Cassie: The new Ciara?

(sorry, E-40)

http://www.lilly.com/news/photos/products/cialis/cialis_productshot_web.jpg

i really love the follow-up single too, 'long way 2 go' - "i know you wanna meet me/cos your girlfriend wanna be me"

each summer for the past few years, there's been one sparse, simple, understated, almost nothingy r&b single amidst the massive summer bangers - 'never leave you', 'move ya body', 'pon de replay'. obviously 'me & u' is a lot darker (she sounds almost scared in it, like she's spent so much time planning this bedroom liaison with military precision - clipped vocals, everything rigorously in place - and now she doesn't quite know what to do)

Er... Bass? And just when I've been remarking on it as yet another example of an excellent pop/r'n'b record that works despite the absence of bass! ;) It's suggestively empty, airy, and delicately balanced - with an incredible openness, like the r'n'b equivalent of a Zen rock garden. But all with no integrating bass, with the exception of the booming kick drum. Are there different versions / mixes about? Or am I just being obtuse in not acknowledging that synth-cello line in the chorus as 'bass'?

(The clip is most excellent, by the way. Just her dancing about in front of a mirror. Simplicity, perfection. With Cassie gratuitously dousing herself in a bottle of water somewhere towards the end ;) )

The links with 'Move Your Body', 'Never Leave You' are OTM. I wonder what other songs belong in this chain/constellation?

BTW - she is frost-y, not frost-ing! Who wants cake, anyway? ;) Give me icing any day.

cassie's total ice. the only vocal comparison which really fits is teairra mari, but teairra's icy cos she's angry, and she's definitely not blank or disinterested.

The album's very short -- 35 mins, a la all those Carter Administration Def Jam albums, and no trace of Diddy -- and very top-heavy.

I'm hoping to be given the CD single to review when it finally comes out here.

I think this is maybe the most severe psuedo-crunk R&B track - "Oh" is its only challenger, and I think this sounds even emptier than that, though "Oh" does have some raw blemished grunt in its favour.

(No idea if I'm doing the html right.)

>For those who don't have a good copy

how do professional musicians keep up the pace?

http://www.datpiff.com/Cassie-RockaByeBaby-mixtape.465275.html

^^ no talk at all about this? haven't heard it yet, but 'numb' and 'paradise' refrain my expectations about it...

*presses play*

well that was a predictable intro

of all the r&b second-tier starlets i find cassie to be the most blank-slate. i'm still trying to find out what this mixtape is about. the only impression i get halfway in is a clumsy attempt at doing bad-bitch-by-numbers.

i get the fascination with her - she has great... potential? but has she really made any career moves that haven't been horribly clumsy and awkward?

it has been a chore listening to this one half of the mixtape and i'm not optimistic for the next half :/

"i make music to numb your brain" probs not the best advised lyric

i think she thinks she's pandering to the watching-the-party-thru-smoke vibes crew w/that line

the mixtape did surprise me in that most of it is trying to bite that riri #phuckeverything swag but it's not a great fit overall

will listen. as for tiers, casseie's blankness is obviously what makes her first tier, and i think the better question is has she made any moves that HAVE been clumsy and awkward? i dunno, i haven't heard a lot by her that isn't perfect. been bumpin balcony on repeat lately.

it's an inherently sweet blankness though, at its best. the 'pour it up' style nihilism this tape flirts with is above her paygrade

i like how the guests aren't listed on this soundcloud, makes a much funner game of bingo when you don't know when to expect jeremih's whinnying

her royal blankness

oh no, now i'm nervous :(

the song with jeremih is good

i just find her work to be disparate and unfocused. like she's trying to find a lil r&b niche and fill it. i hadn't heard balcony yet but the first youtube comment was pretty otm with the jhene aiko comparison. balcony isn't even a bad song or anything. but jhene has already carved out her niche. now cassie is just jumping from hazy sex to NINO CARTER in the span of a few months, and that's genre hopping from an artist w/o the pedigree to get away with it

i say second tier in terms of mainstream success. most regular music fans i know perceive her as a forgettable one hit wonder. i know she has the cult following but by definition cult following =/= most definitions of first tier

wait a minute jhene's niche is ENTIRELY based on biting cassie

like i remember the first time i heard jhene just thinking "does the #cassiefanclub own a laboratory now and did they create this girl in it"

at the same time, not achieving mainstream success doesn't mean you are not a first-rate musician. her cult following has happened bc she did in fact fill a niche. to this day i can't think of anyone else i could put on when i am in the mood for that vibe. she has a very particular voice, and the precision of it, along with cleanliness of her production is what makes her anything but disparate and unfocused.

xxp

feel pleased never to have spent time cultivating any semblance of an opinion on jhene

'ditto' will always be cassie's signature tune in my eyes i think

"is it you?" is one i've been thinking of recently, an avenue that was closed off too swiftly

*summer charm* will definitely be blowin up my crib this summer

Pusha T definitely just blatantly lifted 2 recent MC references in an otherwise OK song (take care of me baby is spooky enough to sound like cassie)

eww Do My Dance <--> Bad Bitches is some keri hilson gone bad shit, v uninspiring

lol @ the cassie review in pfork today, he wont be getting his membership in the club revoked

What’s clear now is that Cassie’s no longer just competing in the R&B game anymore.

What’s clear now is that Cassie’s just no longer competing in the R&B game anymore.

Fixed

mixtape is pretty eh

Me & U is currently perched in the top 25 on iTunes U.S. ...it's also the most downloaded R&B track in the UK right now?!

it's featured on the itunes front page in both countries. in the us it's listed on both the 'hot tracks' and '69¢ songs' sections, both of which are known to give sizeable boosts to both new and old songs.

presumably this is all part of bad boy's promo for its apple music-exclusive movie which has taken up all the banners on the front page. three other bad boy tracks are on the 'hot tracks' front page along w/ "me & u", and if you check you'll notice all of those are also high on the itunes charts now.

thanks! I was quite shocked. still quite impressive, I wonder why they picked that of all the possible older Bad Boy tracks?! (and justice for Official Girl and Must Be Love!) but I mean clearly it worked and it's not like I'm denying it's a certified classic by now, I watched that Bad Boy doc and Cassie herself is only in it for a couple seconds though... a pretty good (mostly Diddy-centered) documentary by the way.

That...is so weird. On multiple levels, not the least of which being that it popped up on my iPod twice this week after not hearing it in years. It's a jam.

Oh hey never mind, I was thinking of the JoJo song because I'm an idiot (I think K-Ci and JoJo almost certainly figured into my confusion).

So weird...I was compiling songs for an assembly this week where kids who get certain awards parade around the gym to music and high-fives. I needed about 25 songs, half current stuff the kids like, half songs that the staff--okay, I--like. I included "Me & U" as sort of a bridge; sounds current but isn't. When I went onto the iTunes chart for other ideas, there it was. I felt psychic but was baffled. Is it sampled on something current?

Jesus christ, I totally was thinking of Cassie after all. Delete me from thred, pls.

posted this in r&b too, but icymi there:

https://open.spotify.com/album/5cEwQsdQjSF9ZbZ6ctpuST

Pretty smooth, I dig it although the rap was unneeded. Hopefully she actually drops another project this time around.

new non-g-eazy track is exactly what I wanted the Jessie Ware album to be

(it isn't out officially yet but it's leaked https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/cassie-returns-on-the-kaytranada-laced-dont-play-it-safe-new-song.1976724.html

Absolutely love it! Just release the album, Casandra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFr11MdK5wk

I had totally forgotten about her (and her great album) but Spotify showed me she has just released a single and I found out she's actually released many over the last couple of years (like a EP worth of material).
After a first listen they all sound pretty good.
Whatever happened to her ? How come she still hasn't released a second album... 13 years after her debut ??
She's not yet in Gunsn'Roses / MBV territory but for a rnb/popstar that's a crazy long time !

Huh ? Why is this thread NSFW ??

She's got a song called 'Don't Play It Safe'.

(I have no idea.)

Going back to her album + "Official Girl" reminds me how great she was.
She should have been a huge star.

'Skydiver' is like the most amazing song ever.

errr what's that song ?? It's not even in her discography on wikipedia !

It's one of the many songs that showed up on the internet around 10 years ago, maybe?

It's here the youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLIbtbd32jI

Whatever happened to her ? How come she still hasn't released a second album... 13 years after her debut ??

This thread pretty much tells the story tbf - i.e. too many good tracks leaked; too many less good tracks selected as trailers for a potential new LP; found domestic bliss; soon to be a mother, I believe; music now just a hobby?

I just listened to the last 3 released cuts on Spotify. I see they are linked by similar cover art, so this may indeed become an EP or something more soon. All 3 songs are OK, but no better than the weakest of the late 2000's leaks. The latest, "Speaking Of" is probably the pick of the bunch.

back by way of South African house:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHNmOQUJNBM
Black Coffee ft. Cassie • Time

that is really lovely as usual

cassie...don't hear that name round these parts much these days...