From High School to GRAMMY Winner, Making the Chainsmokers Hit, Owning Her Masters, New Music
Daya dropped 'Hide Away' at 16 years old while still in high school — no label, no team, just a song she believed in. It went to number one on the US Dance chart and lit up radio stations across the country while she was still sitting in class. The music industry came calling, and she navigated it all with a clarity that most artists twice her age never find.
Then came 'Don't Let Me Down' with the Chainsmokers — one of the biggest records of 2016, a GRAMMY win for Best Dance Recording, and a level of global exposure that would have derailed most teenagers. Daya handled it with grace and kept her creative instincts intact through all of it.
In this conversation with Elmo, Daya tells the honest story of that wild early chapter — the label experience, what she learned about ownership and autonomy, how she eventually got her masters back, and what she is building now with hard-won wisdom and the freedom she fought for.
"I was on the radio while I was still in class. It was surreal — and I never let myself lose sight of who I was making music for."
How Daya wrote and released 'Hide Away' at 16 with no label support, what the response felt like in real time, and how she balanced sudden internet fame with the everyday reality of being a high school student.
The behind-the-scenes story of how 'Don't Let Me Down' came together, what the collaboration with the Chainsmokers was like, and what it meant to watch that record become a global phenomenon.
What winning the GRAMMY for Best Dance Recording felt like at 18, how it changed her career trajectory, and the complicated feelings that come with achieving your biggest dream earlier than you ever planned.
Daya's honest account of her major label experience — what she was promised, what she actually received, what she learned, and how she developed the knowledge to eventually reclaim control of her work.
The specific story of how Daya got her masters back, the legal and emotional process involved, and why she believes ownership is the single most important issue for every artist in the streaming era.
What Daya is building now with creative freedom, ownership, and self-knowledge on her side — the music she is making, the artist she has become, and what she wants the next decade to look like.
Daya describes in real terms what it was like to have a radio hit while still in high school — the absurdity of it, the joy of it, and the surreal experience of navigating both worlds at once.
The full story of 'Don't Let Me Down': how she met the Chainsmokers, what the recording session was like, and how a song that almost didn't happen became one of the defining pop records of 2016.
An unusually honest conversation about the music industry's treatment of young artists — the power imbalances, the fine print, and what Daya wishes someone had told her before she signed her first contract.
The masters journey: Daya walks through exactly how she reclaimed ownership of her own work, why it mattered so much to her, and what the practical difference has been in how she approaches her career now.
Daya's reflection on the GRAMMY win — the pride she felt, the pressure that followed, and how she made peace with the fact that her biggest achievement came so early in her career.
What the next chapter looks like for an artist who has already lived three music industry lifetimes — the new music, the new mindset, and the creative freedom that makes everything feel possible again.
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