Musical career

Early music career

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cassidy attended Central High School, Philadelphia. Cassidy's father is African-American and his mother is of Dominican descent. He started to rap when he was 13 years old and rose to prominence by appearing on a radio competition on 103.9 the beat, (now 100.3 the beat) named the Cipher. He was also a member of the crew Larsiny with his home-town-friends Cal Akbar & Shiz Lansky. Producer Swizz Beatz signed Cassidy to his Full Surface label distributed through J Records and featured him on his 2002 album Presents G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories. He was the champion on Philadelphia based radio show "The Cypher".

Cassidy received some fame after he won a freestyle battle with Roc-A-Fella artist Freeway. Cassidy recorded his first album, Split Personality in 2003. The record is divided into three parts: The first is credited to Cassidy and reflects his pop side, the second, credited as "Tha Problem," aims at fans of his mixtapes and the third is credited to B. Reese from fans from his early days.

Cassidy recorded the lead single "Hotel" in R. Kelly's Chicago studios with a vocal contribution by Kelly - there is also a remix featuring vocals by Trina. The song became a hit, reaching the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in February 2004 and was nominated for a Vibe Award in the category Coolest Collabo that year. It also reached the top 5 of the UK chart and the top 40 of the Australian chart in May 2004. May 2004 was also the month Cassidy featured on the cover of The Source magazine, alongside Lil' Flip, Young Gunz and J-Kwon.

Split Personality was released on March 16, 2004 and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 album charts and at #1 on the R&B/Hip Hop albums charts. The second single, "Get No Better", featured a contribution from labelmate Mashonda but did not do as well on the singles charts, reaching #82 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In September 2004, Cassidy was nominated for "Lyricist of the Year" at the Source Awards.

Second album

Cassidy released his second album, I'm a Hustla on June 28, 2005, through Swizz Beatz's label, Full Surface. It reached a chart position of #5 in the United States. The album's title track features a sample from Jay-Z's "Dirt off Your Shoulder" and the song was nominated for a Vibe Award in the category Street Anthem. A remix featuring Mary J. Blige followed soon after. In 2006, the ringtone version of his track I'm a Hustla was one of the first-ever ringtones to be certified platinum. The video for this single, features a dance step called "The Hustla Dance".

Another track off the album, The Message was released as a charity single, promoting Cassidy's involvement with the Millions More Movement.

Also the track "So Long", which features Mashonda and Raekwon, was released as promotional single.

Third album

Cassidy is now working on his third album, B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story and his lead single "My Drink N' My 2 Step," which has recently leaked to the radio and several internet sites. He will be featured on the AND1 Mixtape Tour 2007. Cassidy appeared on several concerts by The Roots and Dipset. The second single will be "Cash Rules" featuring Bone Thugs-n-Harmony & Eve.

Cassidy will also be the new face of Lot 29, which featured other artists such as Juelz Santana..

Untitled Larsiny Reunion album

Cassidy is also working on a group album with Larsiny. The first single is rumored to be "Boyz Iz Back".

Fourth album

Cassidy confirmed in an interview with Allhiphop.com that his fourth album will be eponominously titled Cassidy.

Legal issues

On June 8, 2005, police issued a warrant for Cassidy's arrest, for the murder of a 22-year-old man during an April 15, 2005 shooting.

MTV News reported that according to police, three men, including Cassidy, armed with .45 and .40 caliber handguns, 9 mm pistols, and an AK-47 variant, fired on three other men during an argument that occurred in the rapper's West Oak Lane neighborhood in Northwest Philadelphia just before 1 a.m. on April 15, 2005.

Cassidy's murder case took a turn when the primary witness admitted under oath initially lying to police and that he had not seen Cassidy firing a weapon. This resulted in Municipal Judge Marsha Neifield stating that Cassidy would only have to stand trial for third-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons violation charges. This was later overturned to the original, first degree charge - negating the possibility of parole.

On January 24, 2006, Cassidy was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to eleven-and-a-half to 23 months in jail and was credited with the 7 months he had already served. Cassidy was released from Pennsylvania's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on March 2, 2006 after serving eight months.

Car accident

Cassidy was critically injured in a motor vehicle accident on the night of October 5, 2006, when a commercial truck, the size of a U-Haul truck, collided with Cassidy's SUV while he was a passenger. He was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with a fractured skull and several broken bones on the left side of his face.

Personal life

Cassidy has a son whose name is Cassidy and a fiancee. He has a stepfather named Tony and a brother named Terrence. He also considers R&B-Singer Tyrese his brother. . Cassidy has a brother-sister type relationship with Brittany "Bre" Scullark from America's Next Top Model, Cycle 5.

Discography

• 2004: Split Personality
• 2005: I'm a Hustla
• 2007: B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story
• 2008: Cassidy