Baller Behind The Scene – DJ Cassidy

In 1992, a fifth grader named Cassidy Podell asked his parents to buy him deejay equipment for his eleventh birthday. When he was given two turntables and a mixer, DJ Cassidy was born. Fourteen years later, Cassidy is one of the most sought-after names in the industry, deejaying major events all over the world from New York to Los Angeles, London to Tokyo. Cassidy’s eclectic client roster reads like a who’s-who of the entertainment world including some of the biggest names in music, fashion, film, television, media, and nightlife.

Aside from deejaying for many record labels, designers, production companies, networks, and publications, DJ Cassidy is often personally called upon by some of today’s most elite artists. Among them, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, who has hired Cassidy for many events including his MTV Video Music Award, Grammy, and birthday parties, Jennifer Lopez who requested the deejay to spin at her wedding to Cris Judd and a surprise birthday party for husband Marc Anthony, and Jay-Z who has hired Cassidy for numerous events including birthday parties for himself and Beyoncé. Additional premiere clients include

Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons who call on the deejay to create the musical atmosphere for all their fashion shows and Naomi Campbell who flew Cassidy to both Saint-Tropez, Cannes, and Dubai for her last three birthday extravaganzas.

Although only twenty-four, Cassidy has already been deejaying for more than a decade and is, without a doubt, at the head of the class. Coincidently, in class is exactly where Cassidy’s ascension to the forefront of the music scene began. Attending a private school in New York City, the junior high school student quickly became the deejay-of-choice for the prep-school party circuit. “Those parties were a good start,” Cassidy recollects, “but I was hungry for an audience that would share my genuine appreciation for the music.” It wasn’t until Cassidy began attending George Washington University in Washington D.C. that he landed weekly jobs deejaying at New York City’s trendy and exclusive night spots. “I was going home every weekend to deejay. After a while, it became obvious that I needed to leave D.C.” The next year, Cassidy transferred to NYU. It was only then that the young deejay began to define his style and find an audience to appreciate it.

Hip Hop remains and will always be DJ Cassidy’s first love but is far from the only music in his record crates. “When I was young,” recalls the deejay, “I thought I found Hip Hop in rejecting other kinds of music. Now, I find Hip Hop in embracing other kinds of music.” It is this philosophy that shines through when Cassidy is behind the turntables. “As a child, I was surrounded by all forms of music and, as I grew up and began to evolve as a deejay, I became more interested in the music that created Hip Hop. Hip Hop has so many musical influences, why not incorporate them all into what I do?” As a result of this mindset, Cassidy’s clients not only rely on the young tastemaker to capture what is hot and cutting-edge, but also what is classic and timeless.

What separates DJ Cassidy from others is this unique versatility, a rare uncompromising approach to his craft, and his relentless determination to stay true to himself and his audience. Described as a “walking cultural movement” by former Vibe Magazine Editor-In-Chief Emil Wilbekin, Cassidy continues to surprise audiences with his uncanny ability to connect musically to everyone within his reach. His record crates full of Hip Hop, soul, rock n’ roll, Reggae, and more, DJ Cassidy can rock all people with all music. “There is simply no crowd I can’t move and there is no better feeling than that.”