advertisement
FYI

Virginia To Vegas: flyby. - ft. Mokita

Plaintive vocals nestle atop gently insistent beats, and the results are subtly persuasive.

Virginia To Vegas: flyby. - ft. Mokita

By Kerry Doole

Virginia To Vegas - flyby. feat. Mokita (Wax Records): The Toronto-based electro-pop artist Virginia To Vegas (aka Derik Baker) has released a new EP, don't wake me, i'm dreaming, and this is one of the focus tracks.


In a press release, Baker notes that "flyby. featuring Mokita is a song that means something different to both of us, so I’m sure it will have its own meaning to you. But for me, it’s the feeling of not appreciating someone special in your life until it’s too late."

The song was written by Baker, Geoff Warburton, John Luke Carter (Mokita) and Mackenzie Jon Thoms. Plaintive vocals nestle atop gently insistent beats, and the results are subtly ingratiating. The harmony vocals of Mokita are an effective addition.

advertisement

Baker explains the six-track EP this way: "I had a lot of time to spend at home and on Zoom with my friends, and there was a nostalgic feeling to being in quarantine. It's not typical to have so much time at home, with your own thoughts. Stories just kind of came to the surface with being back in Toronto, as this is the longest I've been in the city in a long while. Time kind of stretched and sped by with almost a dream-like quality to it, and I wanted to create a body of work to capture that."

Relocating back to Toronto from LA, Baker has established his own in-house video production, graphic design, music production and songwriting team alongside local artists like Mike Wise (Ellie Goulding, Allie X, Johnny Orlando, bülow), Justin Alexis aka ThatGoodGraphic (Ariana Grande, Lights), David Charles Fischer aka DCF (DVBBS, Wiz Khalifa), Geoff Warburton (Shawn Mendes, Backstreet Boys, 5 Seconds of Summer) and Nathan Ferraro (bülow, Johnny Orlando).

A multi-platinum selling Juno nominee, Virginia To Vegas' run of hits continued with recent single Palm Springs (the way you made me feel), one that earned more than 500K+ streams in its first week of release. Baker is the voice of multiple Top 10 hits, including Just Friends (50m streams), betterman (10m streams), Selfish (65m streams), Lights Out (13m streams) and We Are Stars (Ft Alyssa Reid) (15m Streams).

advertisement

Read a recent FYI feature on Baker here.

Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

PR: Richelle Umali, Penelope PR

Management: Ron Morse, Wax Records

Agent: Stefanie Purificati 

advertisement
From left: GIVĒON, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Simon Gebrelul photographed by Diwang Valdez on December 20, 2025 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Styling by Yashua Simmons. Barbering by Moe Harb. Hair Braiding for Gilgeous-Alexander by Alysha Bonadie. Grooming by Teresa Luz. On-Site Production by Laela Zadeh.

From left: GIVĒON, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Simon Gebrelul photographed by Diwang Valdez on December 20, 2025 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Styling by Yashua Simmons. Barbering by Moe Harb. Hair Braiding for Gilgeous-Alexander by Alysha Bonadie. Grooming by Teresa Luz. On-Site Production by Laela Zadeh.

Features

Meet the Force Behind the Canadian NBA MVP Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and R&B Star GIVĒON

In this Billboard Canada Toronto's Simon Gebrelul's strategy to make Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a one-of-a kind sports star — and disrupt the music world.

It’s mere days before Christmas, and Paycom Center is unusually quiet.

The arena — home of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning 2025 NBA champions — typically holds 18,000 roaring fans, but today, you could hear a pin drop. Yet even in silence, the Thunder’s accomplishments speak loudly. Division title banners hang proudly from the rafters. Scan past those banners and across the empty arena, and three words in bold orange and blue come into focus: Committed. Community. Together.

keep readingShow less
advertisement