Toronto
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When Nigerians speak about “Japa” — Yoruba slang for escape — they’re referring to the rising wave of younger folks looking for alternatives overseas. In Canada, particularly in Toronto, that motion is fueling a vibrant music scene linking Lagos, Nigeria, with Toronto.
Leading this modification are Nigerian-born executives Ikenna Nwagboso and Camillo Doregos. In 2025, they based Hi-Way 89 Entertainment, a report label with the purpose of changing into a hall connecting African artists to North America’s music industry.
Toronto’s booming African diaspora and multicultural music scene make it a pure residence for the Japa era’s inventive vitality. But based on Doregos, the infrastructure has by no means been totally set as much as help them. That’s why Hi-Way 89 Entertainment goals to supply the behind-the-scenes system that develops artists, releases music, and turns creativity right into a enterprise.
“What we noticed in Canada,” he says, “is that we have a lot of Africans moving … so much talent, but no opportunity and not enough knowledge for them to connect to. So, we built the bridge.”
That bridge runs in each instructions.
“We shuttle between Nigeria and Canada,” he provides. “I just got back from Lagos three days ago. The business happens on both sides.”
This ongoing change is popping Toronto right into a inventive hub, the place African artists attain new followers and Canadian-born Black artists discover new companions to work with.
That change is more and more digital. For many in the Japa era, migration begins on-line, not at the airport. Streaming platforms, TikTook, YouTube, and Instagram act as a parallel infrastructure, permitting Nigerian artists in Canada to construct audiences throughout continents with out counting on conventional gatekeepers in both market.
A music observe recorded in Toronto can discover listeners in Lagos in a single day, whereas fanbases constructed again residence can gas Canadian streams that entice native industry consideration. Online communities — fan pages, group chats, and creator networks — have develop into casual road groups, sustaining momentum throughout borders.
Recently, Nigerian songs have rapidly risen on Canadian charts. Tracks by Davido, Burna Boy, and particularly Pheelz’s “Finesse” have gone platinum in Canada. Doregos says this exhibits there’s a “ready market” for African music.
A research by ADVANCE — Canada’s Black Music Business Collective — and Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) Diversity Institute confirmed Black music generated over 65% of Canadian streams on Apple Music and Spotify between 2019 and 2022 — price an estimated 339 million Canadian {dollars} in 2022.
The rise of African music in Canada can also be deeply emotional. Japa might imply escape, however it carries a contradiction — alternative blended with loss, ambition formed by absence. Many artists are navigating gratitude for brand spanking new beginnings alongside frustration over why leaving felt needed in the first place.
Those tensions floor in the sound itself. Afrobeats blended with R&B, hip-hop, and pop mirrors lives lived between cultures — Nigerian at the core, reshaped by Canadian realities. Lyrics usually replicate nostalgia, sacrifice, and resilience, turning private migration tales into music with world resonance.
“Black music is doing a lot here,” Nwagboso says. “But there’s still underrepresentation. That’s the gap we want to fill.”
Breaking into a brand new music market usually hinges on one strategic second. The executives of Hi-Way 89 level to a now-classic instance of world growth — “Calm Down,” by Nigerian star Rema.
“‘Calm Down’ was already a huge success (in Nigeria and Europe), but when Selena Gomez jumped on it? That’s when it became massive in places like Canada,” explains Nwagboso.
“A lot of people heard of Rema because of the Selena Gomez collab, even though he was already big.”
For Hi-Way 89, the message is obvious: teaming up throughout continents can open complete new markets.
Hi-Way 89 combines artist coaching, technique, and analytics.
Nwagboso places it bluntly, “To be successful in this business, you need a sense of delusion. You have to push yourself. People see the finished product, but not the work, the anxiety, the stress.”
“It’s not about going viral anymore. It’s about community. Virality doesn’t sustain a career, community does,” Doregos added.
Building audiences throughout borders by way of digital engagement — direct, constant and world — has develop into central to profession longevity.
For Hi-Way 89, this method aligns with a era that already exists in a number of worlds without delay: creatively rooted in Nigeria, professionally growing in Canada, and globally seen from the begin.
Their technique contains cross-border writing camps which foster collaborations between new track writers and established artists, considerate artist pairings, and focused market analysis. Hi-Way 89 immediately pitches to streaming platforms for its artists to be included on playlists. It additionally focuses on constructing loyal fan bases slightly than following short-term traits.
“Behind one album launch,” Doregos explains, “you’ve got sleepless nights, contracts, marketing, PR, radio, distribution, pitching. It’s a lot.”
Nwagboso sums it up, “You’re competing with millions. You need a competent team that understands the vision.”
One of the clearest examples of the Lagos–Toronto fusion was a current session at The Orange Lounge recording studios, the place Grammy-winning Nigerian producer Pheelz labored with Hi-Way 89’s rising Canadian artist Chrissy Spratt on a forthcoming track.
This session wasn’t only a one-time occasion. It confirmed the label’s purpose of matching Toronto singers like Spratt, Sewa, and Nezsa with skilled African hitmakers.
Nwagboso makes use of a easy technique: “I tell my artists, send me a wish list. Who do you actually want to work with?”
For many, Japa is now not slang — it’s a cultural motion. What’s taking form in Canada is a era of Nigerian artists utilizing music and expertise to rewrite the industry’s rules. They didn’t go away their tradition behind; they carried it with them, remixed it and despatched it again into the world.