Who knew? But apparently, DJ Cassidy — was born to run the DNC.
Indeed, it was a state roll call to remember at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday night, as the NYC DJ — the spinner to the stars, from Jennifer Lopez to Beyonce to Barack (as in Obama) — turned his “Pass the Mic” franchise into a state-to-state bop-along for 75 epic, invigorating minutes.
All 50 US states and territories were represented in a hands-in-the-air-across-America throwdown that was as unprecedented as, um, say, President Joe Biden dropping out of the race a month ago.
Cassidy — who had previously campaigned for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris even before she became Biden’s VP pick in 2020 — had been working for a month on putting together this seamless mix of music that was literally across the map.
“This is the democratic process,” Cassidy told The Post. “I learned a lot about this over the past month. I knew a little bit about it, but not nearly what I know now. And to have the privilege of curating 75 minutes of music — 57 songs for essentially 57 states, the 50 states and the territories — was an honor. And I think that the key to this all is emotion. People felt emotion because music creates emotion, and for the first time, people connected to this process in an emotional way.”
But while some state song choices were more obvious — Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” for New Jersey, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” for New York and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” for Alabama — others were more, let’s say, curious.
“I did not want to create this playlist by myself on a deserted island,” said Cassidy. “I insisted on every song having a special connection to each state, and I wanted those representatives of the state who were going to be present to feel that connection. I didn’t want to be the only person to deem there to be a connection.
“So, the process was very collaborative between me, the Democratic National Committee, the producers of the convention, and the actual … representatives and the delegates of the states who are present. And in some cases, the songs that made the cut were songs that might strike you and others as obvious.”
But others — such as House of Pain’s 1992 rap jam “Jump Around” — were more head-scratching than head-bobbing.
“House of Pain is not from Wisconsin,” said Cassidy. “Everlasting does not mention Wisconsin in ‘Jump Around.’ But the University of Wisconsin has made their anthem ‘Jump Around.’”
There was certainly more subtlety in the mix behind Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 classic “Don’t Stop,” chosen for Arkansas as a nod to Bill Clinton and his 1992 presidential campaign; Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September,” featuring Denver-born lead singer Philip Bailey, repping Colorado; and “Turn Down for What,” the Lil Jon hit that the rapper turned up live for Georgia because, well, he’s from the Peach State.
Those are a lot less clearcut choices than 2Pac and Dr. Dre’s “California Love” big-upping Cali, the B-52s’ “Private Idaho” showing public love for the titular state, and Kansas’ “Carry On Wayward Son” for the band’s namesake home.
Cassidy says that other picks — including Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” for Maryland, Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” for Connecticut and the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” for Wyoming — were more about vibe than location.
“So when there was an opportunity for a state to collaborate with me on a song, when there was an opportunity where there wasn’t necessarily a sure-shot obvious song, I posed … a master list of songs that I thought exuded the emotion of the night, and in several cases, I was able to, you know, put some of those songs into the puzzle.”