Charles Aaron

Charles Aaron
Aaron on the panel "He Pop/She Pop", 2008 Pop Conference, Experience Music Project, Seattle, Washington
Born	Rockingham, North Carolina
Residence	Durham, North Carolina
Nationality	United States
Education	University of Georgia
Occupation	Music journalist and editor
Employer	Spin magazine
Known for	Music journalism about rappers

Charles Aaron is a U.S. music journalist and editor, formerly for Spin magazine, where he worked for 23 years.

Charles Aaron was born in Rockingham, North Carolina, and raised in Asheboro, North Carolina and Rome, Georgia. He attended University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and graduated in 1985. Aaron lived in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, with his wife Tristin and son but moved to Durham, North Carolina, after leaving Spin magazine.

After graduation in 1985, Charles Aaron began his journalism career at AdWeek and Sassy magazines. Before working full-time for Spin magazine, he freelanced as a music journalist at the magazine and for other publications like Rolling Stone, Village Voice, and Vibe.

Spin, an alternative music magazine, was launched in 1985. Charles Aaron began as a contributor to Spin magazine around 1991 while the hip hop music genre was becoming popular with white audiences. In one article, he refers to himself as a "white hip hopper" and says over time he wrote many articles for the magazine in appreciation of the genre. He wrote his first feature about Snoop Dogg's father for the magazine in 1993. He joined the staff of Spin magazine in 1996. He moved into his music editor roles with the magazine in 1998 and 2002. In 2011, Aaron was promoted to editorial director.BuzzMedia (now SpinMedia) took over the magazine 2011 making staff cuts and changes. That same yearSpin transformed itself from 11 printed issues per year to a greater digital presence but with almost half the printed issues. In 2013, he became editor at large. Charles Aaron's last issue with Spin magazine was February 2014.