Cassidy - Split Personality: Lazy Debut from Philly Youngster Leaves Listeners Feeling Cheated

All the interviews I’ve read with this cat, all the features, all the little snippets on the music shows… everything so far has suggested to me two things - one is that Cassidy believes his own hype, and two is that I don’t. Admittedly this is coming from a position of having only heard the godawful ‘Hotel’ with Pied Piper of Childrens’ Bedroom Gymnastics, R Kelly, and Cassidy hype up a past battle with Freeway, but I almost feel that I’ve already heard enough to last a lifetime. Freeway (though I love the cat to death) can’t even RHYME two bars at a time, so beating the chin-fro’ed one is really nothing to brag about.

Anyway, lets get this over with - Cassidy, Philly resident, picked up and produced by Swizz Beats, his album “Split Personality” has a loose theme of seeing the different sides of the Cassidy psyche - a few songs fall under the ‘Cassidy’ moniker, a few under his government name of B.Reese, and a few under his alter-ego ‘Tha Problem’. Already this is causing problems to my tired, cynical old brain. He also once battled Freeway, you know… oh I told you that already.

The album starts with the confusing ‘My Interpretation’. Confusing because Cassidy hits you with the unexpected - the idea that he might JUST have some skills… yes, he goes the Canibus route of regurgitating a dictionary without REALLY saying anything of substance - but as he drops ‘ation after ‘ation, you can’t help but think that this is a cut above what you may have expected from an emcee who came out with such an obvious pop hit to start his career. The beat is a fairly simplistic one-dimension plodder from Felli Fel, but I again have to emphasize my surprise on how dude came with his on the track…