Hip-Hop Made: DJ Cassidy

As part of our celebration of Hip-Hop’s journey through the years, artists, cities, events, and stories, we're asking musicians, actors, athletes, and more to share some of their firsts when it comes to the influential and trailblazing genre and culture that is Hip-Hop for Audacy's Hip-Hop Made. Joining in on the celebration and conversation, DJ Cassidy shared his favorite track, his definition of Hip-Hop, and paid homage to Queen Latifah. “One of the first Hip-Hop songs that made me fall in love with Hip-Hop was ‘Sucker MC’s’ by RUN-D.MC. If an alien came down and said ‘what is Hip-Hop,'” Cassidy said with a monotone alien voice, "I would play them ‘Sucker MC’s.’” “After 50 years of Hip-Hop I don’t believe there is one song that epitomizes everything that is Hip-Hop as much as ‘Sucker MC’s’. It’s raw, it’s minimal, it’s lyrical, it’s boom-bap, and it’s everything that Hip-Hop should be.” “Hip-Hop is one’s daily existence, it’s the music you listen to, it’s the fashion you wear, it’s the way you walk, it’s the way you talk, it’s the way you think of the world, it’s the way you question the world, it’s a spirit, it’s an energy. Without Hip-Hop I’d be a completely different person.” “So being that this month is Women’s History Month, and being that this year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, I think it’s only right to pay homage to one of the queens of Hip-Hop culture — and I’m talking about Queen Latifah,” Cassidy went on to note. “Queen Latifah is such an inspiration to me, and I know millions of people around the world. Because she has absolutely crushed from the moment she came on to the scene — as a recording artist, and then an actress, an activists, and a philanthropic, and an overall inspiring spirit to the culture and the world. And I’m very grateful to have known the Queen over the years personally. And she is the epitome of Hip-Hop hero and the epitome of musical hero.” “I founded Pass the Mic on the celebration of my musical heroes and there is no one who defines that better than the ‘Queen L-A-T-I-F-A-H in command.’”