Timaya recalls how he sold his first album for N500K, second collection for N24m

Nigerian dancehall singer Enetimi Odon, popularly known in music circles as Timaya, has revealed how he sold his first album for N500,000 and sold his second body of work for N24 million.

The ‘True Story’ crooner, who opened up during an interview on the Afrobeats Intelligence Podcast with Joey Akan, said that he had to sell his first album for that sum at the time because he desperately needed to break into the Lagos market.

He disclosed that his first album, which had several popular songs like ‘Dem Mama’, ‘Ogologoma’, and ‘True Story,’ became a hit, and the marketer who bought the album offered him N7 million extra to shoot music videos for the album.

READ ALSO: Nigerian dancehall star, Timaya, opens up on drug struggle, says breaking free was ‘hell’

Timaya said, “He (marketer) gave me the sum of 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.

Following his debut album’s widespread popularity, Timaya recorded his second album, “Gift and Grace,” which he later disclosed he sold to a marketer for N24 million.

“I was being 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’.

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