DJ Cassidy
| DJ Cassidy | |
|---|---|
Photographed by Lyle Owerko
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Cassidy Durango Milton Willy Podell |
| Born | New York City |
| Occupation(s) | DJ, record producer, MC |
| Labels | Big Beat Records, Atlantic |
| Associated acts | R. Kelly, Robin Thicke, Jessie J, Usher |
| Website | www |
Cassidy Durango Milton Willy Podell (born 1981) better known by his stage name DJ Cassidy is an American DJ, record producer and MC.
With his trademark boaters, cricket sweaters, bow ties, color-blocked tuxedos and 24-carat-gold microphone, Cassidy is known for his work at celebrity functions, including the 50th birthday party and 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, and the 2008 wedding of Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
Born in New York's Upper East Side, Cassidy is the son of the music agent Jonny Podell. Interested in deejaying from an early age, Cassidy describes himself as a "hip-hop kid": "When I was three years old, I would watch cult classic dance films Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. When I was five years old, I would jump up and down on my bed to Run DMC. When I was 13, I idolized Grandmaster Flash, [DJ] Kool Herc, and Afrika Bambaataa. DJing was my way of contributing to the culture."
For his tenth birthday, he asked his parents for two turntables and a mixer. He worked at teenage parties, school carnivals and talent shows; from his senior year at high school he started working in nightclubs. In 1999 he began his undergraduate studies at George Washington University before transferring to New York University, where he graduated in sociology in 2003.
Cassidy was discovered by Sean "Diddy" Combs while working the 10–4 night shift in the basement of Lotus, a club in Manhattan. Combs wrote his phone number on a napkin and asked Cassidy to call him, which led to invitations to work at Grammy parties and the MTV Video Music Awards.
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