In 1991, a fifth grader named Cassidy Durango Milton Willy Podell asked his parents to buy him deejay equipment for his tenth birthday. When he was given two turntables and a mixer, DJ Cassidy was born. Today, Cassidy is simply the most sought-after deejay in his industry. The iconic deejay in music, fashion, media, and nightlife, Cassidy’s notoriety, respect, demand, and talent are unparalleled.
As a young child, Cassidy idolized Hip Hop Pioneers Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash. He listened to Run-DMC and watched cult classic film “Breakin’.” While many of his peers expressed their love of Hip Hop through disdain of other musical genres, Cassidy expressed his by embracing all of the culture’s vast musical influences. To emulate his heroes, he had to play like his heroes. Cassidy sought out to be undefined, a deejay who could play all music, for all people, all over the world. A student he was, a party-motivator he was about to become.
Cassidy turned his childhood passion into a job during elementary and junior high school in New York City. These early years were both formative and limiting, as they provided him with definitive experience, but narrow audiences. DJ Cassidy’s first big break in nightlife came in the summer of 1999 when he landed weekly gigs at several New York City hotspots. That fall, Cassidy attended George Washington University in Washington DC. He commuted home each weekend to maintain the club residencies and soon transferred to New York University where he graduated in 2003. In the summer of 2000, DJ Cassidy began a three-year stint at West Village nightclub, Halo. With the teenage deejay at its helm, Sunday nights at Halo grew to be a world-renowned party and fixture in New York City nightlife, attracting many celebrity regulars including Sean “Diddy” Combs. Diddy began hiring Cassidy for all of his well-known events including his MTV Video Music Award parties, Grammy parties, fashion shows, and summer White Parties in The Hamptons.
Cassidy’s personal clientele quickly grew and now reads like a who’s who of renowned figures. That list includes President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Russell Simmons, Anna Wintour, LeBron James, Tommy Hilfiger, Patricia Field, Tina Turner, Tyler Perry, Alicia Keys, Nas, Mary J. Blige, Pharrell Williams, L.A. Reid, LL Cool J, and Naomi Campbell.
Performing for such an illustrious roster, Cassidy has deejayed some of the most major events of his time. These events include Oprah Winfrey’s New Years Eve party in South Africa to celebrate the opening of her Leadership Academy For Girls, Jay-Z and Beyonce’s New York home wedding, Naomi’s Campbell’s 36th birthday in Dubai and 40th birthday in Cannes, Jennifer Lopez’s wedding to Cris Judd and 40th birthday hosted by Marc Anthony, L.A. Reid’s fiftieth birthday in New York City, Tina Turner’s seventieth birthday in Swizterland, Kim Kardashian’s wedding to Kris Humphries, The Black Eyed Peas’ Concert 4 NYC in front of 60,000 people on Central Park’s Great Lawn, Anna Wintour’s annual Met Gala after-parties, and a multitude of events for The President of the United States.
In 2009, DJ Cassidy was called on to perform for President Barack Obama. In addition to deejaying live at one of the President’s ten Inaugural Balls, Cassidy programmed the music for all other nine balls. Later that year, Cassidy played at the Democratic National Committee’s “Welcome Home To Chicago” event for The President. In 2011, Cassidy performed at President Obama’s fiftieth birthday party in The White House. In September 2012, Cassidy acted as the musical supervisor and one-man-house-band for the Democratic National Convention. During the President’s 2012 campaign, Barack Obama’s campaign office enlisted Cassidy to create and lead DJs For Obama, a group of renowned deejays who would contribute to the re-election of The President. Once elected, President Obama called on Cassidy once again, this time to perform at The White House on the night of his second Inauguration.
DJ Cassidy routinely performs for many industry-leading brands, companies, and publications including Louis Vuitton, Victoria’s Secret, Hugo Boss, Tory Burch, Nike, The Gap, Lacoste, Audemars Piguet, Lorraine Schwartz, MTV, BET, Sony, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Beats By Dre, Sports Illustrated, and Vogue. Cassidy also performs regularly at the hottest nightclubs around the world from New York to Los Angeles, Miami to Las Vegas, St. Barths to St. Tropez, Paris to Tokyo, Sydney to Dubai.
DJ Cassidy is widely recognized as a leader and innovator in style. His boater hats, cricket sweaters, leather pants, vintage brooches, and overall unique take on Ivy style and classic menswear have established him as an influential figure in fashion. Paper Magazine has named Cassidy one their most beautiful people, US Weekly and Time Out New York have named him one of their most stylish, the New York Post has named him one of their most eligible bachelors, and Vanity Fair has stated, “Cassidy’s flair for a fly outfit rounds out his personal appeal.” Cassidy has starred in print campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, Fila, and Rockport (with whom he released the DJ Cassidy Bridgeport Boat Shoe), a national and international television campaign for Blackberry, and the Comedy Central series Russell Simmons Presents in which Cassidy acted as the deejay, co-host, and musical supervisor.
DJ Cassidy’s New York City birthday parties have taken on legendary status and have become widely regarded as the party-of-the-year in the music industry. Cassidy began throwing the grand bashes in 2001. Each year, the deejay enlists iconic old school performers such as Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, Naughty By Nature, Nice ‘N Smooth, KRS-One, Rakim, Q-Tip, Bell Biv Devoe, and Bobby Brown to surprise his guests. In 2009, Cassidy hosted his birthday at the New York Public Library and, in 2011, he hosted his thirtieth at the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum where he reunited all six members of pivotal R&B group, New Edition.
DJ Cassidy has gained worldwide acclaim for electrifying crowds through his unique capacity to effortlessly blend musical genre no matter the crowd or setting. His fans rely on him to capture sounds that are hot and cutting-edge, but also those that are classic and timeless. Drawing on all forms of music, DJ Cassidy continues to astound audiences with his uncanny ability to connect to everyone within his reach.
