Raptor Foot Celebrates 2019 NBA Champions Toronto Raptors
TORONTO – Though he is known in Toronto dancehall circles for songs such as Rob Ford and Original Poke Woman, deejay General Genius never got the break that made him a national figure in Canada. That all changed with Raptor Foot, a song that celebrates 2019 NBA champions, the Toronto Raptors.
Produced by General Genius, the single was released in early June shortly after the Raptors tipped off in the NBA finals against defending champions Golden State Warriors. The Raptors won the series, scheduled for seven games, 4-2.
For most of the series, fans who jammed Maple Leaf Square in downtown Toronto, partied to the foot-stomping song. For General Genius, who has lived in Toronto since 1985, it is an ode to destiny.
“I was telling my friends from the playoffs that we (Raptors) were going to win and it would be great to have a song that celebrate history,” said General Genius, who is originally from Spanish Town, Jamaica’s first capital.
The Toronto Raptors did create history, becoming the first Canadian franchise to win the NBA.
General Genius says he predicted this would happen to friends while hanging out at his favorite spots in his hometown Scarborough: Centro, a pizza parlour, and Happyland Pub and Grill.
But it was at his local barber shop in his hometown of Scarborough that Raptor Foot and the dance of the same name, were conceived. The initial name for the song was History, but that changed when he and four of his friends went downtown Toronto in late May and performed the song and dance.
Their street corner jam got the attention of Sean Leathong, an anchor at CTV News Toronto who filmed them. Leathong told General Genius that he was struck by their performance, and posted the video to his twitter account.
According to General Genius, by the next day it attracted over 400,000 hits. It convinced him to officially record the song as Raptor Foot which soared along with his hometown team which beat Golden State Warriors three times in Oakland en route to the title.
During Game 4 in Oakland, General Genius was part of the entertainment package at Maple Leaf Square, ground zero for Raptors home games.
Prior to Raptor Foot, he was best known on the Toronto sound system circuit and for other novelty songs like Rob Ford, about the controversial Toronto mayor, who died in 2016.
General Genius expects to ride his wave of success post-NBA. He is scheduled to perform at the annual Caribana in July.
