As with most jograes, nothing is known for certain about his life, although the preservation of three of his cantigas suggests that he performed in the courts of local nobles.
The location of the poet's compositions in the manuscript tradition, the use of a place-name (Cangas) in lieu of a surname, and the form and rhetoric of his songs all seem to confirm his status as a jograr.
Johan de Cangas had attracted almost no critical attention until 1998, when the Galician Literature Day was dedicated to him and to two other "singers of the sea", Martín Codax and Mendinho.
Pois mh aqui ren non podedes dizer, id’ u ajades comigo lezer; oje non mi mençades, amigo!
Serei vosc’ en San Momede do mar na ermida, se mho Deus aguisar; oje non mi mençades, amigo!