By Greg Tate

I have been obsessed with Greg Tate’s music criticism since the early 2000s, when I got interested in blogging about music. I can’t remember how I discovered Tate’s writing, but I had a binder full of his essays I printed out from the internet so I could read and reread them.

Tate had a distinctive style of writing and a voice of his own. He went beyond music and pushed as far as he could on the page. I pored over his Village Voice archive as well as his works at various publications, including Rolling Stone, Vibe, Spin, the Wire, and Downbeat. I devoured Flyboy in the Buttermilk again and again. I also savored Flyboy 2 and Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix and the Black Experience.

Even though I didn’t know Tate personally, I was shocked and disheartened when I found out that he passed away on December 7, 2021. Since then I wanted to turn my binder into a tribute website, not only for me to read but for others to enjoy his writing.

By Greg Tate is a straightforward website with the focus on accessibility, readability, usability, and delivery. There are no ads, no trackings, and no third-party scripts. Typography is the priority. NaN Serf, designed Daria Cohen, Fadhl Haqq, Léon Hugues, Jean-Baptiste Morizot, Luke Prowse, and Florian Runge, was selected for its easy-to-read qualities and its striking display characters. NaN Serf Sans was chosen to complement its sibling and to handle complementary text. A full-width photo accompanies each essay for some visual enhancements.

This site is my unofficial tribute to the critic whose writing had inspired me. His legacy lives on. Thank you and rest in peace, Greg Tate.

Read essays written by Greg Tate.