With the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc globally, 2020 has been a year filled with tragedy and uncertainty, as an innumerable amount of lives have been taken or affected as a result of the spread of the virus. The world of entertainment, which relies on ticket-holders and live spectators, is affected severely, with artists unable to tour, give live performances, interact with fans, or even create material by committee. This unprecedented blackout of sorts is a tough pill to swallow and threatens to forever alter the industry as we know it. However, as a culture and artform that built its history around making the best of times with minimal resources at its disposal, hip-hop is at the forefront of keeping the public entertained and butts moving, with various DJs, artists, and producers discovering new ways to stay in tune with the people.
While new, digital platforms like DJ D-Nice’s “Club Quarantine” and Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s “Verzuz” battle series are ahead of the curve, the latest virtual experience to emerge is Pass The Mic, a live event created and hosted by legendary spinner DJ Cassidy. A native New Yorker, Cassidy, who made his name via the club circuit during the late ’90s and early aughts, has a resume that rivals the most accomplished of DJs, having spun at high profile events such as the 2009 inauguration ball for Barack Obama, Obama’s 50th birthday party, and the wedding of JAY-Z and Beyonce. Performing hundreds of shows on a yearly basis, Cassidy, whose touring schedule was halted due to the pandemic, was stuck at home when a conversation with legendary soul musician Verdine White of Earth, WInd & Fire gave him an epiphany.
Cassidy explains: “In the heat of the pandemic, in the middle of the quarantine, I was facetiming with my good friend and mentor Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire. Verdine has grown to be a close friend whom I truly admire, and he and I go to dinner every month or so and, obviously, we were not able to do that. So we were on a Facetime call catching up and while I was talking to him, his song, ‘That’s The Way of the World,’ came on my speakers. And ‘That’s The Way of The World’ is my favorite Earth, Wind & Fire song and on a regular day, it sends a chill down my spine. But being that the world was in flux and everyone was in their homes, separate from each other, [and] being that I was looking into his eyes as I heard the song, a kind of special feeling came over me. And I said, ‘You know, I’m very lucky that I have so many relationships with all of my heroes of music and I can hear their music in their company.’ And I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if I could find some way to give that special feeling to other people around the world during this crazy time. And I said, ‘Well, if I can connect my musical heroes from home to home, perhaps I can give people this feeling that I’m feeling right now. And perhaps I can use that as a way to pay homage to the heroes around the world fighting for health.’ So therein lies the foundation of the whole idea.”
That spark ultimately evolved into Pass The Mic Vol. 1, which saw some of the biggest R&B stars of the late ’70s and the ’80s performing their greatest hits from the comfort of their homes, for the world to see. The event, which was streamed live on Twitch before being uploaded to Cassidy’s Instagram page, was a big hit, amassing upwards of twenty thousand viewers, prompting the DJ to follow up with a second volume geared towards his first love: Hip-Hop. Airing this past Wednesday (Aug. 5), Pass The Mic Vol. 2 saw DJ Cassidy summoning a slew of his friends, who just happen to be among the greatest rap artists of all-time, to join him in a cipher of the most pivotal rap records of the ’80s and early ’90s. DJ Premier, of the legendary rap group Gang Starr, spoke on DJ Cassidy approaching him to be a part of the massive celebration. “When Cassidy texted me the links to VOLUME 1, I was blown away by the people he chose,” Premier shares. “And it kept getting more and more exciting as the songs progressed to wonder who’s next. Even the way he sequenced it…”
Beginning with Run of Run DMC performing “Sucker M.C.’s,” the nearly forty minute set included appearances from the likes of LL Cool J, Chuck D, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, MC Lyte, Kid N’ Play and Naughty By Nature, all of whom tear the house down, albeit virtually from the comfort of their own. The session includes many magical moments and is filled with a love for one another, as well as the culture that brings us all together.
With the second volume in the series having took place, with many more to come, VIBE spoke with DJ Cassidy via phone about the genesis of Pass The Mic, what the process entailed putting the first two volumes together, the healing and unification of music, and how Black music has had an indelible impact on his life and career.
VIBE: The first volume of Pass The Mic included appearances by Earth, Wind & Fire, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Kool & The Gang, Patrice Rushen, and other stars of the ’70s ’80s. What made you kick off the series celebrating that particular era?
DJ Cassidy: I think two main reasons come to mind. First of all, the Facetime call with Verdine White was really the genesis of the concept, so it was that call that inspired the whole idea. And it was that song, the first song on Vol. 1 that was playing, so to me, it was automatic that I should go to that era of music to set the project off. But the second reason is kind of a bigger picture, which is I really believe that that music is the most feel-good, uplifting music ever created. It is undeniably body-moving and for two-thirds of my life, I’ve traveled the world, making people dance and there is no music that uplifts, inspires people, makes people smile and makes people dance than the r&b music of the ’70s and the ’80s. So when the world is going through what it’s going through and people wanna smile and people wanna be uplifted and people wanna unite, there really was no greater music to channel to try to do such a thing, to achieve such a mission.
How would you describe an episode of Pass The Mic and what are some unique wrinkles users can expect?
Pass The Mic is an interactive mixtape delivered in a way that you’ve never experienced before. As I drop each record, you experience that record with the artist who recorded that record and you connect with those artists from home to home. And through that personal experience, you’re left with an emotional experience of music unlike any before. And I’d be lying if I said I thought that all the way through when I started, I didn’t. A lightbulb went off for me, I saw the big picture and I went for it, but I didn’t quite understand how emotional the response would be until I premiered it.
You’ve also mentioned how the times we’re in, with the COVID-19 pandemic, was also a factor in you creating Pass The Mic. What are your thoughts on how other DJs and producers have been adapting to the climate we’re in?
Well, I think the pandemic has been such a tough time for everyone around the world, yet it’s also been a great time for DJs to be the best versions of themselves. At our core, we DJs unite people. At our foundation we bring people together through music and no one exemplified that better, bigger and faster than D-Nice. In the first week of the pandemic, he found a way to unite the world through DJing and it was truly beautiful to watch then and remains beautiful to watch now.
You’ve been spinning professionally for upwards of two decades and have an expansive list of high-profile artists and musicians at your disposal. What has the recruiting process for Pass The Mic entailed and how would you describe the artists’ reception to the idea of it all?
Well, the process has certainly evolved, I would say that’s the best word to use. The recruitment process for Vol. 1 was entirely different from Vol. 2 ’cause while recruiting artists for Vol.1, I had nothing to show. All I had was a crazy idea that some people understood and some people didn’t, but what they did exhibit was a unanimous trust in me and for that, I was not only grateful, but extremely honored. We’re talking about some of the most legendary r&b artists of all time, they don’t need to do my Pass The Mic idea. And they all took a leap of faith and they put their trust in me and I think they were all excited by the results and that really was the biggest reward. The recruiting process for Vol. 2 was entirely different because not only had many of the artists now seen Vol. 1, but for those who didn’t I of course had Vol. 1 to show them. One of the greatest experiences was calling Big Daddy Kane, one of the greatest rappers of all-time.
Now, I haven’t spoken to Kane on the phone in years. In fact, I might have never spoken to Kane on the phone before. I first developed a relationship when he performed at my birthday party in New York many years ago, over ten years ago. And every time we see him, it’s all love and, of course, I admire, idolize and look up to him and I wasn’t even sure if I had the right number I called, I got a voicemail, it wasn’t his voice. I text him, I said ‘Kane, it’s Cassidy, is this still you?’ And he called me within five minutes and I picked up and go, ‘Kane!’ And his first words were, ‘Look, if you’re calling about something having to do with Pass The Mic, I’m in,’ and that was one of the greatest phone calls I’ve ever had in my life. And I will never forget that one sentence. Big Daddy Kane, the great, the legend, the forefather, he not only saw it, but loved it, felt that’s why I might be calling and was down to take part in whatever I was doing and there’s really no words to describe that feeling. And that sentiment was common in many of my phone calls that a lot of the artists I was calling had seen Vol. 1 and were really emotional in their response to it. So the recruiting process from Vol. 1 and 2 were very different, in that respect.
For the debut volume of Pass The Mic, you partnered with Twitch, a streaming platform that’s been continuing to gain steam. What spurred you to use that particular platform and is that partnership official?
Firstly, what I was doing wasn’t possible to present to people on Instagram. I love Instagram, it’s the platform I use the most, it’s how I share my life and times, but there was no way I could’ve presented Pass The Mic through Instagram. So I was looking for a platform that allowed for a live experience, one which I could treat as a live event and there were several: YouTube, Facebook and Twitch. And Twitch seemed like a great home for the launch, their platform, their technology, their fanbase. They’re extremely forward thinking and it was a great place, but it was also a partnership with the Behind The Rhyme channel. Behind The Rhyme is a channel on Twitch that presents lots of great content having to do with hip-hop and r&b, specifically classic hip-hop and r&b, but all kinds of hip-hop and r&b. So it was a great kind of home for Vol. 1 and it worked out well, so I’ve chosen to host a live event for Vol. 2 there as well. And I’ve also partnered with Rock The Bells on this edition, they represent all things classic hip-hop so it’s self-explanatory. The partnership is a no-brainer. LL Cool J and his brand represent everything that Pass The Mic Vol. 2 strives to represent, the beauty and inspiration of classic hip-hop.
The second episode of Pass The Mic aired this past Wednesday (August 5), and saw you putting the focus on the golden era of hip-hop, with legends like LL Cool J, Run-DMC and Salt-N-Pepa all appearing on the show. How would you describe your relationship with that era of hip-hop and how the music inspired you as a DJ?
Well, I grew up in that era of hip-hop. I grew up memorizing the words of the hip-hop records of the mid ’80s, late ’80s, and early ’90s, that was my childhood. Hip-Hop is my first love, hip-hop is why I became a DJ, hip-hop is why I asked my parents to buy me two turntables and a mixer for my birthday when I turned ten. And these artists, the artists who I’ve included in Pass The Mic Vol. 2 are my true heroes. They are the artists I looked up to as a child, they are the artists I idolized as a child and to this day, I hold them up on the highest of pedestal. They define the way I walk, the way I talk, the way I danced, the way I dress, the way I fought, they gave me identity. Without these artists, I don’t really know what my identity would be. I became who I am through this music, so this volume really meant a lot to me, the last twenty-one days have been surreal.
Yeah, for sure. The reason the past twenty-one days have been so surreal is not only because I got to Zoom with all of my heroes of hip-hop, but because after we knocked out what we had to do we stayed on for another half an hour or more talking. And sometimes I’d be on with some of these artists for an hour and I’d be asking them questions and they would tell me stories and I just heard the greatest anecdotes. And sometimes with those whom I had relationships with, we talked about stories that involved me and us and those were incredibly special, for obvious reasons, but all the stories were just, like, gems. They were just dropping gems on me. I have all that footage and I hope, at some point, there is another component of Pass The Mic where I share those stories.
What would you say are three records from that period that personally resonate with you?
“Sucker M.C.’s” is a very important song to me, as it is to hip-hop culture, as it is I believe, to pop culture. “Sucker MCs,” in my opinion, is the archetype of a hip-hop record. It’s so brilliantly simple and it’s powerful because of its brilliant simplicity. All that’s on there is a kick, a snare, a clap, and rhymes. There’s no chorus, it’s only four verses. And if you think about it, on paper, it’s the simplest hip-hop record ever made and it’s just so magical because if an alien came from out of space like, ‘What is hip-hop?’ I would play them “Sucker M.C.’s.” So, for me, it was really important for that reason, to set off this particular volume with that record.
Another record that’s really important to me is Arrested Development “People Everyday.” It’s not only one of my favorite hip-hop records of all-time, it’s one of my favorite records of all-time, it just simply exudes joy and celebration. And Speech is not only an incredible rapper, but an incredible singer and his voice is just simply something you can feel. He’s uplifting, he’s truly a unifying spirit and I’m so happy he was willing to get down ’cause he really brings the celebration to this.
“Hip Hop Hooray,” which closes out Vol. 2, is really important to me. As a child, I worshipped the ground Treach walked on. I thought Treach was the coolest person to ever walk the face of this earth. And Treach and Vinnie are the sweetest guys, I’ve known them since I was a child and they’ve always been really supportive of me and my career and that song is special. No matter where you go in the world, no matter what music someone loves, no matter how old they are, no matter who they are, no matter where they are, everyone sings along to that chorus and knows exactly what to do with their hands. And there’s something really beautiful about that so there’s no better song to end this with.
The first two episodes of Pass The Mic have been geared towards celebrating Black icons in music, across various genres. In the age of Black Lives Matter and social injustice, what are your thoughts on how music and the performance of it can help bring forth unity and healing?
I think there is no greater unifying power than music and I think there is no greater healing force than soul music. And soul music doesn’t just mean r&b music, it means hip-hop, too, hip-hop comes from soul. And I think we’re living in a time of divisiveness, bigotry and of separation and I think we, as humanity, can look to any one thing to uplift people and unify, it would be music. And you mentioned Black music, my life wouldn’t be what it is without the music of Black artists, hip-hop and R&B has defined my life in so many ways, and not only in my career. It’s my source of inspiration, it’s my source of culture, it’s my source of style, it’s really my source of happiness. And it’s through the music of soul artists and hip-hop artists that I’ve been able to travel the world and make people dance and make people smile.
What do you see Pass The Mic evolving into moving forward and what do you hope viewers walk away with after viewing an episode of Pass The Mic?
I hope people walk away feeling uplifted, that’s it. That’s the goal, to uplift. And by sharing these records in a unique way, I’ve been able to uplift, then I’ve done my job. The magic is in the music and I’m just a messenger. What do I see for the future? Well, at this point, sky’s the limit. I didn’t anticipate quite an emotional response from people and it’s been quite overwhelming. As I said, this was a little passion project to stay creative, to connect with my heroes and to put a smile on a few faces and it turned into something bigger than I could’ve ever imagined. There’s certainly gonna be more volumes and what the future has in store, we shall see.