Timaya is an award winning Nigerian musician popular for socially conscious music that constantly references the role of God in overcoming difficult circumstances.
Timaya was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in the Southern region of Nigeria. He started from Port Harcourt. While in Port Harcourt. As a teenager in Folk Technical College, where he won so many awards in inter-school competitions and moved to Lagos to stay with his elder brother at his parents request so as to complete his secondary school education. He schooled at Ikeja High School in Mafoluku, Lagos. At one time in Mgbuosimini he was spotted hawking plantain which he prides because he felt there is pride in legitimate hard work. He later went to Rivers State College of Arts and Science to study, but he was wafed due to his poor academic position.
Has written and produced a music track for YouTube star Jarrett Holt and Eulonzo Jordan.
Timaya started out with a couple of early collaborations with some underground artists and was a back-up singer for Eedris Abdulkareem. He was featured in an unreleased video by UDX, a rap group based in Lagos. His first major hit was the song "Dem Mama" an account of the 1999 destruction of Odi, a riverine community in the oil producing Niger Delta, by soldiers hunting down militants whom where alleged to have killed 8 policemen. The village was burnt down and numerous people killed. Timaya bravely tackled the topic years later and won instant street credibility for his boldness.
Timaya is also called the Egberi Papa 1 (the peoples town crier) of Bayelsa or Mr. Timaya. Timaya is currently one of top stars of the Nigerian music scene, with a lot of other musicians interested in doing collaborations with him. He has collaborated with J Martins and P Square on the J Martins award winning Owey (Which Kind Life), with Kefee on Kokoroko, Spyder Man and others.
In 2011 Timaya was appointed a Peace Ambassador by the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace, (IIFWP). Dr. Hak Ja Haan Moon, co-founder of the IIFWP, stated he is "One of those individuals whose lives exemplify the ideal of living for the sake of others, and who dedicate themselves to practices which promote the founding ideals of the IIFWP.
TIMAYA is a hero.
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