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AllHipHop.com: Not to get all philosophical, but Proof of D-12 was killed today and it seems like rap music and Hip-Hop is going through this over and over. What’s your opinion of the state of Hip-Hop on the level and specifically the state of the Black man in America.
Cassidy: It’s definitely going down real crazy on the streets and the Hip-Hop community – and as you said, not just the Hip-Hop community, as far as the minorities. As far as entertainers, I’m sure somebody else [that wasn’t famous] died yesterday too. That’s stuff we ain’t hearing about. Violence is at an all-time high. There are so many reasons why it is, that we’ll be here for months talking about it. Its like, you know, there are a lotta reasons that dude’s are responding the way they are responding. Dues ain’t eating, they hungry out there. That’s one of the main reasons. They don’t have access to the paper [money] that’s out here in the world. That’s one of the reasons violence is at an all-time high. It’s a lot of ways to be successful and a lot of ways to make paper, but the dudes in the hood, the minorities don’t know about it. So, they feel all they can do is be a drug dealer, rapper, or a sports player. They feel if they ain’t one of those three things, they are left out so they gotta take what they want. That’s not true. There are a lot of other ways to be successful and probably generate more money than a celebrity or a sports player. But they don’t know those things. Knowing those things is not in the hood. The people doing those things is not in the hood. The only think that I see in the hood is the dude moving these birds [drugs], so Im’a try to be like him and not this doctor. I don’t see this doctor [in the hood]. A lot of these successful [people that got] good careers, they need to step it up and be positive role models for the people that’s stepping up. So, they I wanna be like him instead of Scarface [Cuban druglord played by Al Pacino] or Nino Brown [drug dealing character in 1991’ New Jack City.
If you don’t see it, a lot of dudes ain’t gonna go in a book and read and kids ain’t gonna try to do they own research. They need people with status to promote other things besides clothing lines, besides sneakers. Show these dudes another way and how to generate money, how to love each other and how to build a foundation over time. It took a long time for it to get this way. It ain’t just happen over night. Its gonna take time for to get better.
AllHipHop.com: Do you feel the older generation has let down the Hip-Hop generation, or at least neglected them?
Cassidy: [Pauses] The older dudes, it might not have necessarily been their fault. [The 70’s and 80’s], that’s when the drugs hit major, that’s when crack hit, so a lot of the dudes that’s older than us, teaching us the right way to go, they were lost themselves. Either they were lost up in hustling, or lost in using the drugs or caught up in pimping or being pimps. They wasn’t able to be the positive role models that they could have been. I don’t necessarily point the finger at them, because everybody is responsible for their own decisions. But they did play a role in why the generation after them went so crazy.
To make a difference, the dudes that’s young like me, Juelz, T.I., Fab, step it up and show a difference. Then the younger kids that’s five, six, 11 years old, they might take a different direction, gradually change. And then the generation under them, might gradual change and you might see improvement.
AllHipHop.com: What would you say your career stands at right now, musically?
Cassidy: I’m in the best shape of my life, man. I feel as though when I drop this next album, my third album, This Time Around, I’m gonna reach the most success I ever had. I’m gonna reach the level that I always dreamed about bein’ at – then continue to rise.
AllHipHop.com: Okay, I want to move forward with your music. You are one of the illest battle MC’s and definitely have good songs too. Are you working on anything right now?
Cassidy: When I was in jail, I wasn’t writing a lot of songs, because I didn’t have music, but I stayed on my job lyrically. That’s what I do so it’s like a habit for me. I stayed on my P’s & Q’s, because I am so competitive. I always wanna be the best, and I always wanna sound better than I did the last time.
AllHipHop.com: You got any mixtapes or anything like that coming out?
Cassidy: I’m looking forward to it. Every DJ is looking for a freestyle from me so, I’m looking forward to putting out a bunch of mixtapes. And, also coming out with my third album soon. So I got a lot on my plate right now.
AllHipHop.com: No release date yet?
Cassidy: Nah, I didn’t even go to work yet. Its probably gonna take me two months to get everything finished. So, I should have a single out this summer and probably looking to release the album fourth quarter.
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