Just Day Expresses Pride & Mixed Emotions With His Debut 'Black Freestyle'
Born in Croydon. Left when he was 9 to live in his mother countries South Africa and Zimbabwe for 4 years. Since then he has lived in Hemel Hempstead, then later moved to Louisiana to play football + for his studies, then finally returned to Milton Keynes which is his current base now.
Just Day certainly isn't unfamiliar to the world of music and performance; he's been in choirs, explored acting, played leads in theatre production, and also plays the piano and guitar. Sonically, he fits into the Hip-Hop/Rap genre but Just Day has the potential to transcend genres, and has made it a goal to do so.
BF: Who is Just Day? What Inspires you?
JD: Queen and Slim has been a huge inspiration to me as an artist since watching it. How Lena and Melina captured the intimacy + complexity of Black love is something I want to always shed light on in my art. I'm generally inspired by artists like Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Young Thug + Ghetts. I gravitate to artists that still value integrity. Integrity is everything to me. I make music for people to feel and that's generally it.
Just Day has high hopes for music hailing from the UK, and definitely has a promising future.
"I'm excited for the future of music in general in this country especially. There's a lot of work to be done behind closed doors, and over the next few years we're going to see superstars with new sounds + flavour."
BF: What Led you to create 'Black freestyle?'
JD: I made this track during the first lockdown period. It was around the time the BLM movement was becoming hyper visual, and the shootings were out of control. I was feeling so heavy. I went to a march in London and it was just a weird moment for me. I felt quite numb and wanted to leave. I felt helpless. People were chanting but it felt empty.
I use music to express how I'm generally feeling at times, so I think the first bars were exactly that. I say 'Black' 4 times in the first 4 lines. It felt like a chant I could believe in. It felt empowering. I was just playing on the stigma attached to the word. Black man, black gun, Black kids being 'aggressive' and good Black kids being 'diplomatic', black magic being a taboo and African religious practices like Juju always being negative.
It's a freestyle so I switched it up and kept it light and fun after, but the beginning of that track is really important to me. That's the part I wanted to resonate with people the most.
The success of 'Black freestyle' landed Just Day a feature in GUAP Magazine's lveMUSIC session.
What other tricks does he have up his sleeve for 2021? Definitely keep an eye out for this talent!
Directed: Oye2.0
Stylist: Brandon Banda
Photographer: Karis Beaumont
Muse: Kirsty
Dancers: Kaanon + Taylor