"Northern Touch" is a Canadian
hip hop single, which was released in 1998 by
Rascalz
Rascalz are a Canadian hip-hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia. The group played a crucial role in the artistic and commercial development of Canadian hip hop as well as specifically for the Westcoast scene in Vancouver popularizing the te ...
in collaboration with
Checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
,
Kardinal Offishall
Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall (), is a Canadian rapper, record producer, DJ, and record executive. Often credited as Canada's " hip hop ambassador", he is regarded as one of the country ...
,
Thrust
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that syst ...
and
Choclair
Kareem Blake (born March 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Choclair, is a Canadian rapper. He was one of the most successful Canadian rappers in Canada in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Choclair has been nominated for six Juno Awards, winn ...
. It is one of the most important individual songs in the history of
Canadian hip hop
The Canadian hip hop scene was established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much slower than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained l ...
, which almost singlehandedly transformed the genre from a largely ignored underground movement into a viable commercial endeavour.
Matt Galloway
Matt Galloway (born 1970/1971) is a Canadian radio personality, who debuted in January 2020 as the host of '' The Current'' on CBC Radio One. Previously, he was the host of '' Metro Morning'' on the network's Toronto station CBLA-FM from 2010 to ...
, "Canadian hip hop gets the Northern Touch", ''NOW
Now most commonly refers
to the present time.
Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to:
Organizations
* Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization
* National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization
* Now ...
'', June 4, 1998.
The participating artists have also been collectively credited in later coverage as Northern Touch All-Stars.
Background
At the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, several Canadian hip hop musicians, including
Maestro Fresh Wes
Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadian rapper, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is credited by his ...
,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
and
Dream Warriors, had significant chart hits, but there were to be difficult years ahead.
Milestone Radio Milestone Radio, Inc. was a radio broadcasting company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They were the first broadcasting company in Canada that was owned and operated by Black Canadians. The company's president was Denham Jolly.
Company h ...
applied to the
CRTC
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
for an
urban music
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
station in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
in 1990, which would have been Canada's first radio station devoted to that format, but was denied in favour of a
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
station. The Canadian music industry had a poor history with
Black Canadian
Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though t ...
musicians, and the Milestone decision was the final nail in the coffin: after 1991, there wasn't another Canadian hip hop song on the pop charts for over half a decade.
Creation and impact
Rascalz, who had recorded their first album in 1993, survived the 1990s by learning the business aspects of the music industry, operating their own independent label as well as touring and performing. Following their 1997 album ''
Cash Crop
A cash crop or profit crop is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") ...
'', they wrote "Northern Touch" as a sort of anthem for Canadian hip hop's resilience and determination, inviting several other guest musicians to perform on the track. The song was also originally scheduled to include
k-os
Kevin Brereton (born February 20, 1972), better known by his stage name k-os (; "chaos"), is a Canadian alternative rapper, singer, songwriter and producer. His given name may also be cited as Kheaven, a spelling he later adopted.
The alias "k ...
and
Jully Black, who cancelled due to other commitments.
The track had originally been planned for a hip hop
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
, but the musicians decided to release it as a single after the album was cancelled.
["Hit single "Northern Touch" still notorious 15 years after tearing up charts". ]Canadian Press
The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...
, May 14, 2013.
The song garnered radio airplay throughout
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, becoming Canadian hip hop's first hit song since 1991. Although the song just barely missed the national Top 40 charts, peaking at #41 in ''
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
'', it reached the Top 10 in most major markets, and was the first Canadian hip hop song to reach the Top 100 at all, and the first to garner widespread radio airplay both in Canada and internationally, since 1991.
[
It was not on the original pressings of ''Cash Crop'', but was quickly added to follow up pressings of the album, due to its popularity.
]
Awards
''Cash Crop'' won the Juno Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
for Best Rap Recording in 1998, but Rascalz refused the award because it was presented in the non-televised portion of the ceremony along with the technical awards.["Rascalz Refuse Award To Protest Junos: Rap Act Wants R&B Portion Of Ceremony Televised"]
''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'', April 4, 1998.["Kinder, gentler rap, eh? Canadians hip-hop onto centre stage"]
''Ottawa Citizen
The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
History
Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...
'', March 7, 1999. The award was moved to the main ceremony in 1999. Rascalz won the award again, this time for "Northern Touch" itself, and performed the song live at the ceremony.
The song's video also won the MuchMusic Video Award
The iHeartRadio MMVAs were an annual awards show broadcast on Much to honour the year's best music videos that was last held in 2018.
Originally debuting in 1990 as the Canadian Music Video Awards, the awards were renamed in 1995 to the MuchMu ...
for Best Rap Video.
At the Juno Awards of 2018
The Juno Awards of 2018, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented in Vancouver, British Columbia during the weekend of 24–25 March 2018. The primary telecast ceremonies were held at Rogers Arena. Vancouver previously hosted the Juno ...
, the creators of "Northern Touch" were selected to present the Rap Recording of the Year award, and performed an impromptu a cappella rendition of the song on stage.
Raptors mix
In 2018, Kardinal Offishall produced and released a remix of the song as a theme for Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...
broadcasts of Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...
games in the 2018 NBA Playoffs
The 2018 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2017–18 season. The playoffs began on April 14, 2018 and ended on June 8 at the conclusion of the 2018 NBA Finals.
Overview
* The Houston Rockets e ...
. Collaborating with Sportsnet producers Paul Sidhu, Mark Wade, George Skoutakis, John Woo and Ryan Knight, the group received a Canadian Screen Award
The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...
nomination for Best Sports Opening at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards
The 7th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 31, 2019, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2018. in 2019.
Sample
The song samples "Everything Good to You (Ain't Always Good for You)" by B.T. Express. Coincidentally, American rapper DMX also released a single in 1998, "Get At Me Dog
"Get at Me Dog" is a major-label debut single by American rapper DMX, from his debut album ''It's Dark and Hell Is Hot''. The single peaked at number 39 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US, making it DMX's third highest peak on the chart, behi ...
", which used the same B.T. Express sample.
Music video
The song's video was one of the first music videos directed by Director X
Julien Christian Lutz (born October 31, 1975), known professionally as Director X, is a Canadian filmmaker, commercial director, music video director, and television director. Having directed more than 100 music videos, he is widely known as a pr ...
, and one of the first film appearance by actress and model Melyssa Ford
Melyssa Savannah Ford (born November 7, 1976) is a Canadian Media Personality, media personality, actress, and former video vixen. She attended York University and studied in the field of forensic psychology. She is often referred to as Jessica ...
.
Track listing
12" single
A-side
#"Northern Touch"
#"Northern Touch" (Remix)
#"Northern Touch" (Accapella)
B-side
#"Solitaire" (Remix)
#"Solitaire" (Remix Instrumental)
#"Solitaire" (Remix Accapella)
Chart positions
References
{{authority control
1998 singles
Choclair songs
Kardinal Offishall songs
Rascalz songs
Songs written by Kardinal Offishall
1998 songs
Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year recordings