Biography

Who is Temilaye? A captivating writer/performer, he treads the taut line between commercial appeal & underground credibility. Formerly L Marshall, he created the No.2 smash, How We Roll (Loick Essien), and featured on Wretch 32’s critically acclaimed No.5 hit, Traktor. Born Thomas Griffith, he grew up between London (U.K.), Fortaleza (Brazil) and Lagos (Nigeria). After attending B.I.S. Nigeria (with Davido & JLS’s Ortisé), he returned to London for university. Torn between music and more traditional paths like law or engineering, he saw compromise in Audio Engineering. In 2010 he collaborated with the producer Yogi & Wretch 32 to make ‘Traktor’ (which became Wretch’s 1st hit); songs with Burna Boy, Krept & Konan, Bashy and Sneakbo followed. Signed to Mercury Records in 2011, he proceeded to work with an A-list line-up including Jerry “Wonder” Duplessis, Supa Dups, Novel (of Red1) and Fraser T. Smith. Now living between London and Lagos, Tèmilayé (which means ‘The World is Mine’) is concentrating on finishing his album ‘The Amazing Time Machine’; he has featured on records like Synapson’s ‘All The Way Down’ but explains “I am focussed on further polishing my sound and building my team”. Known for being able to rock any beat, inspired by everything from finance to relationships to Friday nights, and with influences ranging from Michael Jackson, Nina Simone, Lauryn Hill to Tupac, Eminem, Jay-Z & Lenny Kravitz, his debut will assuredly be as global and diverse as he is himself.