Del F. Cowie
The 10 best albums of 2018
It was an anxious year, and that was reflected in NOW's critics' 10 best albums from 2018, which alternated between amplifying our insecurities and soothing them. Read more
Review: Anderson .Paak breaks out of his comfortable groove on Oxnard
Album review: Anderson .Paak's Oxnard: The album is less cohesive and introspective than his modern day classic Malibu, but it's still a freewheeling and occasionally exhilarating ride. Read more
Samuel Engelking
Local hero: Mel Boogie's 25 years of DJing and championing women
The DJ, radio host, promoter and champion of women in hip-hop reflects on her 25-year career Read more
Q&A: Betty Davis looks back at her fiery funk legacy
A rare interview with funk legend Betty Davis. A new documentary has brought the 70s star back into the spotlight, decades later. Read more
Lou Phelps is a laid-back and malleable MC on 002/LOVE ME
On Lou Phelps's new album, 002/LOVE ME, executive produced by his brother Kaytranada, the Montreal rapper is comfortable revelling within the crevices of beats rather than lording over them Read more
In memoriam: Swiff LaRoc, 1970-2018
The Toronto hip-hop producer, a member of influential production trio Da Grassroots, died last month at age 47 Read more
The Internet are at their most fully realized on Hive Mind
The Internet's new album Hive Mind, reviewed: Back in 2011 when co-founders Syd and Matt Martians debuted the project as a skeletal funk offshoot of Odd Future, you'd never guess how far they'd come. Read more
Jorja Smith's debut album Lost & Found suggests her ascent is far from over
Jorja Smith Lost & Found album review: The 21-year-old British R&B singer has gotten co-signs from Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy and more, but she wisely resists calling in her famous friends here. Read more
Tona's Black Mirror is a defiant outlier from the Toronto hip-hop sound
Tona's syllable-cramming delivery and gritty beats go against the melodic vocal delivery and smoothed out ambient soundscapes that some would immediately associate with a Toronto hip-hop sound in 2018, but that doesn't mean he should be overlooked. Read more
Courtesy of Sonos.
Why Northern Touch still matters
Twenty years later, the Canadian hip-hop anthem means more than just beats and rhymes Read more
Gillian Mapp
Zaki Ibrahim's close encounters
On her new album The Secret Life Of Planets, the Toronto-based sci-fi soul singer gives cosmic resonance to intensely personal music Read more