Cassidy

Background

Barry Adrian Reese, better known as Cassidy, was born on July 7, 1982, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There was not much clear information about the rapper’s parents. However, it is known that his mother was East African of Ethiopian descent. He was interested in rapping ever since he was a child. Reese kickstarted his career doing freestyle as well as competing as a battle rapper during the 1990s. Growing more as an artist, Reese shifted his focus to writing full-length hip-hop songs.

Later on in his career, Reese’s hard work started paying off as he signed a recording contract under “Swizz Beatz’s Full Surface label” (2002). In 2003, he released his first official single, ‘Hotel,’ which featured R. Kelly, an R&B singer. The song, performed commercially well as it appeared in the top ten of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was then followed by the groovy anthem ‘Get No Better’— which features Mashonda. He released his debut album “Split Personality” in 2004 and the lead single for the album, ‘My Drink n My 2 Step’ features a vocal appearance and production from none other than his mentor Swizz Beatz. Reese then followed with several other singles including ‘I’m a Hustla’ and ‘B-Boy Stance’ as well as his second studio album also titled “I’m a Hustla” (2005). Unfortunately, Reese’s fame was marred by several problems. He was apprehended in 2005 following a firefight in which one person was killed. He was charged with murder and possession of weapons. Reese was facing third-degree murder charges when he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, assault, and possession of an illegal weapon. On March 2, 2006, the rapper was released after serving an eight-month sentence.

After he was released from prison in 2006, he went on to work on his third studio album “B.A.R.S: The Barry Adrian Reese Story” which was released in 2007. Reese then left the “Full Surface” label to join “Kross Over Entertainment” in 2009. Under that label, he released a mixtape series in 2010 and his fourth studio album, “C.A.S.H: Cass a Straight Hustla.” The project, unfortunately, performed worse than any of his previous studio albums — selling only 5,200 copies in the first week of its release. Reese also published several CDs, including “Da Science” (2020), “Da Formula” (2020), and “Da Wiseman” (2021).