Jaylon Yates
West Dayton Stories Community ProducerJaylon Yates, AKA Smb Jay is a Dayton, Ohio native who introduced himself to the music world with his first mixtape Tune Into Greatness, featuring songs like Paradise, Too Major, and Alize’. Jay got into music after observing his older family member Trailz, also a hip-hop artist. In December of 2016 Jay started his own record label Selfmade Boss Records LLC (SMB), and he later added the acronyms to his stage name. The SMB artist has released six full length projects, including 007 Goin’ Thru It. Through this project Jay produced some of his most notable songs like Burn One, and Son Down. In addition to being a music artist, Jay is also an entrepreneur with a clothing line, Maurellamere Collections. The first release from this collection was D.O.L.O., which means Dreams of Legendary Opportunities. Smb Jay’s most recent project titled Co-Creator highlights him stepping into fatherhood and showcases his entrepreneur skills by partnering with local store fronts, artists, and record stores.
Jay has been involved in community work as well. He has been a program instructor for Westwood Elementary, running the Peace Building Program. While working with schools to improve education, Jay has also been involved in political campaigns and voter registration initiatives, where he performed at national voter registration day. Being heavily involved in the community gave him the opportunity to intern at city hall. Jay continues to make an imprint on the community through, music, fashion, and voicing the experience of his culture.
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Community Voices Producer Jaylon Yates shares his take on the Dayton community where he wants to have an impact. -
In the premier issue of “West Dayton Stories Zine,” producers of WYSO’s popular series “West Dayton Stories”—including amaha sellasie, Tiffany L. Brown, Omopé Carter Daboiku, Love’Yah Stewart, and Jaylon Yates—briefly introduce themselves and give readers useful tips for everything from photography to fashion to gardening. Readers also can scan QR codes that will take them to archived episodes (some of them longer than those that first aired) from the inaugural season of the series. -
Dayton is known for invention and innovation, and there’s a new wave of creative energy coming from the West Side. Young people are making art, with deep commitment to community building and social justice. -
The Edgemont Solar Garden on Miami Chapel Road has a long history on Dayton’s West Side. Lately it’s experienced a regeneration of sorts, with partners like Central State University and Agraria in Yellow Springs joining in to support urban agriculture. -
In this week's edition of West Dayton Stories community producer Jaylon Yates uses lyrical language and poetic imagery to express his take on Black Joy. -
Young people are raising their voices in the political debate, and we need to hear them. Community producer Jaylon Yates shares his ideas on the importance of voting, especially locally.
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Jaylon Yates is a self-made boss. That’s how he got his stage name, SMB Jay. Even in the best of times, he’s got to keep a lot of balls in the air, let alone during a pandemic.
