Articles by Del F. Cowie

Unlikely Shepherds

How Hip-hop Became Big Business

PUBLISHED Feb 20, 2011

At roughly 650 pages, you could say that Dan Charnas' The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop is a book that authoritativel...

Promise: Game Time

PUBLISHED Jan 23, 2011

Toronto MC Promise hasn't even released a debut album yet, but not only does he have a track on NBA 2K11, he's featured as a playable chara...

Shad, Big Boi, the Roots and Black Milk Lead Exclaim!'s Top Hip-Hop Albums of 2010

PUBLISHED Jan 4, 2011

Taking a look at the year-end list for Exclaim!'s Beats & Rhymes section, persistence could easily be trotted out as the theme for many of...

DJ Premier

PUBLISHED Dec 22, 2010

DJ Premier's status and reputation as one of the most important and influential producers in the entire history of hip-hop culture is unque...

Skillz

The World Needs More Skillz

PUBLISHED Nov 22, 2010

It's pretty hard to hate on the title of this album, as you'd be hard-pressed to find a more likable MC than Skillz. The veteran MC has bee...

Various

DJ Spinna & BBE Soundsystem: Strange Games and Funky Things Vol. 5

PUBLISHED Nov 22, 2010

If you are new to BBE's irregularly issued entries in the Strange Games and Funky Things series, it does help to adopt the mindset of a cra...

N*E*R*D Seek the Perfect Beat

PUBLISHED Oct 24, 2010

Given the influential hand he's played in countless hip-hop, R&B and pop records over the last 15 years or so, many would think that Pharre...

John Legend & The Roots

Wake Up!

PUBLISHED Oct 5, 2010

Teaming up to revive a slew of protest soul songs from for a new generation as an album project is a daunting task in and of itself. When i...