Cassidy
Birth name	Barry Adrian Reese
Born	July 7, 1982 (1982-07-07) (age 27)
Origin	North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, producer, songwriter, actor
Years active	1999 – present
Labels	Ruff Ryders(2002-2009) Full Surface(2002-2009) J Records(2002-2008) Kross Over Ent.(2009-present)
Associated acts	Ruff Ryders, Larsiny Family, Swizz Beatz, Mashonda, Mario, Freeway, Neo Da Matrix, Carmelo Anthony, Big Mike, DJ Thoro

Barry Adrian Reese (born July 7, 1982), better known by his stage name Cassidy, is an American rapper. ^[1]

Contents 1 Early career 1.1 Commercial Career 2 Personal life 2.1 Murder case 2.2 Car accident 3 Discography 4 Filmography 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Early career

The then-unknown Cassidy received some fame after he won a rap battle against Roc-a-Fella artist Freeway in 2000.^{[2] [3]} He was later first featured on the track "Bigger Business" by Swizz Beatz

[edit] Commercial Career

Cassidy recorded his first album, Split Personality in 2003 and released it on March 16, 2004.

Cassidy released his second album, I'm a Hustla on June 28, 2005, through Swizz Beatz's label, Full Surface.

Cassidy's third album, B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story was released on November 6, 2007.

Cassidy also worked on group mixtapes with Larsiny Family, which consisted of Cassidy and several other Philadelphia rappers, most notably A.R.-Ab, Cal Akbar, and Shiz Lansky. However, Cassidy has since left the group on account of beef between him and Akbar.^[4][5]

[edit] Personal life

He has two sons, one by the name Cassidy with his fiance.^[6] Cassidy will also be the new face of Lot 29, which featured other artists such as Juelz Santana.^[7]

[edit] Murder case

On April 15, 2005 Desmond Hawkins and his friends drove to Cassidy's house in a van seeking retribution for a fight that had happened between one of Hawkins' friends and a member of Cassidy's crew outside of a nearby pharmacy only hours before. When Hawkins and his friends pulled into the alley in front of Cassidy's house, a gun fight immediately erupted, with Cassidy and 2 members of his crew firing at Desmond Hawkins and his friends in the van. Ballistic evidence confirmed that 30 shots were fired into the van and 12 shots were fired from the van, with 1 shot landing in Desmond Hawkins back, fatally wounding him. Desmond's 2 other friends were treated at hospitals for gunshot wounds and released. ^[8]

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 early afternoon June, 17th.^[9] At his arraignment on Saturday, June 18th, 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. ^[10]

Cassidy's murder case took a turn when the primary witness withdrew his confession, stating, "I only told the police what they wanted to hear, because they wouldn't let me leave, and I had a bullet in my leg." This resulted in the Judge stating that Cassidy would only have to stand trial for a 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 jail and was credited with the 7 months he had already served. ^{[11] [12]}

Cassidy was released from Pennsylvania's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on March 2, 2006 after serving only eight months. ^[13]

[edit] Car accident

Cassidy was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident on the night of October 5, 2006 when a commercial truck collided with Cassidy's 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.^[14][15][16]

[edit] Discography

• 2004: Split Personality
• 2005: I'm a Hustla
• 2007: B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story
• 2010: C.A.S.H. Cass a Straight Hustla

[edit] Filmography

• Next Day Air (Cameo Of A Drug Dealer)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Cassidy (rapper) at MySpace
• Cassidy's Youtube Page [1]

Interviews

• AHH.com Interview Part 1, Cassidy: Jail, Lessons & The State of Affairs Part 1 By Jigsaw
• AHH.com Interview Part 2, Cassidy: Jail, Lessons & The State of Affairs Part 2 By Jigsaw
• AHH.com Cassidy: Friend or Foe By Aqua
• September 2007 Interview

v • d • e Cassidy Albums Split Personality · I'm a Hustla · B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story Singles "Hotel" · "Get No Better" · "I'm a Hustla" · "B-Boy Stance" · "My Drink n My 2 Step" · "Innocent Man (Misunderstood)" Related articles Discography · Kross Over · Larsiny Family