I bet it won't be fallacious to say that the name 'Timaya' rings bell to the ears of almost all consciously aware music-loving Nigerians of this contemporary age.In recent times he chose to be referred to as the King of commercials,Egberi papa,Bum Bum boy et cetera.He had been enjoying a contented low life stardom,just a local dance hall artiste.He was enjoying the vibe,jiving in it,settled for the less perhaps because hardship used to give him an upper cut.He saw his surfacing to limelight as a modus to dishing out his testimony little wonder his doing some tracks like 'I don blow,Timaya,God don bless me' and inter alia captioning some of his albums in lieu with same testimony(Gift and Grace etc).He was enjoying the little fame,spicing it up with arrogance and some little pride.It used to pay him,draw crowd to him,make marketers treat his works with utmost respect and the media too.
His songs then though meaningful were filled with some crappy slogans and jargons not forgetting his recycling old beats by same him.He bragged about it,stuck to his style and at a time,other artistes started copying him.He was killing collaborations with his peculiar tongue twisting jargons.Infact the cruise made him rest on his past laurels.The idea of change or simply put 'upgrade' was not there.Then came his moments of tests,it started with the media,his Empress Njamah saga and not forgetting his career sharpening agent 'Nico Gravity'.Things somewhat suddenly turned sour for Mr. Timaya.Haters capitalised on his flaws,they bashed him with criticisms and accusations.It was such that nearly put his career to shatters.
But then,he knew the need for change has come.He returned to the drawing board and resurfaced with something new,first was the rebirth album.I listened to every track on it and not only wished but as well prayed it sell,however it had little market recognition.The fall in peck pushed him into something better,he did a joint album;the LLNP.After that fully came his big time upgrade,'the upgrade'.The bass laden bum bum track was something roofs of club halls still attest to till now.He rediscovered himself from the tide his career faced and not only remained relevant in the industry but aptly put overly relevant.
Bottom line:To learn from our critics.As can be deduced from the case of Timaya,he learnt to embrace change initiated by his critics to maintain his relevance in the industry even though his critics were not changed by their message of change.Where is his big time critic today?Where is the so-called Nico Gravity that dissed him with his 'finish Timaya'?Where is the Empress Njamah,how many films has she shot recently?
Life is about experience,best way is to learn from others.Timaya was in no way finished but was GARNISHED!
Deductions however should not be eschewed from our political scenery concerning the change and so called agents of change.Some of the so-called agents of change had threatened mayhem and parallel government if they had lost.The arrow head of the change yearners once threatened about dogs and baboons getting soaked in blood should he lose .It is crystal clear that the only change we have seen is from the criticised;he has not brazenly declared to make the country ungovernable for anyone but is ensuring a smooth transition.While we wait for more changes,we state that no change has been envisaged from the camp of the change messengers;the critics.It will be a non retraceable macabre dance and total show of shame should these change yearners fail to effect the needed change.
Aluta continua......