What are the makings of a sex symbol? Maybe it’s having “Him Downstairs” tatted on your stomach, “Warrior” on your neck & “King of the Jungle” on your arm—all permanent testaments of confidence & sex appeal. Then of course, there’s the ability to stand out as the shirtless wonder in a sexy group of five crooners, all receiving the high-pitched squeals of their crying fans, but his are just a little louder. Or maybe it’s studio skills that bring out tunes so hot, while listening, I had to clutch my pearls. Yes ladies & gentlemen, Day 26’s Willie Taylor is a certified sexy symbol! He’s proved to us that he’s certainly got the chops to make the ladies moist, now he’s proving he can also write the sultry lyrics he sings. No, Day 26 isn’t breaking up, even though they’re down a member. They actually plan on putting another album out this year. Willie just wanted to exercise more of his talents & make them a little more apparent. He started his own label, Noivak Music & has released his own sensual mixtape, Sex Tape on Valentine’s Day. Offering us straight bedroom music from start to finish, Willie’s first solo effort scorches headphones & speakers everywhere. It’s all about the music for this man & he takes a lot of his cues from Diddy. With his label, he hopes to allow other people the opportunity for a successful music career, just the way Diddy offered him one. His heart is in the right place & so is his sound. Day 26 is already a musical force to be reckoned with & now, so is Willie—standing on his own.

-Danielle Young

I’m excited about your new mixtape that you just released. Why name it Sex Tape?

I’m a really freaky individual. [laughs] I had a couple of records when I was an unsigned artist—“King of the Jungle,” “Sweat” and things like that. I took those records and finished them and felt like naming it Sex Tape. It just so happened that the holiday coming up around it was Valentine’s Day. My mission was to show the world myself as a writer. The world doesn’t know me as a writer. On the show, you saw me as an artist. I feel like if you don’t know me, then you’re not going to know that stuff. I want to show the fans, labels, publishing companies—all of them—the type of artist I am. I am a force to be reckoned with when it comes to that studio work.

We did get to kinda see the way you work as an artist through the show. But I guess by being in a group, there was no room for individual attention for being a breakout star…

It wasn’t even meant to be a breakout situation or anything like that. The things they showed were like, ok, do this, but then go work with the producers rather than it being like us going in there & doing what we do. We didn’t get that chance. We do it all, as far as writing, production and music. So this was the perfect time to let y’all know.

For those who haven’t downloaded your completely FREE mixtape yet, what can they expect to hear on it?

Wooooweeee! [laughs] Some of the best bedroom music you have ever heard. I just went in as far as topics go. It’s straight lovemaking music from start to finish. You’re going to turn it on & just be that way.

Do you feel R&B is oversexed these days?

No. You have other songs. It’s not all about sex. Some records are about love. That’s what R&B is—it’s more heartfelt music. One thing R&B does own is the bedroom, period. It’s hard to bring Rock, Pop & Country into the bedroom. With R&B, we hold it down. That’s why you hear a lot of sex in it.

Is it hard to keep you husband & father life going through all the fame?

It’s different. There’s a lot of girls out here that try to throw me the drawers on a daily basis. For me, once you attempt to throw me the draws, I already have them, in my mind. I don’t need to touch you really. I’m on another level right now. I’ve been young before & all that stuff could have took me under—dead.

Do people assume you’re a manwhore based on the subject matter of your music?

Yeah. My thing is, I would rather people get to know me as a person than just the character & the music & making an assumption about that. I do music. I don’t only make bedroom music. I make that because I like to do it, it’s fun & I like to play with topics. At the end of the day, I’ve written a whole bunch of inspirational songs, love songs, heartbreak—I’ve got a song called “Lifesaver” that would probably make the whole world cry. I’m deep with words & I don’t want people to get too caught up into it. I did Sex Tape because I wanted to show everybody a side where I could take one title & make 12 songs about the same common denominator & take it everywhere. I have songs like, “Through the Mattress,” “Taste You,” “King of the Jungle,” “Knock it Out the Park—“ there’s a lot of wordplay. It will spark up a lot of bedrooms & keep it exciting.

So you’re not signed to Bad Boy anymore—is your relationship with Diddy still good?

Diddy’s going to always be a big mentor, a part of Day 26s’ albums & the whole nine yards. His business had to move over to Interscope, which was about business. You’ve got to move where you’ve got to move & at the time, we signed with Atlantic. We love it. We’ve always been on Atlantic, so there’s no big difference, just under the umbrella by ourselves now.

What do you prefer—being in a group or solo? How do you balance the two?

Being in Day 26 is off the chain. I enjoy being with those very talented guys—they’re all the way around, talented. Even Que, we wish him the best. I’d never leave my group. I care about them, their families—I’m not a selfish person. As far as being in the studio by myself, it’s my creative juice. It’s just me being me. At the end of the day, I prefer either one. It’s not like I look at one from being bigger than the other. If you ask me, five or six albums in & we split up, I’m still going to be doing music because I can’t stop. I’m not looking to retire at all.

How do you guys feel about the situation you found yourself in with Que?

It’s very unfortunate. Of course we didn’t want that to happen. It came to a point where we just couldn’t see eye to eye & in any business—we’re all partners—if it’s going to jeopardize the business, then we have to make a business decision. It’s nothing personal at all. It doesn’t take away from how great he is as an artist or anything he has coming up in the future, but it was just certain things we couldn’t deal with, he couldn’t deal with & we couldn’t mend them.

Do you think you’ll eventually make a move to a solo career?

Most definitely—maybe five or six albums in. Who knows? I’m not going to retire. Who says the rest of the members don’t want to do a couple solo albums & then reel it back in? It depends on what we’re doing. I’d love to do something under my own imprint, that’d be great.

You’ve got your own label—Noivak Music. What made you decide to go that route?

I’ve been in this game for a minute, even before y’all got to see me on making the band. I been stiffed in so many contracts & I want to make it happen to a point where it’s not about being selfish. I’m at a blessed place in my life & I want to help other people get there without taking a majority of their money or rights. I’m not at a point in my life where I want to be the richest man in the world. If I can help a million people get to a certain place in their lives, I’ll be that stool they can stand on to grab their dreams. That’s what made do the label. My dreams are so big & that’s why the mixtape was so big. A lot of people didn’t know if it was a mixtape or an album. I shot a video—it’s all self-funded too because I feel like scared money don’t make money, for sure. I went all out with it. I did my thing with the video & commercials because I wanted everybody to trust the brand. Say, I bring a new artist out & I have a new label. You don’t know the label or the artist, so 9 times out of 10, you’re going to look right past it. But, if I brand a label with my face—a familiar face—you keep seeing my face & brand, then you’ll trust the brand because the videos & commercials are decent. After I’m done with the mixtape & everything, I’ll bring the next artist up & they’ll be able to trust the brand because they remember it.

Smart! Seems like you have it all figured out…

I’ve been working.

From the outside looking in, people probably think, “He’s already made his dream real, so why is he being greedy trying to have a label & solo career.” Do you think people feel that’s more negative than ambitious?

At the end of the day, I always feel like you come into life with a lot of dreams. I know I wanted to be a singer, actor, model—a lot of things I wanted to do. So, when I reach one, do I stop or keep going? If you get to a certain point in your life & you’re always going to keep going, unless you’re willing to stop. Nothing I do is meant to be negative, ever. I don’t have a negative heart. I will do for people before I expect them to do for me. I lose out a lot because of my heart. I understand what God has in my heart & what I’m here for. I’m cool with it. When people throw negative stuff at me, I understand the game I’m in & why they want to make those assumptions. Time is showing me things.

What are you currently working on with Noivak?

I just signed an R&B act by the name of Elliot Trench. I signed a rap artist by the name of Miracle. I’m just working on their albums right now, trying to keep it moving & take them through the same type of challenges I put myself through, as far as the mixtape is concerned. I just want to keep it moving man. I actually have a deal with an open mic here in Chicago. I’ve been in open mics in New York, L.A. & all that, so I just brought the open mic situation to Chicago. What I’m going to do is broadcast live from my Ustream channel because I get a lot of hits on my Ustream. I want people to see not only me, but that talent I have in my city. I’m banking on releasing an artist to a major label from the open mic. I’ve just got big plans for my city. It’s not about me, it’s about making everything else bigger.

You sound like a mini Diddy in the making. [laughs]

[laughs] Yeah, he better watch out! He is definitely someone that motivates me. I’ve been around him & I’ve seen his work schedule & his long days—he don’t stop. It’s real.  Even in music, he’s humble. It inspires you because he works harder than a lot of people that don’t have deals or a dollar. He works hard. At the end of the day, I look at that & know I’ve got to keep moving. Because of him, I don’t sleep. I try to keep the label moving, I’m up, doing these interviews, working out, I have shows—there’s a lot going on, but I have to keep moving.

You don’t run out of time for your commitment with Day 26?

Never. None of this stuff comes before Day 26. All this stuff is because of Day26. I will never forget that. Up until now, you’ve only seen me miss one show. I’ve been at every studio session & never missed a practice or anything. It will continue to be that way. If I have something going on & Day 26 has something going on, then mine will be cancelled & I will end up going with my guys. I have to make sure that never falls apart.

I know you’ve written a lot of songs for a lot of R&B artists—Ginuwine, Avant, Joe—is there anyone you’d love to work with that you haven’t?

Actually, Usher. I’d love to do a record for him. I put a few songs out there, so we’ll see.

That’s cool. This was totally a fantasy question and you’ve already put in the work to make that a reality.

I don’t ever stop. I’ve been writing records for Elliot & other industry artists. I’m just trying to keep it moving man. I’m living the life I’ve always wanted to live.

I feel a lot of people are after the money, but you actually have a passion for the music. It’s refreshing to hear.

I appreciate that. There’s definitely a passion & a drive. I love music. As a youngster, my mom used to always say, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” which is a true statement. No one should ever do that, but that’s what I did. I had everything in music. It’s all I knew. You can give me any type of office job & I probably wouldn’t be good at it, at that time. Music, I was going to get ‘em! It’s all I knew. God showed me favor in allowing me to see what type of success he allowed me see & where he would take me. I didn’t know anything else. Someone asked what would I be doing if I weren’t singing. I probably wouldn’t even be here.

Is there anything you want to add?

Thanks to everyone for downloading the mixtape on www.noivakmusic.com. If you haven’t yet, it’s still available for free. Check it out, let me know your feedback. You can hit me on www.twitter.com/Willie_Day26 .

Yes ladies & gentlemen, Willie wants to hear your feedback & will definitely tweet you back!