FOR DJ Cassidy this evening’s episode of his popular television series Pass The Mic, which will feature and all-Jamaican cast, is a dream come true.

The American disc jock cannot recall a time in his life when the music of Jamaica, primarily reggae and dancehall, was not part of his personal soundtrack.

Growing up in New York, DJ Cassidy explained that the music of the island was always intertwined in the music of the his immediate surroundings, which was hip hop.

“For my 10th birthday in 1991, my parents bought me a turntable and a mixer and I became one of those hip hop kids soaking up the music of Run DMC, Naughty By Nature and A Tribe Called Quest. For me, there was never a difference between hip hop, dancehall and reggae… they were all one. I was buying and playing as many dancehall records as hip hop. Each Saturday my father would take me to buy records and I was picking up the latest Super Cat, Shabba, and the list goes on.”

“So there was no one moment that I can say I discovered reggae and dancehall music because it was always around me. Later on, my research would show me that Jamaican music is part of the root of hip hop with Kool Herc and what he did with his Jamaican roots and blending that with R&B, soul, funk, and disco to produce what we now enjoy as hip hop,” DJ Cassidy told the Jamaica Observer.

His love for Jamaican music will be on full display come Saturday, with acts including Patra, Super Cat, Maxi Priest and Shaggy all passing the mic. This is not the first time Jamaican music is being featured on the show. Sean Paul, Beenie Man and Wayne Wonder were all part of an episode in July last year which aired following the BET Awards, and the Jamaican segment received rave reviews and lifted the profile of that particular episode.

“It didn’t take me a long time to come up with the artistes and songs I wanted on this show. After all, these acts and their sounds are part of my own life so it was easy to create this wish list and to have it come to reality. Again, I have to thank Sharon Burke, Judith Bodley, and Debrina Smith, who did an incredible job as local producers. I have always said Pass the Mic is more than a TV show, and this one is even more special to me,” he noted.

The groundbreaking moment in May 2020 when veteran deejays Beenie Man and Bounty Killer raised the bar on the popular TV musical battle Verzuz is not lost on DJ Cassidy as he showcases Jamaican music.

“I strongly believe that this edition of Pass the Mic will expand our audience more than any other. It has the ability to take the show global, offer a broader perspective, and expand the meaning of Pass the Mic. It will display to the world that the sky is the limit for the artistes and the music on the show. This is a new chapter for Pass the Mic, opening doors as it relates to the perception of who and what the show celebrates. We have a thing that we say during the show: ‘We are passing the mic all over the world, and that’s what we will be doing — literally,’ “ DJ Cassidy added.