Articles by Michael J. Warren

Nneka

My Fairy Tales

PUBLISHED May 26, 2015

"I've been a stranger in a distant land, I'll be coming home," proclaims Nneka on "Believe System," a tone-setting introduction to the dias...

Laila Biali Enters Her 'House of Many Rooms'

PUBLISHED Apr 15, 2015

It's quite probable that we would have got Laila Biali's House of Many Rooms years earlier, but Sting got in the way. Well, so did Chris Bo...

Laila Biali

House Of Many Rooms

PUBLISHED Apr 15, 2015

House Of Many Rooms is a collection of varied experiences, sounds and memories organized in some semblance of a place one might call home....

Alex Cuba

Healer

PUBLISHED Mar 27, 2015

After raking in numerous Junos and Latin Grammys for his last few albums, Cuban-Canadian B.C. musician Alex Cuba is back with his fifth sol...

Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One Go Deep on the Origins of Tuxedo

PUBLISHED Mar 11, 2015

Singer Mayer Hawthorne figures he and producer Jake One made the best Pitbull song ever. Of course, this was mostly by accident. In early 2...

Tuxedo

Tuxedo

PUBLISHED Feb 27, 2015

Tuxedo is the unlikely disco pairing of Seattle producer Jake One and Detroit crooner Mayer Hawthorne. Jake One is best known for being equ...

Korry Deez

Imago

PUBLISHED Feb 17, 2015

The early 2000s were perhaps the pinnacle of optimism for Canadian hip-hop. Our artists were getting signed, commercial radio finally began...

Exclaim!'s 2014 in Lists:

Top 5 Reasons Toronto R&B Is Ready for Its Closeup

PUBLISHED Dec 18, 2014

"Local" used to be a pejorative when it came to R&B in Toronto. When commercial urban radio first launched, they played good music and they...