Inaya Day (born Inaya Davis, January 17, 1977, New York) is an American singer. Inaya Day began singing in church as a young child, where she got her first experience in performing. She attended the prestigious High School of Music and the Performing Arts, and went on to study musical theater at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Day has also appeared on Broadway, notably as understudy to Stephanie Mills as "Dorothy" in The Wiz, and stepped into the lead role in Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri.
She has had extensive experience as a session musician, having appeared on tracks by Michael Jackson, Al Green, Puff Daddy, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, Big Daddy Kane and Jonathan Butler. Day has also written songs for Randy Crawford and Bootsy Collins, and has writing credits on Missy Elliott's "Gossip Folks" (the second single from her Under Construction album), on which Day co-wrote the hook and provided backing vocals.
Day was introduced to house music in 1996 when she was asked to do a demo. She met German record producers Boris Dlugosch and Mousse T, who produced a dance single "Keep Pushin", which went on to reach No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. She then sang chorus for Mousse T's track "Horny", which later gained in popularity when additional vocals from the duo Hot 'N' Juicy were added to the song. "Horny" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. The follow-up song "Hold Your Head Up High", with Booom!, reached No. 6 on the Hot Dance Club Songs.
In 1997, she released the club anthem "Movin' Up", credited as DJ Mike Cruz Presents Inaya Day and Chyna Ro. For this record, long time friend and actress Tichina Arnold lent her vocals but chose to use the moniker Chyna Ro for the project.