For many years, being a Toronto basketball fan felt a little bit like being Pinocchio. Only, instead of wanting to be a real boy, you just wanted the Raptors to be a real team. Sure, we believed our squad was real, but at times the rest of the league made us feel like we were lying to ourselves. Entering the NBA in 1995 as its first (and currently only) non-American franchise, the dinos existed in a silo. Between the lack of nationally televised games, the reluctance of stars to play here, and our emotionally abusive relationship with LeBron James, it was hard to shake the perception of Toronto as an illegitimate basketball market.
Well, not anymore. The Raptors are now NBA champions. And though we might still get treated like the asexual wooden marionnettes of the league, a chip is undeniable. That's history made. As legitimizing as it gets.
But you know what else is? Dope-ass rap references about your team. Older heads from Toronto will remember how hype they got upon first hearing Busta Rhymes name-drop Vince Carter in 2000. It felt like being seen. And not just being seen by American culture—that's a rapper admiring a Toronto Raptor enough to immortalize them in a verse, forever recorded in the annals of hip-hop history, for future generations to study. How's that for proof of existence? (Also, Drake is the Raps' No. 1 fan, and that dude will one day be integrated into school curriculums like the motherfuckin' Beatles, so we're good.)
In celebration of the one-year anniversary of the Raptors' first championship win (June 13, to be exact), we're highlighting the very greatest bars about Canada's only NBA team. And to toast the franchise's 25th anniversary, we've adjusted our listicle length accordingly. These are the 25 best Toronto Raptors references in rap. They're the real deal.
Big Sean, “Overtime”
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Year: 2019
Lyric: “With my team on each side, like ha-ha-ha-ha-ha/With the last laugh like Kawhi”
Big Sean doesn’t quite nail the awkward, stilted cadence of Leonard’s infamous press conference laugh (probably for the best). Artistic license aside, though, it’s the perfect way for Raptors fans to relive the joy of watching Kawhi reclaim the meme as the ultimate mic drop at last summer’s victory parade. —Rick Mele
Drake, “0 to 100 / The Catch Up”
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Year: 2014
Lyric: “Fuck all that rap-to-pay-your-bill shit/Yeah, I’m on some Raptors-pay-my-bills shit”
Despite the fact that I’m sure Drake doesn’t actually collect a paycheck from MLSE for his role as the team’s “global ambassador” (pretty sure, anyway), he’s been cosplaying as the Raptor’s 16th man ever since landing the gig, which this reference in “0 to 100” captures perfectly. —Rick Mele
Roddy Ricch, “The Box”
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Year: 2019
Lyric: “I done put my whole arm in the rim, Vince Carter/And I know probably get a key for the quarter”
It’s been 20 years since Air Canada’s showstopping dunk contest performance and young rappers are still out here spitting about it in songs. Props to Roddy Rich, who was all of two years old when Vince made us all go home with his epic elbow-in-the-hoop jam. Seeing the artist rock the purple dino colours with pride restores my hope in the youths of today. —Alex Nino Gheciu
Slim Jxmmi, “Growed Up”
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Year: 2018
Lyric: “You know I’m ballin, baby, like DeRozan/20 missed calls, I’m busy at the moment
This lyric by Rae Sremmurd’s Slim Jxmmi has so much going for it. It name-drops Deebo and it sheds light on the fact that the Raptors are the team most wronged by refs in the NBA. We have the receipts—just check the Last Two Minute reports. Stay up. —Alex Nino Gheciu
Drake, “Pain 1993”
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Year: 2020
Lyric: “When I shoot my shot it’s the Kawhi way, it’s goin’ in”
The second Kawhi’s series-winning buzzer-beater finally dropped, three things became immediately clear: 1) Leonard was the true No. 1 star Raptors fans had been waiting for, 2) Toronto was much more dangerous than NBA pundits gave them credit for, and 3) Drake was going to find a way to work the moment into a song. He’s definitely got better Raptors references, but I’ll take any excuse to watch this clip again. —Rick Mele
Roy Woods, “Like Pascal”
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Year: 2020
Lyrics: “Skrrt, burnin' my tires on asphalt (skrrt)/Swipin' your cards 'til it's maxed out (I'm)/Ballin' on niggas like Pascal (speak)/Hunnids it makin' me act out”
About dang time Spicy P got a rap reference. And more than just a shout-out, here he gets his very own track. OVO Sound’s Roy Woods channels his inner Thugger to liken maxing out his cards to ballin’ like Siakam, who himself is no stranger to the concept of maximalism—he did sign a $130 million contract extension last fall. Skrrt indeed. —Alex Nino Gheciu
Spillage Village, "End of Daze"
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Year: 2020
Lyric: "Plead the four-fifth, drop one, zombies on the block/See, I come with the shot, like Siakam, I pop/I got this Glock from my pops, it make the parking lot stop"
Well shit, when it rains it pours. Less than a month after Woods' Pascal tribute comes yet another nod to the Raptors power forward, this time from Spillage Village, the hip-hop supergroup comprised of J.I.D, EARTHGANG, 6lack, Mereba, Jurdan Bryant, Hollywood JB, and Benji. J.I.D. compares his gunmanship to the shooting prowess of P-Skills, who boasted a magnificent 55 percent True Shooting rating before the NBA season came to a halt. —Alex Nino Gheciu
Wiley, “Send Me the Riddim”
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Year: 2015
Lyric: “When you achieve, people gonna take shots/That’s when I take flight like I’m T-Ross”
Anyone can shout-out Vince Carter or Kawhi. But name-dropping Terrence Ross? That’s some serious Raptor deep cut shit from the Godfather of Grime, who apparently liked the reference to the former Raptors dunk contest champ so much, he uses it not once, but twice. —Rick Mele
Fabolous, “Time”
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Year: 2019
Lyric: “If I could turn the hands of time back/I’d bring Cliff, Nipsey, and Prime back, bring Ring’s mom back/I mean, I wish I could rewind back/More than the Raptors wish Kawhi would sign back/But he didn’t, so cherish the time you was given”
Not gonna lie, this one hurts. The Brooklyn rapper brings up some fresh wounds for Raptors fans in “Time.” And while it’s probably a little (a lot?) over-the-top to compare Kawhi signing elsewhere to the tragic deaths of Nipsey Hussle, Prime, and Kevin Durant’s “adopted brother” Cliff Dixon, the sentiment still fits. —Rick Mele
Action Bronson, “Only in America”’
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Year: 2015
“You got the urge to suck the cock of Serge Ibaka/Pictures of naked rappers hangin' in your locker”
Look, to each their own. And really, you can’t blame whoever Bronson is attempting to diss here—we’ve all seen that photo of Ibaka in them grey sweatpants. —Alex Nino Gheciu
Lil Dicky, “Beef”
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Year: 2013
“Gotcho lil mama in the sauna all up/In the male locker room/She really good with the D/That's my Serge Ibaka boo, ooh”
Okay, so apparently phallic bars about Ibaka are a thing. This one works on so many levels, though—it’s also a nod to Ma Fuzzy’s stellar defence and forecasts his eventual predilection for sautéing beef genitals. —Alex Nino Gheciu
The Game, “The Code”
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Year: 2019
Lyric: “I Vince Carter-ed everything Just Blaze threw off the backboard”
Everyone both north and south of the border knows that Vince Carter is synonymous with dunking. Which is why The Game’s reference to the Raptor’s high-flyer in 2019’s “The Code” (a song that’s also got a killer Degrassi reference) works so well. Petition to start using “Vince Carter-ed” as a verb more often. —Rick Mele
Earl Sweatshirt, “Really Doe”
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Year: 2016
Lyric: “You've been the same motherfucker since 2001/Well it's the left-handed shooter, Kyle Lowry the pump”
Is Earl Sweatshirt low-key a Raptors fan? He's referenced the team before ("His sins feeling as hard as Vince Carter’s knee cartilage is,” he rapped on "Chum") and on this Danny Brown posse cut he drops some subreddit-nerd level Raps knowledge. Real ones know that an key facet of K-Low's basketball genius is his masterful ability to draw fouls with pump fakes in the lane. And though he's actually a right-handed shooter, he has occassionally experimented with getting up left-handed shots during wrist injuries. Now Earl just has to write a bar about Matt Thomas and his allegiance will be confirmed. —Alex Nino Gheciu
Drake, “Come Winter”
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Year: 2009
Lyric: “She love to play hurt like Carter did on the bizzench”
It took nearly an entire decade for Toronto to forgive VC for forcing his way out in a trade to the Nets. Or, if you prefer to judge time in terms of Drake lyrics, from this reference to Carter’s inglorious exit on his debut mixtape Room For Improvement to his decidedly pro-Vinsanity reference on 2016’s “Weston Road Flows.” —Rick Mele
Drake, “Weston Road Flows”
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Year: 2016
Lyric: “Been flowin’ stupid since Vince Carter/Was on some through-the-legs, arm-in-the-hoop shit”
It’s pretty widely assumed that Drake’s taking a shot at Tory Lanez in “Weston Road Flows,” which he follows up by re-affirming his status as Toronto’s top dog with a shoutout to the greatest dunk contest performance in NBA history. Cue the GIF. (You know the one.) —Rick Mele
Cormega, “The Come Up”
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Year: 2002
Lyric: “I’m destined to be, on a level, I’ve yet to see/Son I had ‘em so comfortable they slept on me/Like the draft did McGrady, this rap shit is crazy”
ICYMI, Tracy McGrady dropped all the way to the ninth pick before he was snapped up by the Raptors in the 1997 Draft. It’s not quite Kobe-going-13th-in-’96 levels of disrespect, but it still works for this reference from the seriously underrated Cormega. —Rick Mele
Royce da 5’9’’, “Second Place”
Year: 2011
Lyric: "The height of my game is like a DeMar DeRozan vertical”
Obviously, when you think of Raptors high-flyers, Vince Carter would be No. 1 on the list. (And second, third, and fourth). But don’t forget DeRozan was initially billed as the second coming of VC thanks to his 38.5” vertical, hence this Royce da 5’9” reference. Plus, it makes for way better bars than DeRozan’s midrange game. —Rick Mele
Kyle, “iSpy”
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Year: 2016
Lyric: "I'm just like Derozan/If I shoot it it goes in”
In case you were wondering, though, there are bars about DeRozan’s midrange game. It gets a well deserved nod on this track featuring Lil Yachty. Back in 2016, when he was arguably in his prime with the Raps, Deebo could not miss, feasting on 18-foot jump shots like no one else in the league. —Alex Nino Gheciu
Busta Rhymes, “We Put It Down for Y’all”
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Year: 2000
Lyric: “Let me bang something hard on your head like Vince Carter”
It’s really not difficult to see why the record books of rap are littered with Vince Carter references. For a period of time in the early 2000s, nobody was a more violent dunker than the Raptor they called Half Man, Half Amazing. And that’s a perfect fit with Busta’s style here. —Rick Mele
Towkio, “Playin Fair”
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Year: 2016
Lyric: “Bitch, I feel like we taking over/Trying to rob the game blind/ Ray Charles, Ray Liotta/This feel like when Vince Carter/Ball with Tracy McGrady”
It’s one of two Carter references for Towkio on 2016’s “Playin Fair,” and the first is pretty standard-issue stuff (“Ball like Vince Carter”). But the second goes hard at late-’90s Raptors fan nostalgia, dredging up what’s still one of the all-time Toronto what-ifs: namely, how good could the Raptors have been if they’d been able to keep Carter and T-Mac together? —Rick Mele
Lil Wayne, “Kobe Bryant”
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Year: 2009
Lyric: “Yeah, I drops 40 on your double team/Then I drop 81 on another team”
Lil Wayne doesn’t even bother naming the Raptors here, just referring to them as “another team.” But for once, I don’t mind Toronto being overlooked. The line is a nod to Kobe Bryant’s unforgettable 81-point performance against the Raps in 2006, the second highest single-game point total ever recorded in the NBA, for which the 6ix will forever be inextricably linked to the late legend. It was an honour being another team Mamba made history against. —Alex Nino Gheciu
Shad, “Compromise”
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Year: 2007
Lyric: “Yo, when I’m writing, I repeatedly edit words and rework tracks/I’ll admit, I’m like the Raptors, I got weak first drafts”
Drafting certainly hasn’t been a weakness for the Raptors in the Ujiri era (see: Pascal Siakam), but this one’s all about context: “Compromise” came out in 2007. A.k.a. right after the Andrea Bargnani draft. You’ve got to love the self-deprecation shown by the JUNO-winning, London, Ontario-born Shad here, both as a rapper and a Raptors fan. —Rick Mele
Drake, “6 Man”
Year: 2015
Lyric: “Boomin’ out in South Gwinnett like Lou Will/6 Man like Lou Will, two girls and they get along like I’m/Like I’m Lou Will, I just got the new deal”
Yes, it’s kinda corny to call Toronto “the 6ix.” But Drake kicking off “6 Man” with a nod to the then-Raptors’ sixth man is just too good. Then there’s the fact that Williams won the Sixth Man of the Year award two months after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late was released. Can’t argue with results. —Rick Mele
Tory Lanez, “Makaveli”
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Year: 2015
Lyric: “On God, boy right now, I own heat, no Pat Riley/Made a million dollars rap touring, I ain’t talkin’ no Kyle Lowry”
I still haven’t quite forgiven Tory for saying he doesn’t ride for the Raptors despite being from the GTA. But I rate these bars. He manages to reference the Raptors via a dad joke (“rap touring”—Raptor-ing, get it?), he namedrops K-Low, and he mentions Pat Riley, president of the Miami Heat, who Toronto would end up defeating in the Eastern Conference Semifinals the spring after this joint dropped. Tory willed that shit into existence without even being that invested! Now we just need him to write a half-hearted bar mentioning Giannis and the Raptors. —Alex Nino Gheciu
