by Josh Rizeberg

In Tacoma things are growing. This Growth is also occurring in the music and art scene, including in the
Hip-Hop community. Many local Hip-Hop Artists are now successful enough to start opening actual brick
and mortar establishments. Sky Creative now has a large location in downtown Tacoma right next to the
Hip-Hop oriented clothing store ETC Tacoma. Both these businesses are cornerstones of the Tacoma
Hip-Hop community. Thankfully, Tacoma gets to add one more new home to our neighborhood. Antoine
Hayden, a 31 year old artist and entrepreneur, is opening a location at 6323 E McKinley Ave, Tacoma,
WA 98404 – right in the heart of the eastside.
Antoine goes by the name of Hayday. He is a professional graphic-designer, photographer,
videographer, and music-producer. Like many artists he is mostly self-taught. He has gone to art school
however to get the essential credentials and certificates he needs to flourish in the professional world.
Along the way he has been taught and mentored by well-known Seattle artist, Eric Keith, who showed
him the ins and outs of graphic-design and how to price and market his talents.
Hayday has been a photographer for over twenty years. He has professional certification from the
Clover Park Media Production Program. Even back in school at Clover Park, Antoine Hayden’s talents
were evident. His senior photography project still is up on the walls of Clover Park Technical Institute to
this day. To stay sharp Hayden also makes sure to keep learning new tricks of the trade from YouTube
videos, photography tutorials, and he is currently enrolled in the Full Scale University Film School
program. Hayday has also had some early accomplishments in the Hip-Hop world as well. He has
production credits for King Leez, L ROC, and Prep Chambers, all three top-notch MC’s representing
Tacoma.
One of the main things that sets apart Antoine from other artists is that he fosters a sense of
community. Hayday throws large events, shows, beat-battles, and even cyphers that showcase Tacoma
area talent. The spotlight is never on him. He always shines it bright on others. This can be seen in the
relationships he has with some of the MC’s he has worked with. Hayday did not just produce beats for L
ROC and Prep Chambers, he cultivated their careers and brands and helped them explode onto the local
scene instantly making them well respected local artists. Hayday says his motto is, “I want to make you
not break you.”
This special sense of community comes from the relationship Hayday had with his older brother named
Marquis Hayden. Marquis passed-away when Antoine was 26. Marquis was Hayday’s main motivator
and supporter. Hip-Hop was something Marquis and Antoine shared and bonded together over. Their
relationship was so close and Hip-Hop was so much a part of it that it helped give Hayday a special love
for the culture of Hip-Hop. So now to pay homage to his brother, Hayday puts Love back into the local
Hip-Hop scene. It is his way of honoring Marquis.
Antoine shows love and he gets it back. His girlfriend and mother have now become his main supporters
after Marquis’s passing. Amanda Loveland, his girlfriend, even helped him with the funding to get the
building for Hayday Studios.
Hayday studios is the ultimate manifestation of Hayday and Marquis’s vision. This will be a one-stop
shop for local artists and media-people. It will be a multi-media hub. Hayday says it will be a,
“Professional place for podcasts, radio-shows, photography and video studios, and even a recording

studio. I want a professional looking place where people can bring artists from out-of- town to do
podcasts and radio-shows.”

To see Hayday’s video work check him out at iamhayday studios on YouTube.