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Toronto Raptors Celebrate Director X With a Music Video Shoot at Scotiabank Arena During a Game

Canada's only NBA franchise team honoured a local hero this week with a G.O.A.T. Night (greatest of all Toronto) celebration dedicated to the influential music video director.

Director X

Director X

Lane Dorsey

Director X has been named the G.O.A.T. by his hometown team.

The Toronto music video director, whose work on videos like Drake's "Hotline Bling" and Rihanna's "Work" has had a major impact on Canadian music culture, was celebrated this week at a Toronto Raptors NBA game.


At the team's G.O.A.T. Night — Greatest of All Toronto — Director X was celebrated with a t-shirt themed around his music video work, as well as a music video shoot inspired by his style. As the Raptors faced off against Orlando Magic — they won — fans had the opportunity to appear in front of the camera.

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"There's times you know you've done big things out here, but a night like this makes you go oh, wow," Director X told CityNews of the celebration.

In an acclaimed career, Director X has also worked with Ariana Grande, Black Eyed Peas, Future, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Yachty, Nelly and many more on memorable music videos. He's won the Juno for music video of the year and has been nominated for a Grammy and several MTV Video Music Awards, and has branched out into TV, film and other creative media. The owner/founder of FELA was also named to the inaugural Billboard Canada Power Players list — plus he's a lifelong Raptors fan.

The footage captured at the game will be turned into a new Raptors music video, set to premiere at a future Raptors game.

G.O.A.T. Night is part of the Raptors 30th season anniversary. There's two more G.O.A.T. Nights planned — Friday, March 28 and Wednesday, April 9 — with future honourees still to be announced.

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Mark Hiscock
Alice Tsui

Mark Hiscock

FYI

Obituaries: Newfoundland Folk Artist Mark Hiscock, Country Music Trailblazer Johnny Rodriguez

This week we also acknowledge the passing of The Ponys drummer Nathan Jerde, English multi-instrumentalist and composer Jack Lancaster and noted Australian rock drummer James Baker.

Norman Mark Hiscock, an accordionist, vocalist and songwriter and a towering figure on the Newfoundland folk music scene as a member of Shanneyganock, died suddenly on May 6, at age 53.

A CBC obituary notes that "a lifelong musician based out of St. John's, Hiscock was a mainstay of Newfoundland and Labrador's musical landscape, and was a founding member of the well-known folk band Shanneyganock — known for tunes steeped in the province's long history of storytelling."

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