Flyboy in the Buttermilk | Greg Tate

A landmark essay collection from one of America's most inventive and fearless cultural critics. Tate's sharp, incisive writing explores Black music, cinema, and the currents shaping contemporary culture—from hip-hop's emergence to Basquiat's artistry, Miles Davis to James Brown. His voice crackles with wit, passion, and unflinching critique as he examines pop culture, politics, and the Black intellectual tradition. Essential reading for anyone seeking bold, uncompromising perspectives on art and society.

These pieces orbit social, pop cultural, political, and economic subjects­— from James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Bad Brains,  to the crisis of the Black intellectual and the irony of the GOP recruiting Black Americans. With unrivalled flair, Tate writes in a voice that is at once angry, joyous, self-critiquing, and dazzlingly witty.

Tate teaches us ‘it is not too late to say too much, to be so dissatisfied with the world as it is that we throw far too many words toward the sky, and see what the heavens throw back’ (Hanif Abdurraqib).

Size: 131 x 197mm (paperback)

Pages: 368

Publisher: Penguin