Chief Boima is a Sierra Leonean-American electronic musician, DJ, writer, and outspoken advocate for the cutting-edge digital music cultures coming out of many parts of the world today.

Currently based in New York, Boima began his international DJ career on a self-initiated travel stint to connect with like-minded artists around the world. From the beginning, his performances integrated a diverse array of global musical styles, inspired by the parties he knew growing in a close knit African immigrant community in the United States.

Settling down in the San Francisco Bay Area, he became a resident DJ at Little Baobab nightclub, and grew to be an internationally respected figure in the promotion of various “dance music” styles from around the world such as Coupe Decale, Cumbia, Kuduro, and Champeta. In 2006, he was hired to be the tour DJ for Michael Franti and Spearhead’s Yell Fire Tour. This experience opened the door to many opportunities, and in the following years, he would come to play at venues such as Uberlingua, Peligrosa, Que Bajo, Global Player, Secousse, Summer Stage, and The Lincoln Center in cities as diverse as Dakar, Melbourne, Tijuana, London, New York, Abu Dhabi, and Stockholm.

His travel experiences and global music expertise launched a writing career which has seen him contributing to various music and culture online and print publications (Ghetto Bassquake, Africa is a Country, WFMU Radio, and The Fader Magazine.) During this time he also immersed himself in the world of music production, and has released original tracks and remixes alone, as part of the duo Banana Clipz with DJ Oro 11, and as a member of the Australian-American experimental band Beaten By Them. He’s also done collaborations with folks like DJ Orion, Lamin Fofana, DJ Rupture, Matt Shadetek, and Uproot Andy, as well as producing tracks for international artists such as Los Rakas, Black Nature of the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars, and Khady Black.

In recent years, he has played in showcases at international music festivals such as SXSW and Midem, and participated in panels at EMP, Womex, Open Arti Milan, Boston’s Together Festival, Harvard’s Africa Remix Conference, and Social Media Week.

He is also currently the label manager at the Brooklyn based music, arts, and culture collective Dutty Artz.