon do we see you walking down the aisle?

Timaya: May be we will have to ask God, because it is only Him that knows. You can also help me in praying as I know you are prayerful, so maybe he could reveal it through you. (Laughing)

WM:  What collaborations are you working on now and who would die to do a callabo with?

Timaya:  I’m not working on any now and I will love to do a callobow with Rick Ross from the U.S. I’m working towards it already. I will be going to the States by next month so we can finalize everything about the contract. Then in Nigeria, I don’t think I have anybody in mind, the only person longed to have a duet with was 2Face, and that I have done already. This is not to say other musicians aren’t doing their best but they don’t inspire me.

WM: Has the fuel subsidy in anyway affected you?

Timaya:  No, it didn’t because the idea of removal of fuel subsidy wasn’t a bad thing. It was just unfortunate that ethnic sentiments trailed the whole process…..

WM: Are you saying this in solidarity to the president being that he is from the south south….?

Timaya: I knew you were going to land there. You see the president does not pay my bills neither does he affect me personally. I don’t do lip service and don’t give a damn wherever a president comes from. I am different from other musicians who do. All I am saying is that the fuel subsidy removal will have done the country a lot of good. I don’t talk on sentiments. I am for the removal of subsidy, but my manager is against it and we still work together, so what is the problem? You this Hausa woman just leave me o! As you just wan rope me inside politics, na lie you don fail. Presido dey do his work; make me sef do my own, abi! (Laughing). So it is not about being from the south south or anything like that. It is about what is good for the country as a whole.

WM: Any last take for your fans?

Timaya: They should always put God first in all they do no matter what. Without God, the challenges will only get tougher. I also thank them for all the support they have given me from the very start. With their encouragement, I’m sure my best is yet to come. May the blessings of God be with everyone.