David Mays is the founder of ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

'' Magazine and co-founder of ''

Hip Hop Weekly ''Hip Hop Weekly'' is an American hip hop news and entertainment magazine founded in 2006. The magazine covers celebrity news, music, film, fashion, sports and features exclusive interviews with many notable figures within popular culture. Hist ...

''. He is the co-founder of Breakbeat, a multimedia podcast network launched in September 2021 that is dedicated to serving the interests and perspectives of the hip-hop community across the globe. Mays created ''The Source'' in 1988 as a single-sheet newsletter while a

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

undergraduate. It soon became a national magazine. While at Harvard, Mays co-hosted a radio show on

WHRB WHRB is a commercial FM radio station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It broadcasts at 95.3 MHz and is operated by students at Harvard College. The station is owned by Harvard Radio Broadcasting Co., Inc., a non-profit corporation independent of ...

, ''Street Beat'', using the name "Go-Go Dave." Mays' co-host was Jon Shecter, "J the Sultan of Rap." Mays made Shecter a partner in ''The Source,'' which provided news and information on hip-hop to listeners of the radio show. After graduation, Mays and Shecter brought ''The Source'' to New York, with classmate Ed Young and Harvard Law School graduate James Bernard as additional partners. Mays, as publisher, guided the rapid growth of the magazine, fostering its role as the champion of and critical voice for hip-hop culture. ''The Source's'' “5 Mics” album rating system became the standard by which all hip-hop albums were measured. The magazine's "Unsigned Hype" column was responsible for discovering and helping launch the careers of

The Notorious B.I.G Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American hip hop duo from New York City. The duo consisted of rappers Prodigy and Havoc. They are considered to be among the principal progenitors of hardcore East Coast hip hopEdwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap: The Art & Scien ...

, DMX, and many more artists who would go on to become stars. In 1991, Mays created ''The Source Awards'', which started as a feature on the TV show ''

Yo! MTV Raps ''Yo! MTV Raps'' is an American two-hour television music video program, which first aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to mid-90s and on MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995. The American version of the program (created by Ted Demme and Peter Dough ...

'', and later became an independent annual production with some of the highest-rated TV specials for a hip-hop audience ever with the UPN Network and then on BET. Mays partnered with the mayor and city of Miami to host a weekend of entertainment and community activities, in conjunction with The Source Awards in August 2004, that attracted over 50,000 attendees. The Source Awards Weekend generated over $50 million in tourist revenue for the city. Mays built a stable of companies around ''The'' ''Source'' brand, including a compilation album series ''( The Source Presents: Hip Hop Hits),'' two weekly TV shows (''The Source All Access', The Source Sound Lab)'', a mobile content download business and a clothing line, as well as foreign-language editions of the magazine: ''The Source France'', ''The Source Japan'' and ''The Source Latino.'' Mays was the first entrepreneur to introduce hip-hop to Madison Avenue, opening the doors for Nike, Mountain Dew and other corporate brands to begin marketing to the hip-hop consumer. In 1999, Mays created The Source Youth Foundation, which raised over $1 million to fund programs and organizations across the country using Hip-Hop to effectively reach at-risk, inner-city youth. Mays co-created the first national hip-hop political summit ("A Special Summit on Social Responsibility in the Hip-Hop Industry") in 2000 with the Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, David American publishers (people) American television producers Harvard University alumni American music journalists Living people American music industry executives Year of birth missing (living people)