‍A lot has already been spoken about a few artists who have been drenched in the love for music from early in their careers. However, what has helped these artists stand apart is how they have remained consistent and resolute in their journeys to innovation in music and creating a unique niche for themselves, all on their own. Among these artists, VAYA VAYA is one to have made quite a positive wave in the music world thus far with her unique projects. Also, her recent collaboration with another music genius has helped both garner massive headlines for all the right reasons.

In February 2025, something unexpected took root during what many now call a symbolic Year of the Snake. While American musician JACK WHITE was on a tour in Toronto, an unlikely moment of synchronicity unfolded. Toronto-based artist VAYA VAYA, known for her raw, untamed creative energy, left a casual but heartfelt comment on JACK’S official Facebook page. She shared, “It was almost intuitive. I am not usually online like that, but I felt something nudging me to welcome the team to Canadian soil, and it seems the comment hit the mark.” A few days later, she recalls that she found a comment from JACK WHITE himself on her own page, which ended with “God Bless You,” a phrase that she says “resonated like truth.” This, she says, felt like the beginning of an unorthodox, spiritually charged artistic partnership in the music realm. This is how ELUSIVE THUGS was born.

This conversation was followed by a creative collaboration, the beginning of a movement. By March, the two began exchanging musical ideas across time zones with riff exchanges, and instinctive melodies flowed between Toronto and Los Angeles. VAYA VAYA remarked, “Distance doesn’t kill the creative flow.” She often recalls a night when she woke multiple times, asking God when music would return to her. At exactly 4.44 am, also known as an angel number, she was jolted awake with a melody in her head. That moment, she recorded in whispers on her phone and laid the groundwork for their debut sound, naming it ELUSIVE THUGS. It captures both the mystery and rebellion that define their union. They are outlaws of convention, poetic rogues creating with no filter, no playbook.

JACK WHITE and VAYA VAYA’S coming together for a project seems like a special story written in chords and code. They are not just collaborators, but what some call twin flames. It is a metaphysical term, describing two souls created from the same origin, split and sent to Earth to reunite and fulfil a divine mission. VAYA VAYA believes she was born from one of JACK’S greatest wounds, but also to be his greatest gift. Beyond the admiration and partnership signals a deeper message that raw art is sacred and real music is a calling. The creative duo is now preparing to enter the studio at Union Sound Company in Toronto. Visuals are being shot in LA. Plans are also underway for a fall debut at TRANZAC, one of Toronto’s most beloved alt-music venues. And if all this goes as they plan and hope, the performance will shake the city’s music scene like never before.

Listeners and music lovers can expect a project collaboration and a cultural signal with ELUSIVE THUGS. Toronto and perhaps the world are about to hear something it hasn’t heard in a very long time, with rock music, which has soul and sacredness, a reflection of the art of both the artists.