Nicole Berrie, ("D.J. Cassidy Celebrates His Birthday with Music's Biggest Names" ), ''Vanity Fair'', 9 July 2009.〕〔For the microphone, Claire Davis, ("All aboard the soul train with DJ Cassidy" ), ''MusicRadar'', undated 2014.〕
==Early life==
Born in New York's Upper East Side, Cassidy is the son of Jonny Podell, the music agent. 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, () 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, and began working at teenage parties, school carnivals, talent shows. In his senior year at high school, he began working in nightclubs.〔Lee Hawkins, ("Deejay Cassidy: Deejay to the Death Star" ), ''Wall Street Journal'', 29 November 2011 (video interview with Cassidy).〕 In 1999 he began his undergraduate studies at George Washington University, then transferred to New York University, graduating in sociology in 2003.〔("About DJ Cassidy" ), MTV.