Chairman Mao

American DJ and magazine editor. Born on the outskirts of Boston, Jeff "Chairman" Mao moved to NYC where, in the early 1990s, he met Sacha Jenkins who was then running the "Beat Down" hip-hop magazine. When the magazine closed, Jenkins went on to found "Ego Trip" and invited Mao to join him and Elliot Wilson. Eventually Gabriel Alvarez and designer Brent Rollins would complete the five-man core team at the magazine. After the magazine's folding in 1998, the staff began to embark on assembling a budding multimedia empire, which has included two "Ego Trip" books co-authored by Mao: "Book Of Rap Lists" (St. Martin's Press, 1999) and "Big Book Of Racism!" (ReganBooks, 2002). Also compilation "The Big Playback" (2000), and more recently, two reality TV series on VH1 – "The (White) Rapper Show" and "Miss Rap Supreme" (2008). On his own, Mao has led a successful other life as one of New York's leading soul/funk DJs and collectors. He currently hosts the monthly "Bump Shop" party along with DJs Mr. Fine Wine, David Griffiths, and Jared Boxx. A big supporter of underground hip-hop, he gives exposure to up-and-coming artists every month in rap magazine "XXL", where he has a column called "Chairman's Choice".