From pro soccer hopeful to hip hop artist with illness and addiction along the way, Tymaz Bagbani releases debut album

“I mean by now man the progress should be evident”

“I was in a wheelchair / walking like the president”

— excerpt from “Heavenly”

One dream dashed, Tymaz Bagbani has moved onto the next one with characteristic determination and flair: becoming a rap/hip hop star.

But still, as Canada made its first World Cup appearance in 36 years, Bagbani is wistful about what might have been.

Bagbani is confident he would have been on Team Canada because he played with “over half the starting lineup or attended the same invite-only camps growing up.” He was playing as a teenager in Spain before a recurrence of illness forced him to return home and abandon his hopes to play professionally

Bagbani survived acute myeloid leukemia three times — he’s been in remission for a decade — but contracted graft-versus-host, an auto-immune disease caused by rejection of bone marrow or stem cells — which sheared the skin from chest down to his feet and left him unable to walk.

He experienced excruciating pain as he endured the equivalent of fourth-degree burns as a result of graft-versus-host and from the physiotherapy needed to so he could walk again. This led to an addiction to painkillers, which he references in two songs on the album.

“I put all my experiences together in this album,” Bagbani says. “(And now) the project is out and I’m just excited.

“I’ve worked hard enough to get myself to a body where people can’t even recognize I went through anything,” he adds. “I’m playing sports and I’m completely independent.”

The album — released on Nov. 28 — was produced by Soul Gala Studios, an artist development incubator and music studio that helps new artists with production, marketing, public relations and distribution.

“I heard about his story, and we ended up talking about making music together,” says producer Jorden James, who also performs under the handle, Jhrted.

James noted that Soul Gala is “selective” in whose music it decides to back.

“We both went (through) struggles in our life and I can relate to him,” James says. “I thought I might as well work with this guy because he’s a cool person.

“From a musical standpoint, I like that (Tymaz) is very lyrical and he doesn’t fit the mould of the typical artist in Toronto,” James adds. “He’s kind of different and he says real stuff — he says things that actually matter.”

His first album has what Bagbani regards as his 12 best tracks. His first single last year, “Told You,” has had a few hundred thousand views on various platforms. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bagbani began writing songs with a fervour — 30 a month at his fastest pace.

“The way I’m branding myself is I’m being honest with the audience,” he says. “People are too worried about being cool. To end up being real is really cool and my brand is real.”