He may not have broken into Forbes’ annual Hip Hop’s Cash Kings list yet, but New York based DJ Cassidy is on his way there. His 30th birthday bash may have attracted the likes of Russel Simmons and Swiss Beatz, but DJ Cassidy seems thoroughly content to be living in New York’s Upper East Side neighborhood. Cassidy’s reasons for residing in the area are simple. He was born and raised in the same neighborhood, and his family lives within a 15-block radius. The pink-loving DJ lives in a small two-bedroom apartment and harbors no aspirations of moving to SoHo or TriBeCa. He plans to buy his own home in the future, but thoughts of packing all his stuff (and he does have a lot) is a deterrent.
Cassidy is currently the favorite DJ of the kings of Hip Hop. Sean “P-Diddy” Combs discovered his talent at a New York nightclub many years ago. Since then, Cassidy has been spotted spinning music for the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Kanye West, as well as at the high profile wedding of Beyonce and Jay-Z. Most notably though, Cassidy worked his magic at the inauguration for President Barack Obama, managing to get a photograph and a handwritten “Thank You” note from America’s first black president. So it is no wonder that Cassidy earned over $2 million over the past one year. Each year he scores over 200 gigs and earn five-figure sums for each performance.
Cassidy has arrived. But you would not guess as much if you stepped into his bachelor pad. His two-bedroom home almost resembles a storeroom, thanks to his huge collection of memorabilia from the 1980s and 1990s. A fan of the “Breakin” movie, he has posters of the film in every language that it released. Michael Jackson is Cassidy’s idol. Unsurprisingly, Cassidy has amassed an entire bookshelf filled with MJ memorabilia. Hip Hop band Run-DMC gets a dedicated bookshelf of its own.
You get a very real sense of Cassidy’s huge memorabilia collection when you enter his kitchen. The cabinets do not hide cookie tins, chocolate or food of any kind. Instead, you will find WWF Dolls, “Where’s Waldo” Dolls and even a Notorious B.I.G. collectible doll. Why are these all in the kitchen cabinet? Because there is no available display space left. Clearly, when Cassidy takes the plunge into home ownership, he will look to build plenty of display cases for his unending collections.
As you stroll through the bedroom, you cannot help noticing the outfits that have become Cassidy’s signature style. There are ribboned boater hats, flamboyant cricket jackets with crests, plenty of outfits in red, pink, white and navy blue. You might not expect it of a Hip Hop artist, but Cassidy keeps red and pink roses on a coffee table as well.
The second bedroom has turntables, a mixer and drawers containing over 20,000 CDs (in alphabetic order). And this is not even his record collection – that collection sits at his father’s home. Moreover, Cassidy does not work in his home office too much. Perhaps, once he has his own place on the Upper East Side he will.
Via: Forbes
