About Day Won
Officially, having started his pursuit in Hip-Hop in 2009, Chay has released and recorded over 20 different chapters of mixtapes to chart his progression along the way. After the first five tapes he noticed how serious his work ethic had become and realized that Hip-Hop was no longer just a hobby it was a way of life. Bouncing around working with different local artist became a daunting task and he soon realized that he had to pursue music solo.
While in the process of preparing for a show Chay met Elgan Richardson a.k.a. illyEl Bicsby in a phone store while running a quick errand. The two began chopping it up about the music scene and what the game had been missing. They exchanged numbers and linked up later that week where they recorded their first track together called “Friday-Sunday History” which was instantly a hit. They performed the song at their debut performance at St. Rocke in Hermosa Beach and instantly knew the chemistry was perfect. Shortly after they continued working together they began going by the moniker Day Won.
Chay also envisioned creating his own label and put his thoughts into action by coming up with the name “For The Book Productions”. The label consisted of many people that Chay had already known for many years such as R.J. Davis who was a true friend who started listening to Chay at his most early stages of his career and has consistently been a strong supporter of the vision since the beginning. R.J. Davis has helped record and has listened to every mixtape volume along with every compilation ever compiled. Their bond is tight. Along with Nick Grawet another long-time friend of Chay, who has been an avid listener since Chay’s volume 11 mixtape called “In Too Deep”. Ishmel Sanchez the artist for the label was introduced to Chay through R.J. Davis and started following the music after Chay’s mixtape Vol. 14 which was called “We Are One, But Few Are We”.
Chay’s desire to take the music industry by storm is still an active dream as Day Won pursues these musical endeavors daily with the intent of remaining a power house in the music industry and leaving nothing but a legendary legacy behind.
Seems like his father had a plan all along. Growing up and bouncing from Inglewood, South Central and San Pedro became too much for Elgan to handle. During this time trouble arose leaving him in an adverse situation, causing him to move to the Inland Empire for a fresh start. Stepping into his Junior High School years, opportunities to work with many artist and producers materialized. It was during his senior year of High School that unwise decisions left him with no ownership of songs and his voice used as sample tracks for other artists. After facing this unfortunate experience with the industry, he scaled back from recording music. Soon his life took yet another turn and he moved to Redondo Beach to focus on college and work.
One day, out of the clear blue sky, his life changed when he met R.J. Sorenson, a.k.a. Chay, in a phone store. They began to engage and converse about the music industry and what was missing. As a result of their chance meeting they got together later that week to collaborate. He soon got introduced to R.J. Davis (Ninja Davey), Ishmael Sanchez (IshCali), and Nick Grawet (MC) through Chay. After getting in the booth for the first time they came up with the catchy hit called Friday-Sunday History. Around this same time, Chay had an upcoming show at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach and wanted Elgan to perform with him. Their performance together resulted in a very successful show. There was an undeniable chemistry that was just too surreal to go unnoticed.
Things continued to progress further, were they soon began to converse about starting a label and a new group. Subconsciously everything was already in motion. Dedicating much of their time, effort and money to the business, this helped solidify their vision. The more Elgan hung out with Chay, he eventually met Carlos Melgoza (Los) and Keith London (Ki-Tone). Since the first show, they performed in six other shows. Being blessed with great opportunity they were able to grace the stage with some world renown artists such as for Bone Thugs N Harmony and Curren$y. Many accomplishments have been made since their start back in the summer of 2015. Radio appearances, as well as two prosperous mixtape releases, and the many perks of hands-on-learning to evolve their music and business skills to a different level comparable, but striving to be better than many legends in the industry today. The first installment tape was called Gravity. Gravity, was an undeniable compilation being that it was their debut.
Many thought it would be difficult to follow up with another unique sounding tape. Breaking expectations and shattering standards Day Won prevailed by producing yet another classic “for the books” called Momentum. The group is working on releasing their third installment mixtape Supply & Demand. Recording and writing have become illyEl Bicsby’s drive in order to spread positivity and love to one ear at a time. Day Won’s mission is to be a highly recognized and respected music label while giving creative control to the artist and their craft.
JBFresh was always easily attracted to music, dance music, primarily while DJing. His top three favorite music genres are Reggae, Hip-Hop, and R&B (primarily from the 90s, 80s, and late 70s). After some bedroom mixing, and a couple of gigs his friend DJ Garett, got a hold of his own DJ set in 2007. Two Technic MK5-1200s, Rane sl57 mixer, and a laptop (since Serato was an upcoming new addition to technology of the DJ world) with music and DJ packs of party music downloaded and stored previously. Since then, JBFresh has done multiple wedding gigs, banquet gigs, created party bus mixtapes, work out mixtapes, opened for bars locally in the South Bay area including cities like Hollywood, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Torrance. He linked with Chay & illyEl around the end of 2015. JBFresh rehearses in the studio perfecting his craft of art, and things are continuously moving towards the right direction.
Keith has always had a love for Rap, Hip-Hop, R&B, Jazz, Pop, and many other genres. There came a time in his life where he needed to decide what he was going to do, and music was the calling of his purpose. At that time he hadn’t had a nickname. Wanting to be a producer he then one day had an epiphany remembering that his grandmother would on occasion call him Ki-Tone. Keith decided to give it meaning. Ki-Tone’s musical influences as a beat maker/producer are Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Kanye West, Pharrell, and Noah “40” Shebib. Also, producers such as Cardiak, Metro Boomin, and many others that helped his development by watching their tutorials on YouTube. Ki-Tone has been a part of Day Won for about 6 months and was voted into the “For The Book Productions” label but has felt a part of this group that treats each other like family from the very beginning, and whose bond has continued to grow over the shows and time spent together. Keith has known Chay since grade school and has known illyEl a little under a year. Within his role he provides any musical direction and positive vibes that he’s capable or required of giving, whether it’s beat making, or co-producing, to supply that positive and insightful music the way that Day Won provides it. In the next year he would like to see Day Won do bigger, different, and better things including shows/events, apparel and merchandising as they continue to inspire the culture and the world we live in.
Ki (Qi/ Chi): Life force or energy
Tone: A musical or vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength.
Heading into his teens to present day he found inspiration through listening to B.I.G, 2Pac, Eminem, and Bone Thugs N Harmony. Los has known Chay for the last 3 to 4 years and has been a fan of his work from the very first time he heard it. When Chay told him he was forming a group with a singer he met at the store, Los was 100 percent on bored with the idea. Los envisions Day Won in the next year or two getting their music out on a mainstream platform, launching their projects, and providing a state of stability for future endeavors.
JAWS started producing music in 2010 when my close friend Moses Taylor first introduced me to music production. He instantly fell in love with trying to create sounds and composing his own instrumentals. Getting inspiration from producers like 9th Wonder, Dj Premier, Pete Rock, RZA, Madlib, MF Doom and many others. Music was his therapy and medicine to conquer and get through all the obstacles that life had in store. Never being able to fully commit to producing music it was just a hobby. That all changed when he was introduced to Chay and illyEl by Ishmael last year. Jason could feel the positive vibes right from the start. Both great artist and lyricist he became a fan of their music, relentless work ethic, passion to succeed and become legends in their craft.
It was contagious and motivated Jason to take his hobby and turn it into something more. Everyday he trys to learn something new and be as productive as possible. “As we continue on our journey to greatness with some of the best people you can be around I’m blessed to be a part of something special with great artist and even better human beings.”
So whenever he wasn’t using it, Raymond started messing with it and taking pictures of random stuff. He had no idea how to use a camera or that there was specific settings for taking a photo. He usually just had it on automatic so he wouldn’t have to deal with any complications and shot away. Raymond decided to take photography in high school and he ended up loving it and has been doing it ever since.