Robert Christgau
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Robert Christgau (sometimes abbreviated in print to "Xgau"), born April 18, 1942, is an American essayist, music journalist, and rock critic. His first reviews were published by Esquire in 1967. He began writing music essays and review for The Village Voice in 1969, and has been a regular contributor to the Voice since 1974. He has also written frequently for Playboy, Spin, Creem, and Rolling Stone. In music-critic circles, he was an early supporter of hip hop and the riot grrl movement, along with other music styles. He lays claim to being "the dean of American rock critics". In the 1980s Christgau was a fervent booster of Afro-pop, a stance that alienated him from some in the critical community, as he seemed insufficiently interested in American and British rock music. In the 1990s, however, Christgau's interest in indie rock seemed to increase.
In addition to his prolific number of published music essays (which often reach deeply into themes of sociology, multiculturalism, and politics), Christgau has written several album guides in reference-book form. As of 2005, he is an adjunct professor in the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University (NYU).
Christgau is perhaps best known for his Consumer Guide columns, which have been published on a more-or-less monthly basis since 1969, mostly in the Village Voice but for a brief period in the New York daily newspaper Newsday. In its original format, the Consumer Guide consisted of 18 to 20 single-paragraph album reviews, each of which was given a letter grade ranging from A+ to E-. In 1990, Christgau changed the format of the Consumer Guide in order to concentrate more on good albums at the expense of mediocre ones. The Consumer Guide now contains 8 to 10 reviews graded B+ or higher, one "Dud of the Month" review graded B or lower, and three lists: Honorable Mention (B+ albums deemed not worthy of full-paragraph reviews), Choice Cuts (excellent tracks on un-recommended albums), and Duds. There are two annual Consumer Guide columns which stray from this format: The Turkey Shoot (typically published the week of Thanksgiving), which consists entirely of reviews graded B- or lower, and a Christmas-season roundup of compilations and reissues, mostly graded A or A+.
He is well known for his vigorous opposition to violent and misogynistic material in many hip-hop songs, particularly gangsta rap. Some examples include his dismissal of such hip-hop classics as Ice Cube's Death Certificate and N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton, despite their tremendous influence on the genre. However he greeted other rappers, such as Warren G and Eminem, with praise despite both artists expressing explicit sentiment in their recordings.
In addition to his Consumer Guide, since the early 1970s Christgau has hosted the annual Pazz & Jop music poll every February, which compiles "top ten" lists submitted by music critics across the nation. Every poll is accompanied by a lengthy Christgau essay analyzing the results and pondering the year's musical output overall.
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