The Raptors Remix 30 Years of Culture with AI, Community & A Classic Canadian Hip Hop Anthem, “Northern Touch”
dj5rivers - Digital Feature - August 11, 2025
Toronto, ON, Canada
The Toronto Raptors marked 30 years in the NBA and they celebrate by breathing more life into the 1998 hit “Northern Touch”. This season is a nod to highlight reels and hardcourt heroes, it’s a full-scale cultural remix; celebrates three decades of basketball history with retro threads, community-fueled events, and a very special return of an iconic anthem: "Northern Touch", now reborn through the lens of AI, storytelling, and sonic time travel.
Breathing New Life Into a Legacy Track
In this 30th anniversary version, “Northern Touch” re-activates a seismic moment for Canadian hip-hop. When “Northern Touch” dropped in 1998, it was that “Crew Love” Drake gets nostalgically melodic about.
The Rascalz,
Choclair,
Kardinal Offishall,
Thrust, and
Checkmate
declared a scene, giving voice to a generation and sound brewing in the (6) boroughs and studios all over Canada. Backed by AI-enhanced production and new verses from a lineup of rising Canadian artists, the track was re-engineered in 2025. Using machine learning to mine and weave archival player quotes, city ambience, and layered vocals, the remix delivers an updated mix that feels sync-ready, emotionally rich, and clearable for every medium, from TikTok clips to cinematic trailers.
Proving that good music is truly timeless.
This collaboration is a prime example of how catalog music can be re-mastered and re-contextualized to serve new generations, new platforms, and new cultural moments, without jeopardizing the grit and cadence of its original magic. How local artists should never give up on pushing their tracks, no matter what era inspired its sound or when it was commercially released.
Why this matters
The campaign titled “90s Till Now: Coming Down With the Northern Touch”, is a visual mixtape and masterclass in legacy-building. The sequence flows like a music video, cross-fading between lo-fi VHS textures of 1990s streetball and the neon glow of today’s Scotiabank Arena. This timeless stitching of basketball and Toronto culture is giving, NBA Championship win, 2019.
From Vince Carter’s dunks to Pascal Siakam’s spin moves, from Regent Park courts to Queen West murals, the video blends basketball highlights, public moments, and post-produced AR overlays digitizing the emotion of the “Northern Touch”. With generative art activations, AI-curated fan exhibits, and immersive archive drops planned throughout the year, the team is using tech to deepen emotional connection to community. Congratulations to Cody Partidge, the music supervisor behind this placment, it truly is a case study in cultural stewardship through innovation and power of sync
“The whole ‘We the North’ movement is a straight parallel to what Northern Touch personified…”
adding
“I just wanted to make sure I kept the song as true to the original while still serving the purpose of bigging up the team.”
- Kardinal Official