Robert Christgau (1942)

He was born on the 18th of April 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 movement, along with other music styles.
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.
He is well known for his vigorous opposition to violent and misogynistic material in many hip-hop songs, particularly gangsta rap.