C.A.S.H. 2010 Album

Cassidy

I feel like Cassidy was starting to drop off from being in your general hip hop fans' eye-line with his fourth album. The lines are blurred more so now than ever, but this is considered his last official album to this day. The producer list isn't bad, with Cassidy retaining some producers from his previous projects, like Bink! and Neo da Matrix, but a staple of his previous albums was his mentor Swizz Beatz, who isn't involved here. Cassidy adds more titles to his producer CV, co-producing a number of songs and producing the final track, as he did on his previous album. It begins with Cassidy just listing people he'd like to see rap battle on 'Face 2 Face (Intro)'. Any hip hop head will get something out of it listening to the rappers he names, but it's not one to put on repeat. The following 'Paper Up' samples 'Quick Fast, in a Hurry' by New York City making for some decent production with a catchy enough hook. 'Hate Me or Love Me' has enjoyable verses, but the hook is weak. 'I'm a G Boy' is the one song I've gone back to since first hearing this album. The production is thumping and Cassidy spits some noteworthy bars. 'Peace' is one of the rare moments that isn't just gangster rap or pop rap. Overall, the production isn't great, sounding cheap in parts, and is a sizeable drop-off from the best he had on his second and third album. Even the self-produced final song isn't as good as what he created on his last album, 'B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story'. With Cassidy's second and third album there seemed to be development as an artist, with more maturity and content in his bars, but there isn't much here at all. It shows devolution as an artist. Beats: ★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★ Best Tracks: Paper Up, I'm a G Boy, Peace