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  • Timeka Marshall

    "I am inspired by any and everything. Sometimes i'm in a soulful mood and other times I'm hype. I was always singing at home and around the place, hoping that somebody would just hear me. I just wanted people to say, 'Hey, you are a good singer.' Guyanese singer Timeka Marshall has finally found an audience. In 2008 she received two Guyanese Music Awards for Best New Artiste and Best R&B Artiste, respectively. These awards are only confirmation of the success Timeka has enjoyed in the relatively short time she has spent in the music industry. It's like this: young girl wins a local singing competition, then uses that initial break to springboard her music career to performances in different countries. Also, she's a part-time model and has graced the runway in several fashion shows. Sounds new, right? Never heard such a story? You most likely have, but Timeka Marshall is different. Timeka got her start by winning a jingle competition for Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) with some help from one of her highschool teachers at St. Josephs High in 2006. Winning that competition gave Timeka instant celebrity status in Guyana and convinced Kerwin Bollers, one of the promoters of the event, that all she needed was good management to take her to the top. Being a radio DJ by profession, Kerwin used this platform to help Timeka get a buzz on the local airwaves. In a truly ingenious plan, Kerwin played one of Timeka's first recordings on radio for two solid weeks without revealing who the actual singer was. "The first song Separate had a strong R&B flavor to it so everyone (in Guyana) thought it was an international act," Timeka explains. "It was much different from what any other Guyanese artistes would do-soca or reggae. So it was a great idea and it was from that that everything kicked off." After the success of Separate in Guyana, a decision was made to shoot the accompanying video in Jamaica. "I really believe that Jamaica is the capital of the music industry in the Caribbean." Dexter Pembroke from Muzikmedia, who is also Guyanese, agreed and they decided to shoot the video in Jamaica because of the expense of bringing equipment into Guyana. It was from the subsequent trips to the island that she became introduced to Pyramid Entertainment Management Inc., a public relations company based out of Barbados. After returning to Guyana, Timeka and Kerwin decided to invite the CEO of Pyramid, Santia Bradshaw, to the launch of Timeka's music video. Santia liked what she saw and subsequently introduced her to Jerome Hamilton, CEO of Headline Entertainment, a booking agency out of Jamaica. Currently, Headline manages her career. In addition to Separate, Timeka has since recorded several singles with well-known producers out of Jamaica. Devonte, Preston, Clive Hunt, Handol Tucker, Kurt Riley, Shane Brown, Stephen McGregor and Equnioxx are just a few of the names she has worked with. Timeka is currently set to release a video for her song All Night and is looking forward to continuing to add to her roster of stage show performances in and around the Caribbean. While her success has followed a tried-and-true pattern over the past few years, her sound and flavor is anything but the norm. As anyone who has worked with her can explain, Timeka Marshall can prove how unique she really is. "When I was in high school, I took part in a pageant and my talent was, of course, singing. My mom and my sister were there and afterwards my mom looked at me and said, 'You could sing all this time?' I was like, 'Yeah ,I can!"

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