Ayodeji Afolabi better known as Day-G is storming into the music market and is making noise everywhere. We recently caught up with the American-Nigerian young artist to have a chat with him about life and music. Read the interview below:
Interviewer: Can we meet you properly?
Day-G: yes of course I’m traveling to Nigeria very soon to expand my new release, and would love to perform for any fans and give good content. It is also good to come back to my roots; this is where my family and culture are from. I may not have been born here but I care a lot for both America and Nigeria.
Interviewer: How did music start for you?
Day-G: Well that’s a complicated answer… (laughs). I’ll say that music started for me when I was 6 or 7 years old. I started writing and vibing to music at that age, which is basically what started my adventure. That mixed with big influences such as Michal Jackson, The Weeknd, Drake, or even Nigerian influences such as WizKid and Davido.
Interviewer: What would you say your challenges were starting at such a young age?
Day-G: My challenge when starting at a young age was support (Pause). Support is one of the hardest things to come by and if you don’t have it you’ll fail at whatever you do. Everyone needs somebody, from people working day-to-day jobs to the billionaires of the world… but the beauty is that once you get support, you can do whatever. Let this be a message for anyone trying to start something big in life. Get people to support you and anything possible, seriously; I honestly don’t care how big the dream is just keep striving.
Interviewer: How have you been juggling school and music?
Day-G: The most difficult thing in the world! (laughs) But no seriously it is really hard like my time is always split between music and school. The beautiful thing is that I learned the technique (laughs). Ready for it? … it’s just balance (laughs). People always ask me this question and how I balance it, but all I can say is that it comes with experience. I’ve been doing this for a couple of years now and I’ve learned how to balance releasing music and passing exams. It does still get hard, but I want an education, so I’ll just keep pushing, to be honest.
Interviewer: What is your creative process like?
Day-G: Well I can’t just reveal that (laughs). I’m just messing with you… my creative process starts with influences. I cannot write without having some influence on my mind. It can be the smallest thing like an object or an intricate thing like my own experiences or someone else experiences as well. I remember when I went to Paris I wrote 3 songs that week; that’s the secret technique, just influence. This also applies to music, everyone is so different that I like to pull aspects from others’ music and then add my own take and flavor to make it unique.
Interviewer: If you could go open a show for any artist who would it be?
Day-G: If I could open for any artist it would have to be Drake or The Weeknd. Those two are some of my biggest inspirations for the pop and r&b genres. They inspire me a lot, but I also differ from them significantly, so I think my music would be a nice introduction to their audience.
Interviewer: Do you sing in the shower? What songs?
Day-G: Of Courses (laughs). The songs depend on the day though. I add a bunch of songs to my playlist, my main playlist consists of 600+ songs and growing. I listen to a lot of music (laughs). Right now I’m listening to a lot of Tory Lanez, Future, and Fireboy. I could sing their songs right now for an hour.
Interviewer: What is the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
Day-G: The most trouble I’ve ever gotten into is when I was caught sneaking out of the house to go and visit this one girl (laughs). That was a while ago though and i vowed to never do it again (laughs)
Interviewer: If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
Day-G: If I could change anything about the industry it would be how much is based on theatrics, and not actual talent. In my honest opinion, there are people with absolutely no talent whatsoever that have blown up, while people with an absurd amount of talent never get discovered. That is the difference between the last generation and ours like Michael Jackson, Prince, and Sinatra is that these guys had talent unlike some artists of today.
Interviewer: What’s next for you?
Day-G: What’s next for me is working and dropping my EP. This is something for fans to wait for as these songs will be significantly better than my last. These songs are gonna surprise fans in a good way, as you use a bunch of different elements to construct an amazing EP. All I can say is just wait, you guys are gonna be excited.
Interviewer: What is one message you would give to your fans?
Day-G: The one message I can give to my fans is to just wait… it is going to be worth it. Trust me. In the meantime I’ll keep y’all updated on performance, sippets, and maybe even a release date (laughs). Just keep yourself updated on my socials and follow up to see my progress. I love yall and can’t wait for you all to see more
Interviewer: It’s good to have you talk to us today, we hope to catch up with you when you become bigger than this. Thanks for having this interview with us.
