The Playground Meets: Dayon Greene
Written & Interview By: Brianna Nestor
📷 by Jada Imani M
Dayon Greene is keeping the funk alive. This triple-threat artist, songwriter, and producer hails from the DMV, which is famous for the original 1970s Go-Go music scene. From as early as two years old, Dayon has been fully immersed in music - from his veteran Go-Go musician father to his uncles who were in rap groups. Early influences from eclectic DMV culture are heavily showcased throughout his work on both his debut album ME and EP All for You? The Playground sits down with the modern day funk phenomenon to discuss his career, releases, and what to expect from him in 2021.
Dayon’s athletic career as a collegiate soccer player shifted his perspective of what his passions truly are. Once soccer became more like a job rather than a hobby he enjoyed, he realized which aspect of his life he wanted to pour his energy into - music. After getting in the studio with fellow DMV artist Black X, he found clarity.
“Some people get in the studio one time and they make a song and they love it. And then they think that's making music. But you know, making music isn't that,” he said. “You go through hard times, you go through rough patches, you go through periods without inspiration. My first studio session I was like, ‘this is what I want to do’ and I just stuck with it. I think that's the moment I was like I want to do this for the rest of my life.”
Dayon is a transformative artist whose creative identity is ever-evolving. His first EP All For You? was originally supposed to be a full-length album accompanied by skits and voice actors (Playground exclusive). When it came down to the core of the album though, Dayon felt it wasn’t authentically him, so he cut it down to an EP. Although it was still on brand with heavy baselines and other 70s rhythmic influences, Dayon felt the need to pave his own, recognizable sound using those inspirations. As a follow up, Dayon more recently dropped his debut album ME in 2020.
“ME is an overall canvas of me finding myself and coming into who I am as a person, and letting the audience know who I am” he said. “I just really wanted to tell personal stories that were weighing on me heavy at the time.”
The process of making this 11-track album came about more naturally than his other projects. Rather than try to make art purposefully, he started to let go and just record whatever came to mind as a form of self-reflection. Once he had a good variety of tracks to go over, Dayon decided to add choir pieces to some of his songs, including “Order My Steps” to pay homage to his religious upbringing. In this way, he was still himself but with a different direction and era of his life in mind.
Dayon wanted to bring people together when he released “Free” as his first single to give listeners hope and help them look forward to summer 2020. With what was expected to be just a short few month lockdown, we’re into an over a year long pandemic; we need “Free” now more than ever. The fun, easy-going beat goes hand-in-hand with Dayon’s journey of self-discovery and discusses his hope for the future as a Black man. This song exudes the feeling of vibing on a beautiful summer day with no responsibilities; the beat is instantly liberating.
In his second single off of the project ”Life Bid” you can feel his confidence vibrating off of the track. It was one of the first songs he finished from top to bottom where he just knew everyone needed to hear it; that gut feeling was definitely right. “Life Bid” proves that Dayon now knows exactly where he’s heading, and he’s not waiting for anyone.
What’s next for Dayon in 2021? We can expect another full length project by the Fall with some features. For Dayon, collaboration is where he thrives, as it adds new perspectives. Some of his dream collaborators are Drake, Sza, Lucky Daye, Frank Ocean, and Tyler the Creator. While he doesn’t want to give too much away, Dayon leaves us with this about his upcoming release:
“I think ME was finding myself, but this next project is more of an exploration of who I am today and of me as a man,” he said. “It has some sexy, cool vibes on it. I'm excited for this one.”
Lastly, what are Dayon’s favorite Playground activities? “This is tough because there's so many fire things on the playground. I feel like the slide is classic, and the thing about monkey bars is I was never great at them, but it was a thrill. So I'm gonna say the monkey bars, the slide, and playing Foursquare.”