V Exclusive: Day26 Speaks On "Let It Go," A Comeback Without Que And 'A New Day'
http://vibe.com/contents/v-exclusive...medium=twitter
Over years ago, minus hip-hop collectives, music groups had lost their place on the charts to the point of inorganic inception. Just ask Day26. The R&B group had its start on a reality show, grabbed Billboard's coveted #1 spot and is now reemerging to show that bands are not extinct. With the buzz track "Let It Go" sending the 'net into a bit of a shock yesterday, singing quartet Will, Brian, Rob and Mike chopped it up with VIBE about their time away from recording, their feelings about taking this journey without Que and potentially snagging Nicki Minaj. -Niki McGloster (@missjournalism)
VIBE: Where the hell have you guys been? The fans miss you!
Brian: [Laughs] From day one that the band was made, we basically hit the ground running. You know, to recording the first album, to touring, to doing various shows and we had no down time. So we pretty much took this time off to lay back, enjoy our families and really get the direction we’re supposed to go in with this album and things like that. Other than that, we’ve just been working.
That’s good, and I think all artists need that time away to have the life experiences to write about, you know. And something very major that happened while you guys were off the scene was Q leaving Day26. How does it feel to release a track and to reemerge without him?
Brian: It feels good! [jokingly]
[All laugh]
Will: You know, of course it’s different because we did come into this altogether, but at the end of the day, it was just creative differences. However, we’re about to keep it moving and just continue to support each other as we all have success in the future.
I know that there were creative differences, but, personally, does it feel like there’s a missing link?
Robert: Real talk, we all had a chemistry as brothers when we first clicked and got picked as a group, but there are still four of us here and we still got that brotherly bond, so it still feels good. We still moving, and we ain’t gon’ stop. We got everything that we need right here. Not saying that we don’t need him, but we got everything we need right here, so we’re real confident about the move that we’re making right now.
Cool, so let’s get into this music. What was the inspiration for “Let It Go?” Obviously, the strip club [laughs], but what was the motivation behind it?
Will: You know, one of Day26’s biggest problems, and I think we all feel this, is when we go to clubs, the DJ would have the hardest time trying to find a record to put on while we’re there. As singers, it’s cool and people respect us for singing, but we wanted to take it to the club. It’s real DJ-friendly; we walk into the club and he just spin it because we in the place.
Dope. You want to make sure that when you step out to King Of Diamonds or Sin City or wherever, people can rock with y’all. Now, many, if not all of you, are taken men. How often are you hitting the strip club?
Brian: All the time. We live in the strip club! [laughs]
Robert: I just left the strip club.
Word?
Robert: This is no lie; I just left happy hour!
Will: I’m always in the strip club.
[All laughs]
So what is your response to the fans who are craving the Day26 who gave them “Co-Star” and “So Good?” I know you, Will, were responding to a lot of the people on Twitter.
Will: Yeah. It just sometimes takes people a little time to catch onto it. But you gotta understand this: As singers, we’ll never lose that element. We were in love with our first and second album just as much as everybody else, if not more. However, what they have to understand is that we’re never going to fall far from that.
This is our third album, and we’re growing. We’re evolving and going to different areas of our lives, so we want to try a couple different things.
Brian: Yes, and I will say this.
Honestly, this is not our first single. This is just a buzz single to get the people ready for what Day26 has to offer. Showing growth, showing something different. You’re not going to get your typical first album, Day26 album. You’re
definitely going to get some sangin’ because we some singing ass *****s, but at the end of the day, we want to show people like, hey, we’re not the teeny-bop group that people think we are. We’re not all squeaky clean and shiny; this is who we really are.
So what you’re saying is that you don’t want to be crammed into a box.
Brian: Basically. And not to take anything away from Bad Boy [Records], shoutout to Puff, Harv and the whole staff, but right now we’re actually able to spread our wings and be who Day26 really, truly is.
What’s your relationship with Diddy these days?
Robert: We’re cool. That’s the homie!
Cool. So how did you link up with Roscoe Dash for this record?
Will: I was writing to this M80 track and when I finished recording it, I sent it out to him rough. We had kept running into each other at different shows, and we really wanted to get him on a record. This one was the one that really stuck. When I sent it to him that night, he sent me a text like, ‘Yo, this record’s going to be amazing,’ so he jumped right on it. And the rest was history.
Now who’s idea was it to use autotune on this record?
Brian: It kind of came naturally.
Will: People think that autotune is just for people who can’t sing, and I don’t know who really branded it as that, but autotune is something fun. I know the greatest singers on the planet who say to put autotune on [a song]. It’s just a different vibe, a different sound that it gives you. It makes you become more creative while recording; it’s fun. You’re not going to do it for every song, but some songs do call for it.
We want be all autotuned out on our slow records because we feel like we’d be overstepping our boundaries as Day26. But we don’t look at it as a pitch corrector, we look at it as an effect.
I understand that. When's the album coming?
Brian: Soon, soon, soon. We’re still reaching out to some producers that we’d like to work with, different artists that we’d love to feature. Like, I hate putting a date on something. It’s almost like you kind of rush things. I’ll say this: Why rush perfection?
Will: It is well overdue though. It’s time for Day26 to get back out there and really show that groups are still alive. What people fail to realize is that we never fell off, we just took a break. We left on a high note, but it’s about time for us to come back and do our thing. We did about three of four records with Rico Love, amazing records. There’s this one record that we’d love to get
Nicki Minaj on. I think that will just be a marriage. Of course, we want to reach out to Drake.
Brian: [Singing]
And Weezy Baby!
Wow. That would be an interesting record.
Will: Yeah, so we want this album to be our new baby.
Download the buzz track HERE and follow the guys @Willie_Day26, @MrAngel_Day26, @Rob_Day26 and @WhoPootedDay26! The group Twitter is @Day26!
a collab with YMCMB would be nice
YAS. she cant love you was clearly supposed to be on the album. 
i'm mad it wasnt. even aubrey said on her last ustream she didn't know why it didn't make it, when all of the girls liked it. i like that song better than that trainwreck 'lights out' but w/e...and i agree dk completely ***** on all of day26 and their songs. rick ross was outta place on ecstasy though. always thought TI woulda been a better fit, but he was in and out of jail lol
...shoulda been a single! And to the discussion, Day 26 & DK are so not comparable. Pop vs R&B.
And Diddy is the common denominator in ALL of these failed groups so hopefully they can do decent this time. I doubt it though. I just want the ****ing CD.
Que on the other hand.... O_o And then he had the nerve to pierce that lil thing.
"Dirty Love" is the first single.
