I spoke to Cassidy today and discussed his new album B.A.R.S., changes in the music industry, his recent Jay-Z comments, one-hit wonders, art vs. commerce, and Allen Iverson.
W: You just dropped your third album, B.A.R.S. (The Barry Adrien Reese Story) this week and debuted in the Billboard Top 10. To ask a question that seems particularly of the times: How do you feel about your first week results?
Cassidy: It depends on what perspective you take. If you look at 5 years ago it was just a different reality. Nowadays there’s so many ways for people to get the music so it’s gotten harder to straight up sell a lot of records in stores. At the same time it’s still easy to be successful and get money if you’re a quality artist. And i’m very happy with how I’m doing. We’ve got the #2 rap record in the country. Also, it’s a good look because it’s not like I’ve been releasing a lot of music since my last album, or came out with two videos before the album and a ton of singles. I was literally gone for two years and now I just had one look, one video for ‘My Drink N My Step’ and it’s all a blessing man. Some artists have a their little retail schemes going on, or they’ll ship a bunch of records, but I just shipped a little over 100K records and I sold 70/80K records. That’s 80% sold of records shipped, and I feel really good about that. Other artists can ship a million records and have them be everywhere, but then they’ll only sell a few hundred thousand and that’s a much lower percentage than mine, and what’s left over gets shipped back. People went out to try to get my record in some spots and it was sold out after a few days so they couldn’t buy one and the stores are actually re-ordering. And what matters to me most is that people that bought the album, they love it. 95% of people that bought my album are satisfied and love it. Whereas some artists they have a big opening week, but they leave a lot of people dissappointed with the album, because it wasn’t what they wanted from that artist.
W: When you set out to record an album, first and foremost do you do it for the art or for the money?
Cassidy: I have to say, it’s both and there’s a thin line between those two sometimes. I have a lot of love for the art and I would do it regardless even if I wasn’t in the business. It’s the same with football and basketball. I love playing sports, and I’m not in the NFL, but I still do it for fun. I’d still do music for fun even if I wasn’t making money off of it. But at the same time if I just did for myself and my friends and people that think like me, the situation would be very different. Being in the business I need to please a bunch of other people at the same time. I still come original and creative and I’m always lyrical, but at the same time I have to make it in a way that a lot of people will be able to feel it. I have to have a wide range to be able to be in the business. I do it for the art, but I also have to live and provide for myself and my friends and family.
W: You’ve mentioned already that the industry has been going through a lot of changes in the past few years. There’s one side of the debate that states that the business is going away from being an album-oriented business, back to being a singles-oriented business. Do you see any of that going on right now around you?
Cassidy: It’s definitely becoming a singles business lately. There’s no artist development anymore. It seems to just about the ringtone and the single. When I came into the game and got my first record deal, as part of a three person group called Larciny, I was 17 years old. It was at Ruff Ryders and it took three years for me to release my first album. I was around DMX and Eve and Swizz Beatz for three years learning and watching them. There was real artist development going on where I took shots and tried. Eventually you just get it right and you come out. Nowadays artists have their little hit song, but they haven’t mastered their talent yet. They become one hit wonders that got lucky with one song. And labels don’t mind. They make their money off of the ring tones and the single even if the album itself makes a loss. And it changes everything. People nowadays buy the hot track of the moment by the hot new artist, but they might not even know what they look like or what region they’re from and they’re not going to be checking for the album. To have longevity as an artist the audience needs to know the artist, feel you as a person, and know where you’re coming from. And if they love you, they will follow you, buy the album and open up the booklet to read the lyrics and check for the pictures. Why would I buy this new artist’s album? Why not just get two good tracks off of it and forget about the album? Why care about the artist? I’m raising the standard with my new album. No one can come out with a lame album now after I have dropped this. I have too much real talk, too many good songs and too many concepts on this album. And if more artists drop more albums that matter you’ll see an increase in album sales again.
W: Leading up to the album you said a few things about Jay-Z in some interviews that had a lot of people talking. Did you feel you got your point across or was it misinterpreted in the media?
Cassidy: People were definitely trying to make it a competition, and that’s not even what I wanted. You have to understand, I looked up to Jay-Z even before I was in the industry. I wasn’t even an MC yet and he was doing it and selling a lot of records. It’s not even a competition thing to me. I mean, how could it be? Jay-Z is the President of Def Jam, he’s a 40 year old MC and has been a successful rapper for so long, he’s made all that money and he has so many connections. I feel I’m coming for the first time now. I had my first album as a brand new artist and then when my second one came out I couldn’t promote it because I was locked up. So really this is just my first album coming out as a well-known established artist. It’s not the same thing. What I was trying to say originally was that Jay-Z is a bigger and more successful artist than I am, but my story right now is greater and more interesting than Jay-Z’s story. It’s not greater than his story then, from when he was a freshly successful artist, but it’s greater than his story now. Everybody already knows Jay-Z’s story. What is he going to say that people don’t already know about? Everyone knows he is with Beyonce. Everyone knows that he made all that money with Rocawear and Rocafella, and about his past. So people aren’t going to be checking for him the same as when they wanted to know more about him. And most other artists out there are just getting their stories off of other people albums, fairy tales, or they’re making it up. But I’m talking about my real life here. I’ve got so many stories and I was quiet for two years. I was in a big accident that almost killed me, I was in jail for involuntary manslaughter and I was facing the death penalty, I had to deal with a lot of stuff, a lot of stories. People already know Jay’s story, and he is an MC on his way out. It’s like Jordan who was the greatest and then left and came back. No one took anything away from him about his past successes, all the championships, all the skills, but it just wasn’t the same when he came back. He came back but was still on his way out. He wasn’t as fast anymore, he wouldn’t dunk like he used to, and eventually he had to pass it down. At one point Big Daddy Kane was the best and he had to pass it down, and Rakim had to pass it down, and Jay-Z will have to pass it down as well. He can’t be the hottest rapper forever. And all I’m saying is if you look at the whole package I feel I’m one of the people he could pass it down too. When you look at style, lyrics, personality, still understanding the street but also the business side, and other things like that. And I’ve got the best rap album out right now.
W:You compare Jay-Z to Jordan. If we go with that metaphor then which basketball player would you compare yourself to?
Cassidy: Right now I’d have to compare myself to Allen Iverson. And I’m not even saying that because he’s the best player in the game. I’m saying that because A.I. has always done things other basketball players wouldn’t do and still been successful. He did his rap album when other players wouldn’t have done that. He’s a professional player but he’s also still from the street and not some Grant Hill preppy dude. And also he was always little [at 6"]. When I came in the game I was 17 and I was small, but cocky, like him. A.I. will go right against all the big dudes and drive to the basket and get hit, but still make the shot. He’s small but he’ll still lay a ball up on Yao Ming. And he can still lead the league in scoring. And A.I. played on the same court as Jordan. They had to ban one of his moves, his cross-over. They had to make up a rule after he did that move on Jordan! Another thing we have in common is that A.I. isn’t a champion yet. He is the best player, but he doesn’t have any rings yet. That is how I feel in the industry. I’m not a champion yet. There might be other younger players like Kobe out there that are seen as bigger successes, because they have their rings, and rappers that have their plaques. They might seem bigger than me and him right now, and I feel once I get in the right situation with the right team I’m going to show how I’m that dude.
Cassidy’s new album B.A.R.S. (The Barry Adrien Reese Story) is out in stores now, except in those it’s sold out in, but they re-ordered. There’s always iTunes too.