Ashanti and Ja Rule Reunite for DJ Cassidy's Hit Show Pass The Mic, Airing After the BET Awards

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DJ Cassidy is known for spinning records for the Obamas, Beyonce, and more but since the pandemic started he's been passing the mic to some of the biggest musical stars in the world.

On the latest episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast hosted by Janine Rubenstein, Cassidy, 39, opened up about the inspiration behind his Pass The Mic show —a virtual sing-a-long of stars and their hit songs— and how he is excited to air the seventh installment featuring even more stars after the BET Awards on June 27 at 11:30p ET.

"This is the biggest night of the year for BET and I wanted to create the biggest party that I've created thus far," says Cassidy, who famously deejayed both Jennifer Lopez and Diddy's 50th birthday bashes, respectively.

Cassidy got the idea for the virtual show during Covid-19 lockdown while on a phone call with Earth, Wind and Fire's Verdine White who was singing along to "That's The Way of The World" as it played in the background. "I got a chill down my spine, and I just said to myself how fortunate am I that I have relationships with so many of my musical heroes."

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He says his appreciation for essential workers drove him to step the idea into high gear and enlist stars to help him create inspirational music moments online. Since, over 150 legends such as Chaka Khan, LL Cool J, Salt N' Pepa and Missy Elliot have joined him to sing along to their songs.

Directly after the BET Awards this year, Cassidy will be premiering his seventh installment of Pass The Mic that will be an ode to sounds of the 2000's featuring hip hop and R&B stars Ashanti, Nelly, Fat Joe, Kelis, Fabolous, Akon, Sean Paul, Ja Rule and over a dozen other surprise artists. "It'll be a celebration like no other."

DJ Cassidy's Pass The Mic airs immediately after the BET Awards on June 27th at 11:30pm EST on BET.

Check out more from Cassidy's interview on PEOPLE Every Day, airing now on iHeartMedia, Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts.