Eagle Owl Releases ‘Way Out’ Featuring Jaydi Zavala: A Dark, Cinematic Hip-Hop Confessional
Eagle Owl, the rising Canadian voice fusing alt-pop, alt-R&B, and hip-hop, announces the release of his powerful new single “Way Out.” The track embodies raw emotion and cinematic darkness, pushing the boundaries of genre while staying rooted in the culture’s spirit of truth-telling and resilience. Blending melodic hooks with hard-hitting bars, Eagle Owl captures what he describes as his own self-portrait: ‘For me, “Way Out” is like a self-portrait. It represents my inner battles, our struggles in life wanting a way out especially in this day and age.’
Eagle Owl’s story has always been about standing apart. Based out of Winnipeg and pulling inspiration from early Billie Eilish, BANKS, G-Eazy, 6LACK, and Bad Omens, his sound is steeped in both vulnerability and power. Growing up in the church, his lyrics often move through themes of faith, struggle, and survival. ‘My work speaks to the misunderstood, the seekers, the outlier fans and even to the outsiders,’ he explains.
“Way Out” was born on a day Eagle Owl felt mentally trapped. ‘I needed to create something that felt like an escape hatch for my own thoughts basically wanting a way out,’ he recalls. That raw emotion spilled directly into lyrics like: ‘Never had a way out, on my way out, try to shut it out, that it’ll never will work out, never found a way out, never had a handout, you never understand who I really am’. The track stands as both testimony and therapy, speaking to anyone chasing freedom from toxic cycles, expectations, or inner walls.
Production-wise, “Way Out” is crafted with meticulous intent. Eagle Owl drew sonic inspiration from alt-pop/R&B giants like The Weeknd and memyself&vi, shaping a record that feels vulnerable and menacing at once. Wanting to elevate the track’s dynamic, he enlisted Jaydi for a collaborative performance: ‘I have been wanting a song to collaborate with a female artist for years, this song just felt natural for that, where it’s almost like a two-person dynamic by the end of it and Jaydi fitted perfectly,’ Eagle Owl explains.
The mix was handled by local producer Cailen Penner, chosen deliberately to keep the energy rooted in Winnipeg’s creative community. ‘It did take a few tries to get the perfect mix but Cailen did perfect for mixing both my and Jaydi’s vocals,’ Eagle Owl shares. For mastering, he linked with industry veteran Travis Ference, who has worked with Imagine Dragons, Taylor Swift, and Big Time Rush. ‘He loved it before even he started working on it… he sent myself the first master and I was blown away that I’m like this can actually be a radio hit!’
The single is about survival. ‘The core emotion behind “Way Out” is the feeling of wanting to break free, whether it’s from toxic cycles, expectations, or your own inner walls,’ Eagle Owl emphasizes. Lyrics like ‘I’m from the north, you’re from the south, I’m trying everything, I wish it was something,’ ground the track in lived reality and cultural duality, reflecting both place and perspective.
“Way Out” also sets the tone for Eagle Owl’s upcoming EP, which he describes as darker, more personal, and representative of his journey over the past few years. By blending his alt influences with hip-hop’s confessional roots, Eagle Owl positions himself as an artist who speaks directly to the misunderstood, the seekers, and the outsiders—a voice from Winnipeg echoing far beyond its borders.
With ‘Way Out,’ Eagle Owl is delivering more than a single. He’s opening a chapter that balances melody and menace, faith and fire, artistry and authenticity. As he puts it: ‘When people hear “Way Out,” I hope they feel like they can get out of their way—out of that funk, that relationship, or whatever the case might be. Just hope you get a way out.’
Hi, Eagle Owl! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourself to the readers for those not familiar with your music?
Sure thing! I’m an artist based out of Winnipeg, Canada, trying to take a step at the idea of making Alt Pop/R&B even Hip Hop music, with the odd time Christian lyric themes for the odd song. Even have the fun joke Rap/Hip-Hop song here and there in the catalogue that’s gotten popular in the YouTube community!
You’ve described “Way Out” as a self-portrait—what parts of yourself do you feel come through most clearly in this track?
I feel like the chorus very much brings that ‘way out’ part for me. With the lyrics “I wish I was something, never had a way out, on my way out, try to shut it out, that it’ll, never will, work out” I’ve had times where I’ve been shut out from relationships, from friends, the church, the people closes to you, who knows. You wish you meant something right. Everyone has a different idea of their “way out”. Even with this track with myself, I sometimes go back and listen to it and be like, Oh yeah, today it means this now. I never had that happen for a song for myself, which is pretty cool.
Faith, struggle, and survival run through your work. How did your upbringing in the church shape the way you tell stories through lyrics?
All my life, I’ve been Christian. I’ve had many ups and downs over the years with the church, from people I thought were friends, to trying to help a church grow in different avenues, to helping volunteers in different communities, and the list goes on. There are for sure things that should be fixed in different avenues when it comes to that, but being able to tell my story from those experiences through music is pretty cool to finally be able to share that. With Music, like many people, it’s my therapy/little part of my story or journey for the odd thing. I always love finding new bands & artists to listen to and even creating music, as trying to hire a therapist to explain your problems, very much costs more than making a song these days. So, for having this upbringing from the church, that’s why I’m like, let’s make a song about it instead.
The collaboration with Jaydi adds a powerful duality to the track. What was it about this song that made it the right moment for your first female feature?
The female feature is something I’ve been wanting to do for years. I’ve reached out to countless female artists for a while; a lot of the ones I reached out to were just not doing features or were under label/contracts and couldn’t do features at the moment. This track, though, I wanted to get that Female feature cause it felt like it needed that, especially how the lyrics and the idea is. The last year or two, I’ve gone down this rabbit hole of yes, female dark pop/r&b artists on Spotify. Jaydi, I found, like the last month or two, from that “fans also like” tab off Spotify from one of those artists. I listened to a few of her tracks, loved her voice, I reached out to her, she loved the track and then sent me her take, and I loved it! It was perfect.
You’ve said you hope people listening feel like they can “get a way out.” What would it mean to you if a fan told you this song gave them that sense of freedom?
That would be really cool if that were the case! It doesn’t fandom to me that it could happen, but it always could, right. For someone of my size as an artist, that would be crazy to think about that, maybe I helped someone go that next step/help someone about going on their life, right!