Greg Tate facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Greg Tate
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Tate reading at New York University in 2013
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| Born |
Gregory Stephen Tate
October 14, 1957 Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
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| Died | December 7, 2021 (aged 64) New York City, New York, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Howard University |
| Occupation | Cultural critic, journalist, author, musician |
| Years active | 1981–2021 |
| Employer | The Village Voice |
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Notable work
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Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America |
| Children | 1 |
Gregory Stephen Tate (born October 14, 1957 – died December 7, 2021) was an American writer, musician, and music producer. He was known for his insightful writing about music and culture, especially African-American music and culture. For many years, he was a critic for The Village Voice newspaper.
Greg Tate helped show that hip-hop was an important music style that deserved serious discussion. He wrote a famous book called Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America in 1992. He also released a follow-up book, Flyboy 2, in 2016. Besides writing, he was a musician. He helped start the Black Rock Coalition and led his own band, Burnt Sugar.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Gregory Stephen Tate was born in Dayton, Ohio, on October 14, 1957. When he was 13, his family moved to Washington, D.C.. His parents, Charles and Florence Tate, were active in the Civil Rights Movement. They were part of the Congress of Racial Equality. At home, they often played speeches by Malcolm X and music by Nina Simone.
Tate said that reading Amiri Baraka's book Black Music and Rolling Stone magazine made him interested in music. He started reading them when he was 14. As a teenager, he taught himself to play the guitar. He later studied journalism and film at Howard University.
Career Highlights
Starting in Music and Writing
In 1981, a family friend introduced Greg Tate to Robert Christgau, a critic at The Village Voice. Christgau asked Tate to write for the newspaper. The next year, Tate moved to New York City. There, he became friends with other musicians like James "Blood" Ulmer and Vernon Reid.
In 1985, Tate co-founded the Black Rock Coalition (BRC). He started it with other African-American musicians who loved playing rock music. The group wanted to fight against unfair practices in the music industry. They believed these practices stopped Black artists from getting the same freedom and rewards as white artists.
In 1999, Tate created his own musical group called Burnt Sugar. This group was known for its improvisation, meaning they often made up music as they played. The band could have anywhere from 13 to 35 musicians. They mixed different music styles like funk, free jazz, and psychedelic rock. Tate played guitar and directed the group. He once said he created Burnt Sugar because it was "a band I wanted to hear but could not find."
His Impactful Writing
Greg Tate started as a freelance writer for The Village Voice. Soon, he became the main critic for Black culture at the newspaper. This made him one of the most important cultural critics in New York City. He became a staff writer in 1987 and stayed until 2003.
He was known for his smart and lively writing style. Hua Hsu, another writer, said that Tate's best paragraphs felt like a party. They were full of names and ideas from pop stars, filmmakers, graffiti artists, and thinkers. Tate made all these different things connect in his writing.
One of his most important essays was "Cult-Nats Meet Freaky Deke" in 1986. In this essay, he explored different ideas about Black culture. He tried to find a balance between traditional views and the many vibrant parts of African American life and art. His goal was to challenge old ways of thinking in the art world.
Tate's writing also appeared in many other well-known publications. These included The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, and VIBE. The Source magazine called him one of the "Godfathers of hip hop journalism." A key idea from Tate was that hip-hop was connected to jazz. He argued that hip-hop deserved the same respect and study as jazz.
In 1992, Tate published Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America. This book collected 40 of his essays about culture and politics from The Village Voice. It covered topics like Miles Davis, Public Enemy, and Jean Michel Basquiat. Many writers, like Jelani Cobb, called it a brilliant book that influenced many others. Jon Caramanica noted that Tate influenced "every writer I cared about and learned from."
Musicians often admired Tate's writing about them. Even famous artists like David Bowie and Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers respected his work. Flea was so moved by Tate's review of their 1999 album Californication that he cried.
In 2003, Tate edited a book called Everything But the Burden: What White People Are Taking From Black Culture. This book featured 18 Black writers discussing how white culture sometimes takes from Black art. In the same year, he published Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix And The Black Experience. This book looked at the rock legend Jimi Hendrix as an important Black icon.
His second book, Flyboy 2, came out in 2016. In The New Yorker, Hua Hsu wrote that this book showed Tate's deep interest in how Black people "think" and how this shapes their artistic choices.
Later Work and Recognition
In 2009, Greg Tate was a visiting professor at Columbia University's Center for Jazz Studies. In 2012, he was a visiting professor of Africana studies at Brown University. He received a fellowship from United States Artists in 2010 for his contributions to culture.
Personal Life
Greg Tate had a daughter named Chinara Tate, born around 1979. He lived in Harlem, New York, for a long time.
Greg Tate passed away on December 7, 2021, in New York City. He was 64 years old. That night, the Apollo Theater in Harlem honored him by displaying his name on its marquee. This is a special tribute usually given to important cultural figures.
Works
- Co-editor with Liz Munsell. Writing the Future: Basquiat and the hip-hop generation. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts. 2020. ISBN: 978-0-8784-6871-3.
See also
In Spanish: Greg Tate para niños
