The beef between Timaya and Eedris Abdulkareem has taken a new dimension as Rafioso who was mentioned in Timaya’s rant has come out to air his views concerning the issue.
Recall that Abdulkareem had taken a jab at the Egberipapa 1 of Bayelsa, during his interview with Goldmyne TV where he expressed his disappointment with the quality of music Timaya was making.
In reaction to Eedris’s allegations, Timaya went on a rampage where he slammed The “Mr Lecturer ” crooner calling him a dirty igbo smoker who wasn’t nice to a lot of people during his reign, including his former colleague, Rafioso who was under him at the time.
Nigerian singer and show promoter, Rafioso has responded to Timaya’s comments in a telephone interview, he said ;
“When I was Eedris’ back-up singer, he treated me in a very lovely manner. As a back-up artiste, it was not as if Eedris called me or Timaya, we were trying to be famous, so we had to go and meet him. We were serving him. To be honest, Eedris can cut his arm and leg just to help someone. Whenever they gave him money, there was a boutique where he normally bought clothes; he would call the owner of the shop to bring costumes. We would all pick costumes and Eedris would be the one to pay for them. After everything, he would still give us money. Timaya was not based in Lagos at the time, he was in Port-Harcourt and he only came down to Lagos anytime he heard we had a show. Whenever we had a show, we had a stand-by bus that conveyed us to the venue and back home but since Timaya was coming from Port-Harcourt, we could not wait for him so he had to come and meet us at the venue of the event. Eedris treated all of us fine.
“The problem is that when Timaya came, he did not come to Eedris as a singer but as a dancer. He is a very good dancer. Eedris could be harsh when he wants to advise you so he advised us on how to explore our different talents. As for me, I was into acting before I got in contact with Eedris, I was in Kiddies Vision 101 with Denrele. When I met Eedris, he advised me that I could sing because I have a good voice. He put me through and he encouraged me.”
Reacting to Timaya’s video, Rafioso said, “When I watched Timaya’s video and saw that he said Eedris did not treat him right, I did not understand what he meant. When I first joined the crew, I did not get to see Eedris all the time. He was always inside so we had to relate with his manager. He was not someone you could walk up to like that because there was protocol. The compound was very big so whenever we got to his place, we would sit under a tree and we ate whatever we wanted to eat because they would bring food for us. Timaya was not the only one with Eedris, there were so many people with him. I remember Eedris told Timaya then that he should stop singing and try to sing a song about his dialect or where he is from. I sincerely apologise on behalf of Eedris to the likes of Tuface, D’banj, Davido, Mr. Eazi and every other person he insulted except Timaya,” Rafioso said.
When asked if there was any truth in Tiimaya’s allegation that Eedris smokes Marijuana, Rafioso simply said, “Ask Timaya if he smokes Indian hemp as well. That should answer your question.”