Caleb Catlin
VICE's Hip-Hop and R&B Specialist with Cultural Depth
Caleb Catlin distinguishes himself as VICE's dedicated hip-hop and R&B writer who consistently connects music releases to broader cultural conversations, particularly around technology's impact on the industry and historical perspectives on influential albums. His reporting moves beyond standard album reviews to examine how artists navigate industry shifts, from AI music training controversies to streaming service closures.
Music Industry Technology Coverage
Catlin regularly reports on technology's intersection with music creation and distribution, including SZA's criticism of Suno using her music to train AI models and Napster's closure as it pivoted toward artificial intelligence. He examines how platforms like GTA 6 incorporate contemporary music, analyzing the cultural implications of these integrations beyond mere product placement. His coverage demonstrates understanding of both the creative and business dimensions affecting artists in the digital age.
Historical Perspective on Contemporary Music
Unlike many music journalists focused solely on new releases, Catlin frequently provides historical context by highlighting significant album anniversaries and their ongoing cultural relevance. He identifies "no-skip" hip-hop and R&B albums turning ten years old, evaluating their lasting impact on current artists and listeners. His piece on Cardi B's historical commentary demonstrates how he connects contemporary artists to broader educational and cultural narratives beyond entertainment.
Artist-Centric Reporting with Cultural Insight
Catlin's profiles delve into artists' creative decisions and industry challenges, such as T.I.'s retirement announcement from his album 'Kill the King' and OJ Da Juiceman's legal disputes with police. Rather than focusing on celebrity gossip, his work examines how artists navigate business decisions, legal challenges, and creative evolution within the hip-hop and R&B landscape. His writing reflects VICE's characteristic blend of cultural criticism and music journalism, positioning him as a reliable voice for stories requiring both industry knowledge and cultural analysis.
4 more music journalists.
Aisling Murphy
Aisling Murphy is the theatre reporter and critic at The Globe and Mail. She stands out for writing about theatre as both art and infrastructure, with coverage that links new Canadian stage work, awards culture, and pop-inflected criticism. She covers theatre, music, and pop culture in a detailed, conversational style, moving between reviews, reported features, and analysis of the systems that shape what gets produced. Her beat includes the Dora Awards, Toronto stages, new writing, intimate productions, and smaller venues, as well as controversy where artistic decisions meet politics and community response. Before The Globe, she was senior editor of Intermission Magazine, and her bylines include The New York Times, Toronto Star, CBC Arts, and the Baltimore Sun.
Alex Hudson
Alex Hudson is Editor-in-Chief of Exclaim! and leads coverage of music’s links to sports, literature, and technology, with a strong focus on Canadian artists. Hudson reports on how music intersects with other fields, not as a separate industry. Recent coverage has included Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer on how playing piano saved his career, Ottawa Bluesfest’s Canada-wide soccer watch party, Lakes of Canada’s Margaret Atwood-inspired album Transgressions, Hannah Mary McKinnon on The Beaches influencing her rock-themed novel, and Alexander Nilsson’s 1001 Albums Generator as a tool for broadening music discovery beyond algorithmic recommendations.
Alexis Mikulski Ruiz
Alexis Mikulski Ruiz is a commerce writer whose distinct focus is the buying and streaming side of music, entertainment and lifestyle, helping readers decide how to watch major events and what to purchase around them. She is an e-commerce specialist at Rolling Stone, covering products, platforms and deals tied to award shows, festivals, sports and everyday culture. Her beat blends music streaming guides with shopping and product recommendations across fashion, beauty, tech, food, wellness and drinks. She reports through experience-focused service journalism, using lists, comparison roundups and step-by-step guides to answer concrete questions about how to stream major cultural moments, where to shop and which products to choose. Her background includes commerce and lifestyle writing for consumer publications such as Esquire, Men’s Health, Good Housekeeping, Oprah Daily, Women’s Wear Daily and Billboard.
Allie Gregory
Allie Gregory maps how audiences encounter new music by tracking the practical pathways of releases, tours, festivals, platforms and projects. She is a managing editor and news writer at Exclaim!, where she is a primary editorial contact for forthcoming releases and news tips and helps shape the outlet’s daily agenda around new music and its broader entertainment context. Her reporting centres on timely album and tour announcements, live logistics and festival programming across indie, metal, country, pop and adjacent film and streaming news. She writes direct, information-heavy pieces that foreground calendars, support acts, set times and programming structures, while also producing longer-form interviews, cultural stories and staff-pick recommendations that connect artists’ work, controversy and creative campaigns to how audiences encounter music and entertainment on the road, at festivals and on screens.