"True Story was a very heartfelt expression of my feelings and experiences at the time,” Timaya tells Apple Music of his groundbreaking debut album, released in 2007. “Everything I had ever dreamed of, was beginning to unravel. I poured my heart out, to share these feelings, tell stories about my hometown and to entertain people too.” History proved that mission accomplished; tracks like “Dem Mama”, an account of the 1999 destruction of the town of Odi, became an instant hit and remained relevant even during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests. Weaving together threads of highlife and dancehall, his genre-bending storytelling placed him at the genesis of the Afrofusion wave.