What do Barack and Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, President Joe Biden, and Jennifer Lopez all have in common? They all enlisted the services of turntable titan DJ Cassidy to work his musical magic at their most sacred personal events.
BET has now called on the internationally-renowned deejay to help them pay homage to mothers nationwide with the highly-anticipated TV special “DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic: BET Mother’s Day Edition.” It will air on Sunday night, May 9, 2021, at 9 p.m. EST,
For the sixth edition of “Pass The Mic,” Cassidy, 39, is deviating from his norm of keeping the legendary guests a surprise. During his chat with rolling out, the always-resplendently dressed Cassidy disclosed that he’s inviting the godmother of soul, Patti LaBelle, and iconic crooner Johnny Gill of New Edition. And these heavyweight headliners are just the veritable appetizers for what is going to be full-course musical cuisine, as there will be a dozen surprise guests on the show.
Cassidy, née Cassidy Durango Milton Willy Podell, said the “Pass The Mic” extravaganzas were “crafted to send chills down your spine, put goosebumps on your arms, and fill your heart with warmth.”
But it is how and when the “Pass The Mic” idea was born that gave Cassidy “chills” and also led him to a powerful epiphany. It happened during arguably the most tempestuous year in modern American history.
“I’ve been performing live for people as a DJ for most of my living years. So the first few months of the pandemic were particularly handicapping for me, and I had one very important phone call that led to a light bulb going off in my mind,” Cassidy said.
“I was FaceTiming with my friend and mentor, Verdine White of the legendary group, Earth, Wind & Fire,” Cassidy continued, noting that the two normally have dinner monthly at the world-renowned Mr. Chow’s restaurant on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
“While we were FaceTiming, the classic record, ‘That’s the Way of the World,’ comes on my speaker very serendipitously and Verdine started to sing along: ‘Hearts of fire, create love desire…’ I got a chill down my spine and said ‘how fortunate am I to have relationships with so many of my musical heroes and to experience their music in this intimate way.'”
It was as if a bolt of lightning had flashed inside Cassidy’s head. He immediately began mulling over ways to bottle up that moment to give millions of music fans that same feeling.
“And I immediately thought: ‘Pass the Mic,'” he told rolling out.
With the previous five editions of “Pass The Mic,” Cassidy has handed off his gold-plated mic to 153 legends who are the Who’s Who of R&B and hip-hop in the past half-century.
But, instead of focusing on a particular era as he has in the other five editions, Cassidy will feature artists who best exude love for Mother’s Day on Sunday.
