Wah Gwan Delilah Is A Great Example Of Getting Specific For A Target Market

We were all minding our own businesses the other day when Drake jumped on the remix no one asked for.

On June 5th the Wah Gwan Delilah cover featuring Drake hit the internet. This was created by comedian/content creator Snowd4y and after looking into it, feels very much like a Toronto version of Mans Not Hot. Only this time spoofing the “Toronto Mans” accent over something preposterous… like Hey There Delilah.

At first I, like most of the world, including the singer of Plain White T’s, was confused.

Why did Drake jump on a track with some artist we’ve never heard of to make such a ludicrous song.?

Especially since this is the first clear thing he’s done since the rounds with Kendrick Lamar.

As I browsed through Snowd4y’s Tik Tok and got past the really fire promo for the song he put up, I came across his catalogue of “Toronto Mans” content.

It was at that moment I realized we had another “What Does The Fox Say” situation on our hands.

Sometimes viral hits are taken wildly out of context

The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?) was a very misunderstood song.?

The group Ylvis created this song to be a comedy joint that promoted the upcoming season of their talk show, I kveld med YLVIS. They released it to the internet. Then people like a stoned mid 20’s aged me encountered it.

Next thing you know I was going around going hatee hatee hatee ho and questioning if foxes and horses spoke in morse code.

The real takeaway is this was all for a Norwegian talk show that is so far removed from our life, that the song makes no sense to us.

The same thing happened with Gangnam Style. While it’s a satire piece of something specific to South Korean culture, we just found it silly. We don’t know anything about Gangnam, not the culture. We also didn’t know anything about Psy and South Korean music.

People here genuinely think Psy is a one hit wonder despite the fact that he sells out stadiums with a fat catalogue.

Psy wrote a song for South Koreans poking fun at poseurs. You weren’t supposed to understand it. However I’m sure he’s grateful he got a Snoop Dogg feature out of the deal.

I’m also sure Snowd4y knew exactly what he was doing.

Toronto slang is so deep it gets its own Wikipedia page

The official name for the way “Toronto Mans” speak is Multicultural Toronto English (MTE).?

To any of my Toronto people out there, feel free to correct me in the comments. I’m paraphrasing Wikipedia here. Wiki says it started as a mix of Caribbean, East African & Middle Eastern accents blended into something singular.

Time passed and the children of the initial immigrants embraced the accent, peppering it with wild slang.??

As various tastemakers across culture found success, the accent became more widespread. It became a stylized badge of honour for working class, often non-white communities. It’s kind of like wearing a Blue Jays hat with your voice.

Here’s the thing, I’ve performed in Toronto. The people that use this accent speak like that all day. That’s how they talk.?

I particularly appreciated this TikTok on the topic:

Now when I really went deep into Snowd4y’s catalogue, I realized a lot of his content parodies this culture. He presents an exaggerated version of the MTE, mixed with exaggerated themes that would resonate with the people who get the joke. Chances are if you are not from the 6, you won’t get it.

The Wah Gwan Delilah joint would make sense to Toronto because it’s meant for Toronto.

Focusing on the lore and identity of your city will help capture local audiences

Every city comes with its fair (or disproportionately unfair) amount of cultural locations, memes and general reputation points.

These are the things we can bond over. In Montreal the great bike path debate is a perfect example. Every single one of us can speak on it. As long as Valerie Plante is there, you can squeeze a bike path joke into your shit and people will feel it.

Looking at the success of Snowd4y, and the industry in Toronto in general, I realize it’s because of the overall content flow about Toronto made by Torontonians. People there really care about the people there.?

Unfortunately for Montreal, so much of that content is in French. This means that whatever the English version is, will get a tenth of the numbers if we’re lucky. While not impossible, it makes it trickier to monetize the efforts when people jump into the capturing local culture efforts.

Maybe I’m just out of the loop and there’s a bunch of English Montreal TikTokkers out there like Snowd4y.?

However I think looking at how that dude captures the essence of this one part of Toronto culture and its impact on the greater identity of Toronto at large. The fact that the internet collectively seems to hate the Toronto accent, is still an acknowledgement that it is a distinct thing.?

High key that’s all a local scene/culture can want. Real symbols that validate its existence. Wah Gwan Delilah is so unapologetically Toronto that it makes me wonder how we can replicate it here in Montreal.

Obviously not that song, but capturing our own culture in such a succinct way.

Live Long and Prosper Everyone

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