| Cassidy | |
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Cassidy in May 2005 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Barry Adrian Reese |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States[1] |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupations | Rapper, producer, songwriter, actor |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Ruff Ryders (2002-2009) Full Surface (2002-2009) J Records (2004-2008) Kross Over Ent. (2009-present) |
| Associated acts | Swizz Beatz, R.Kelly, Game, Jag, Fabolous, Ruff Ryders, Larsiny Family bone thugs |
Barry Adrian Reese (born July 7, 1982), better known by his rap name Cassidy (also known as “The Problem” and “The Hustla”) is a popular rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was born and raised in North Philadelphia. He was in a group called Larsiny together with his home-town-friends Cal Akbar and Shiz Lansky.
Cassidy rose to prominence as a battle rapper and started appearing on mixtapes. Producer Swizz Beatz signed him to his Full Surface label distributed through J Records and featured him on Swizz’s 2002 album Presents G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories. Cassidy has also appeared on tracks by Snoop Dogg and Wyclef Jean.
Cassidy recorded the Split Personality album in the year 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. The third is credited to B. Reese from fans from his early days. [1]
Cassidy recorded the track and lead single “Hotel” with R. Kelly in Kelly’s Chicago studios with a vocal contribution by Kelly - there is also a version featuring vocals by Trina. The song became a hit, reaching the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in February 2004 and the top 5 of the UK charts in May 2004. The song also reached the Australian top 40 in late May 2004.
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..[1]
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Cassidy's first album, Split Personality, was released on March 16, 2004. There were two singles released from the album. The first single was "Hotel", which featured R. Kelly. The second single was "Get No Better", which featured Mashonda. Split Personality went gold in the first month it was released.
Cassidy's second album, I'm a Hustla, was released on June 28, 2005 through Swizz Beatz's label, Full Surface. There were two singles released from the album. The first single was "I'm a Hustla". The second single was "B-Boy Stance", which featured Swizz Beatz.
In late 2009 Cassidy signed with Carmelo Anthony's label Kross Over Entertainment. He Released mixtape series entitled Apply Pressure off the label.
On August 24, 2010, Cassidy released a 5-track EP, Face 2 Face EP. Cassidy's fourth album, C.A.S.H., was released November 16, 2010. "Face to Face" is the street single released from the album and "Drumma Bass" is the first official single. In 2010, Cassidy released the song "Gametime", which is featured on NBA 2K11.
Cassidy had a cameo appearance in the 2009 movie Next Day Air.
On April 15, 2005 three men, including Cassidy, armed with .45 and .40 caliber handguns, 9 mm pistols, and an AK-47 variant rifle, fired on three unarmed men during an argument that occurred in the West Oak Lane neighborhood in Northwest Philadelphia. Desmond Hawkins was killed by a shot in the back. Hawkin's two other friends were treated at hospitals for gunshot wounds and released.
On June 8, a warrant was issued for Cassidy's arrest on charges of murder, attempted murder, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault, conspiracy and weapons possession. Cassidy surrendered to Philadelphia police on the afternoon of June 17.[2] At his arraignment on Saturday, June 18, he was denied bail, and sent to Philadelphia's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison, where he would serve his time during the trial and after he was sentenced.[3]
Cassidy's murder case took a turn when the primary witness withdrew his confession. This resulted in the judge stating that Cassidy would stand trial for 3rd degree murder. On August 16, 2005, Municipal Judge Marsha Neifield ruled that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to charge Cassidy with third-degree murder, attempted murder charges, and weapons offenses. This was later overturned to the original, first degree charge - negating the possibility of parole. On January 25, 2006 Cassidy was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime for his involvement in the shooting. He was sentenced to 11 to 23 months in prison plus probation and was credited with the 7 months he had already served.[4][5]
Cassidy was released from Pennsylvania's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on March 2, 2006 after serving eight months.[6]
Cassidy talks about his arrest and time in prison in the 2011 film Rhyme and Punishment, which documents various Hip-Hop artists who have done county jail or state/federal prison time.
Cassidy was seriously injured in a vehicle accident on the night of October 5, 2006 when a commercial truck collided with his 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. He still has visible scars from the accident.[7][8][9]
| “ | "I was in a coma for about seven or eight days," he said. "And then they put me into a medicated coma, so that if I woke up I wouldn't be traumatized by what I went through. When I first woke up out of my coma, I had amnesia, so I couldn't really remember everything. I didn't have full amnesia; I could remember certain things. The only people I really knew were my mom, my son, people that's real close that you knew all your life. I knew their names but even certain experiences I couldn't remember at first. I couldn't remember none of my raps, even the songs I performed — 'Hotel,' 'I'm a Hustla,' none of that. The doctor told me that I suffered brain damage, but it was temporary, it wasn't permanent. So the same way it takes time for your body to heal, he said it's gonna take your brain time to heal." | ” |
Mixtapes
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