Staff Picks

Doechii Takes a Well-Deserved Victory Lap on "Nosebleeds"
Exclaim! Staff Picks
PUBLISHED Feb 3, 2025
The Grammys seldom get it right — but as last night proved, it might be a new era for the Academy. This tone was set early on in the...
This Mashup of "Hollaback Girl" and Kendrick Lamar's "Squabble Up" Is B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Exclaim! Staff Picks
PUBLISHED Jan 31, 2025
'GNX' has been out for a little more than two months, and it's probably already my most-listened-to Kendrick Lamar album. It's not that I...
MIKE Makes an Effortless Opus with 'Showbiz!'
Exclaim! Staff Picks
PUBLISHED Jan 31, 2025
The album is called 'Showbiz!,' but there's nothing glitzy about MIKE — an underground NYC rapper whose workmanlike pace of excellent...
I Want Shiv and the Carvers' "Danger Girl" to Ruin My Life
Exclaim! Staff Picks
PUBLISHED Jan 28, 2025
It's Class Of season here at Exclaim!, and it's hard to believe it's been only a year since we saw the likes of Shiv and the Carvers...
Lou-Adriane Cassidy Shapeshifts the Modern Concept Album on 'Journal d'un Loup-Garou'
Exclaim! Staff Picks
PUBLISHED Jan 27, 2025
Some of the albums that really made me fall in love with music in my formative years were concept albums. Being able to be transported on...
FKA twigs Brings Her Alien Electro Down to Earth on Ravey 'EUSEXUA'
Exclaim! Staff Picks
PUBLISHED Jan 24, 2025
I've historically been a bit on the fence about FKA twigs, whose alien art&B is vibey but tends to wash over me without leaving me much...
Katie Tupper's Neo-Soul Is Well-Worn on "JEANS (fall on my knees)"
Exclaim! Staff Picks
PUBLISHED Jan 23, 2025
It's really hard not to compare Katie Tupper's voice to the "fields of butter" in her home province of Saskatchewan, as she once referenced...
Rose Gray Bets on Herself as the Next Big Pop Girl with 'Louder, Please'
Exclaim! Staff Picks
PUBLISHED Jan 20, 2025
If you needed an excuse to continue on last summer's antics, here it is. As derivative as its become to reference Charli XCX to every...