Tim Masil or better known as ‘DeSiz’ in the Papua New Guinea Rap Music Industry is a 23-year-old lad from a mix parentage of Madang, Simbu and Gulf province who turned to Rap Music to escape from the problems he faced at home whilst growing up.
The youngster started writing his own verses and rapping in mid-2010 when he was only 12 years old.
“Growing up, music was like an escape for me from all the domestic problems that my parents were going through.”
“Rap music in particular had a certain appeal to me because I could relate to the lyrics and different stories that rappers told through their music so it was easy for me to blend into this genre and style,” said Tim.
Tim proudly added that Eminem and 2pac were the main influences behind his inspiration in starting to write his own verses.
“In that way, I could rap in my songs about my life knowing the fact that someone out there is probably going through the same experience that I have gone through as a child and will be able to relate through listening to my songs,”said Tim.
Tim further added that he has been working on an EP (Extened Play) at the Dawgside Records Studio which is based at Gerehu 3B and will be released for his fans soon.
“There will be about 8 tracks in this EP and I will also be featuring Sprigga Mek and Gee Smooth in the EP as well which is called “Recognize”, added Tim.
Songs in his latest EP will include, Easy, Papua New Guinea (featuring Gee Smooth), POM City Confidential, Money or Life, Recognize (featuring Sprigga Mek), These Streets, My Shoes and Company.
In 2019, Tim took part in a local Rap competition at the Cosmopolitan Club here in Port Moresby called ‘Rapture’ and came out as the winner begging the top prize of K5, 000.
“I finally took the title as the ‘Rapture King’ after two unsuccessful attempts in 2016 and 2017 but I knew that this was my passion and if I wanted to win that title, I had to push myself to try out again,”added Tim.
So far, Tim aka DeSiz has been invited to perform at several concerts here in Port Moresby like the ‘The Naka Nation Concert’ back in 2017 and the ‘Planet Native Concert’ in 2018.
“The most recent show which I had the pleasure of performing for alongside other talented local PNG artists was at the ‘Dawgside Records Night’ that was hosted earlier at the Club Regal here in Port Moresby,” said Tim.
“So far I have not hosted any music gigs here in Port Moresby since the last pool party that my crew and I ‘Kanaka Outlawz’ threw back in 2017,” said Tim.
In terms of music collaboration, DeSiz did collaborate with several local PNG artists including DJ Manzin and Leslie Chan, 3Dise, Sprigga Mek, Tarvin Tounie and just recently this year with Stagajah on an Independence theme song.
Tim however, has not released any albums of his own since his entry into the rap music industry.
“Most of the singles I released were mostly underground and honestly, I cannot remember the exact number of singles I did release but my estimated guess is around 50+ songs,” Tim said.
Just like any other artist, Tim aka DeSiz hopes to reach a global audience with his music and get paid doing what he loves.
“It’s all about using the right marketing strategy because in that way I can help other young artists like myself learn how to promote their work and receive royalties for it,” said Tim.
Tim has had his fair share of challenges and for sure the main challenge has been COVID19.
“COVID has been a major obstacle because most artists in PNG make money from gigs and with all the COVID19 protocols and restrictions in place, it has become quite difficult to continue,” the young rapper said.
“But hopefully this will all be over soon and we can all start progressing again,” he added.
Tim ended off with a message to all his fans throughout Papua New Guinea who enjoy listening to his music by saying that “you do not have to be a surfer to create waves, you can do anything just as you are with the natural gifts and talents that you possess.”