Timaya recounts his rise from Port Harcourt to making a big impact on Lagos’s music scene.

In an interview on the Afrobeats Intelligence Podcast with Joey Akan, Nigerian Dancehall music legend Timaya explained how much he sold his first album for 500,000 naira.

According to Timaya, he was offered ₦500,000 for his first album 'True Story' by a marketer in Alaba market.

Timaya described it as a big opportunity at the time when he was just coming up and needed an opportunity to break into the Lagos market.

The album would become a big success courtesy of hit singles 'Timaya', 'True Story', 'Dem Mama', and 'Ogologoma'.

Timaya explained that the album did so well, the marketer offered him an extra 7 million naira to shoot music videos for the album, and even bought him a car.

"He gave me 7 million naira for the music video, paid for the videos, and even bought me a car...He called me a good market," Timaya said about the commercial success of his debut album.

After gaining mainstream success with his debut album, Timaya recorded his sophomore album 'Gift and Grace', which he revealed he sold to a marketer for 24 million.

"I was been priced at 10 million by the first marketer, then Abu Ventures came and offered to buy the album. He ended up paying 24 million for the album. At that point, only 2Baba, P-Square, and D'banj were paid that kind of money," Timaya explained how his sophomore album brought him lots of money that inspired him to record the song 'I Don Blow'.

With nearly 2 decades in the Nigerian music industry, Timaya is an iconic musician whose work has won him the admiration of colleagues and the love of millions of fans.

His blend of Dancehall and Highlife with hip hop has delivered several unforgettable street anthems.