Lucky Daye Artist Project

Origin:

Lucky Daye was born David Debrandon Brown on September 25, 1985. He was born in New Orleans, LA and moved around New Orleans a lot during his childhood. He has told interviewers that he has moved about seven times. He lived in the Seventh Ward neighborhood in elementary school and middle school, which is where he identifies home. 

Religion:

Daye was raised in a Christian church that his parents joined before he was born. The church that  his family was apart could been seen as cult-like by outsiders. He remembers going to multiple religious protests with the pastor at his church. The church banned their members from consuming any type of secular material and discouraged any influence outside of the church. Daye describes the church “Don’t listen to music. Don’t watch TV. The drums is a sin. You telling me if I play instruments, I’m going to burn forever? It was full of fear.” According to Daye, children who defied the church’s rules like back-talking or not finishing food were beaten.” His family left the church after an incident where the pastor told Daye he would ‘take him to the park’ after his dad died, which was seen as an act of sexual assault (the pastor was accused of molestation multiple times). Due to his upbringing, Daye has mixed feelings about religion.

Start in Music:

Daye says that the only good thing about the religious organization he used to be apart of is that it taught him how to make music from nothing. As he grew older, singing became his refuge and his family moved to Tyler, Texas, after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. His family split once they arrived – his brothers moved to other cities nearby and Daye decided to start his own life. Daye began to reconsider his relationship with Christianity, which strained his relationship with his family. He then moved to Atlanta to make his path as a solo artist. He made his stage name Lucky Daye after reading that luck was the meeting of preparation and opportunity (added e to Day in honor of Marvin Gaye, who also had a rough religious upbringing). Daye moved to San Pedro, in Southern LA and got baptized and started going to church again after meeting Neff-U, a producer.

Music Career:

He made his debut album Painted with producer D’Mile, which he released in chunks. The album represents a reflection of Daye’s efforts at connection during his darkest times and the album topped at number 15 on the US Heat chart. Daye released his second album Candydrip in March 2022 and the album topped at number 69 on the US chart. He has been nominated for 6 Grammys for his work over his two albums and three EPs. His most popular hit “Roll Some Mo” peaked at number 8 on the Billboard charts, and stayed on the chart for 26 weeks. Daye was featured in Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “You Want My Love”, which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard chart and spent 22 weeks on the chart.