SUNDAY MAY 24TH AT 8PM ET/5PM PT
RadioFacts: This Sunday, May 24th at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT, DJ Cassidy is set to join forces with a close friend and cousin of Andre Harrell, O’Neal McKnight, to host A Champagne & Bubbles Celebration in Honor of Andre Harrell. Named after the iconic mixtape that Harrell and Cassidy released fifteen years ago, the event will take place on Instagram Live, immediately following the tribute to Harrell on BET Networks, Revolt TV, and YouTube. Harrell was the founder of Uptown Records and known to his family and friends as “Mr. Champagne and Bubbles.” In celebration of his life, Cassidy and McKnight invite all who loved Harrell to join.
Tune In HERE
“Fifteen years ago, Andre and I collaborated on a mixtape, Champagne & Bubbles: Velvet Sexy Feel Good Music Volume One,” explains DJ Cassidy. “I was a kid, new to the scene, the scene he created, and I couldn’t believe he welcomed me in with such a shining stamp of approval. Despite my immense adoration for him and the humility I felt in his presence, I argued with him for weeks about our song choices. Some nights, I would try to understand why he even bothered with me, why he respected my opinion, an opinion about music he had lived and I hadn’t. For some reason, he trusted me, and to this day, I cherish that trust.”
After sharing volume one, DJ Cassidy will debut volume two of the legendary mixtape that he and Harrell had begun working on before his recent death, in addition to a live deejay set of all songs Uptown and Andre Harrell.
Fifteen years ago, legendary music impresario Andre Harrell united with DJ Cassidy to create a mixtape entitled Champagne & Bubbles: Velvet Sexy Feel Good Music Volume One. First, the dynamic duo carefully curated an uplifting sixty-eight minutes of classic soul from the 1970s and 1980s. Then, Harrell added his signature emcee adlibs throughout the mix, hyping the listener and shouting out every cultural figure one could imagine, from his former proteges Puff Daddy, Mary J. Blige, and Robin Thicke to Mariah Carey, Jay Z, Lenny Kravitz, and painter Francesco Clamente. Cassidy then printed one hundred CDs which Harrell then personally handed to everyone he had shouted out. The mix became a cult classic among the Hip Hop and R&B elite, eventually finding its way onto the internet and into the masses.
