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At a press conference in May, Teresa Resch, president of Toronto’s first Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise outside the U.S., announced the team would seek the public’s help in choosing a name and designing its logos and colours.
Nearly three months later, the team officially launched its “Name Your Team” competition on Instagram, inviting fans to submit suggestions for Canada’s first WNBA team.
Jamaican Influence on Toronto’s Youth Culture
Some social media users on Reddit quickly suggested the name should reflect Toronto’s distinctive “Jamaican” slang, with names like “Toronto Gyal Dem” (meaning Toronto Girls or Women) and “Toronto Cyatties” (cyatties referring to girls or women, often used to describe especially attractive women).
This sparked a wider online discussion about how and why Jamaican slang has become such an integral part of Toronto’s culture. Many pointed to the large wave of Jamaican immigrants who settled in Toronto during the 1960s and 1970s, shaping the city’s identity.
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Toronto Slang developed as a ‘resistive language’
This cultural exchange evolved into a unique slang and accent, now adopted by many groups across the city, especially among its youth. According to Raven-Paige Wilkinson’s 2019 thesis, “Diaspora’s Dialect: Cultural Exchange and the Transformation of Jamaican Patois in the Greater Toronto Area,” Caribbean immigrants—primarily from Jamaica—have influenced Toronto since the 1960s. By 2016, about six percent of the Greater Toronto Area’s population was of Caribbean descent, with 58 percent of Jamaican origin. This influence is seen in Toronto’s food, music, and language, particularly Jamaican Patois, which originated from African, East Indian, and other languages brought to Jamaica during colonial times.
Over time, Toronto residents began blending Jamaican Patois with English, creating what is now known as “Toronto slang.” Wilkinson highlights that many people use this slang without knowing its deeper roots in Jamaica or the history of Patois as a “resistive language” that developed amidst violence and oppression.
Cool and trendy or cultural appropriation?
The popular use of Jamaican Patois and Patois-derived Toronto slang has also become “cool” and “trendy” among Toronto’s youths. It reflects the strong influence of Jamaica’s music, especially reggae, worldwide. However, the use of Patois by non-Jamaicans, including professional musicians from other cultures, has become a topic of debate in recent years.
This issue resurfaced when Toronto-based social media comedian Snowd4y released “Wah Gwaan Delilah,” a parody of Plain White T’s hit “Hey There Delilah,” featuring Canadian rapper Drake. The song reignited discussions about the Caribbean roots of Toronto’s youth culture.
To the non-Torontonian ear, the song may have sounded like gibberish. In a Complex article titled “Trying to Make Sense of Drake’s ‘Wah Gwan Delilah’ Remix,” the writer called the song “pretty trash” and criticised Drake, who had just emerged from a highly publicised beef with Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar, for “leaning into the most exaggerated Toronto accent.” However, as fans online pointed out, the song is actually paying homage to a regional culture.
“It’s a comedic song for Toronto to basically only understand. It was hilarious hearing everything that we use on a daily basis in such a hilarious format. Song slaps if you’re from here, and I could bet every club in the city is playing this.“
A Reflection of Toronto’s Diverse Identity
As the city eagerly anticipates the unveiling of the team’s official name, the debate over Jamaican influence highlights Toronto’s rich multicultural fabric. From sports, politics, music and food Jamaica’s cultural influence is embedded into the rich and diverse cultural makeup of Canada, especially in large Caribbean communities in metropolitan areas like Eglinton West, Toronto a.k.a Little Jamaica, Montreal, Ottawa and Hamilton.
Cover Photo Source: City of Toronto on Twitter
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