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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Evolution, November 6, 2007
While everyone else is busy writing Jay-Z reviews, providing us with limited views supported by minimal quality listens, I'm going to write an album review in Cassidy's honor.
Barry Anderson Reece, aka Cassidy, has obviously grown as a man and an artist since his last album. He has suffred through a car crash that left him in critical condition and being jail for 8 months after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Cassidy seems to have smartened up and began to bloom into an all around artist because of the accelerated learning curve that these unfortunate events seem to produce. Cassidy now realizes that he doesn't always have to spit hard, punchline rhymes to be respected. He says, "See Christ died on the cross, that's keepin it gangsta!" Today's Cassidy is an introspective student of life who has learned through his trials and tribulations. Thankfully he has survived and prevailed. He created a very good disk with this album, hopefully he will be recognized for it.
Now, onto the album. I'm going to begin with the bad elements embedded in this album (although bad is not really the right word because he does not fall flat on his face anywhere on this album, so I'll call it his average moments). So this won't be in order in a song-by-song basis. Don't be alarmed if you're a creature of habit and prefer this sense of order; yes I know the playlist sequencing.
"My Drink & My 2 Step" is the club-hit produced by Swizz Beatz that reminds me of his previous hit "I'ma Hustla." Cass spits fairly good verses talking about his accident, punchlines, ect. , while Swizz hits us with a catchy chorus and blesses Cass with a very good beat. The production is excellent. So where's the negative? Cassidy's verses are nothing spectacular and I'm not a fan of Swizz Beatz with a mic in front of him (The Jay-Z sampled chourus was a better chorus also). However behind the boards Swizz is excellent. This was a good choice of song to put out for the first single though, it will sell records. The next song is the dark "Where My ****** At" prod. by Neo Da Matrix. The beat pushes out high-hats, gunshots, snares, and background instruments that create a gloomy, but good beat. Cassidy speaks about what he will do to anyone that crosses him in the wrong way. "If I gotta I'ma pop a ****** lay a ****** down!" This song suffers again because of a weak chorus and subject. Cassidy again spits decent verses that this time will have your adrenaline pumping for a different reason. The next lower point on the album is the hustler song/overused subject of "I Get My Paper" prod. by Swizz Beatz. The chorus here is annoying with the vocalist trying to hit the highest note she can while 'singing' the boring chorus. The production here is fairly good, but seems overproduced and doesn't compliment Cassidy very well. Instruments just feel like they were thrown onto here with horns, base, congos, snares, high-hats, and whatever else Swizz could find to use. The next song "Take a Trip" is the final low point. Although I love Mashonda's voice, I am tired of Cass's attempts to create the perfect love song. To me he seems to try to hard.
The 4 Star songs include #'s 1, 4,5,& 7. The intro is another battle song where this time Cassidy the Hustler goes to combat against B.A.R.S. who is the more mature side of his personality. The punchlines here are good as usual. The best line comes from B.A.R.S. "Oh you ruthless, the record I'ma Hustla was stupid, cause Jay made more off the record than you did, Swizz made more off the record than you did, so you did somethin for nothin you dufus!" The production is also very good and the background comments are funny. This is a very good opening just as "The Problem vs. The Hustla" was. Which is a better intro? Probably the version on this album. Either way the man knows how to diss himself to indignatly, ala Eminem. Moving on, "I Will Never Tell" is going to be many listeners favorite track. It revolves around a basic topic (Another stop snitching song), but Cassidy puts flavor into it. "I Pray" is a slow, more mellow track laced with a guitar, flute, hats, base, and snares. Cassidy reflects on his past here. He emphasizes his attempt to leave the streets behind. A guest verse is supplied by Shizlansky. I've never heard of him before and his verse doesn't really impress me all that much either. My senses smell a wasted verse, but the emotional aspect of this song lifts it. "Cash Rulez" also suffers from a weaker overused chorus, but is uplifted from the rapid verses spit from Cass, Bone-Thugs, and the revived E-V-E. She is very impressive. Hi-Tek hands over a beat to bless our ears as well.
The highlights of the album begin with beautiful vocals from Mark Morrison on "Innocent Man." Cass digs pretty deep on this track, giving us some introspection on his case. The production is decent, but not the highlight here, the two vocalists steal the show; the way it should be done. Enter Angie Stone on the gospel feeling "Leaning on the Lord." Cassidy tells us three stirring stories. This is something missing from most rappers arsenal today; the art of storytelling. The three individuals in the song all begin to fall into the God's hands (aka lean toward the Lord) after rough times occur in their lives. Very deep. It heavily reminds me of Ludacris' "Runaway Love." Swizz Beatz's production compliments the two very well. "Damn I Miss the Game" is currently my favorite song. The message is very powerful, with Cass 'exposing' the sub-par rappers in the rap game. He name drops legends such as Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Melle Mel, NWA, & 2Pac. Here's a line that optimizes Cassidy's emotional state on this track: "Damn I used to love this rap ****, when ****** on some gold rope Kangol hat ****, now every rapper on that bust that gat ****, cut that cra** *****, **** that wack ****!" The introspective "Done 4 Me" follows. Here where Cassidy again speaks on his prayers and belief in God. He reflects by telling us how grateful he is that he is out of jail and alive. He also talks about rapper shootings, jail-time, and death. The names he drops here are Big L, Soulja Slim, Big Pop, Jam Master Jay, Proof, & 2Pac (R.I.P. all). "Celebrate" is another mellow laid back track with John Legend vocals on the chorus. The theme here is staying strong and the troubles will pass. It's Cassidy's version of "Keep Your Head Up". The album ends with the Cassidy produced "All By Myself." This is not the greatest beat in the world (even though it is still very good), but just knowing that Cassidy produced it himself gives him instant props. Cassidy speaks about his inner strength.
Cassidy is beginning to develop into a rapper that no longer relies on the club heavy songs to fill his album. He goes deeper than he has on any of his other two solos. This is a very good cd, that for most came out of nowhere, but hopefully he will sell well, because of this albums' quality.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
His skills are a little better, but..., April 20, 2008
A lot has changed for Cassidy in the last few years. When he first came out with Split Personality, a lot of people dismissed him as just another flash-in-the-pan young rapper. But since then a lot has happened, from his murder conviction to his near-fatal car accident. But Cass persevered and came back with his latest offering, B.A.R.S.: The Barry Adrian Reese Story.
Since his real name is listed in the album title, most people should know what's going to happen: the album is supposed to be a personal reflection of the artist but instead it's just a marketing ploy and it doesn't sound any different from the artist's usual fare. The opening track is another one of those cases where the intro is longer than most of the songs, and it appears that Cass is going back to his Split Personality days because his "sides" Da Hustla and B.A.R.S. are generically battling each other (but just like T.I. vs T.I.P., the personalities don't sound any different from each other). But there ARE some personal songs on here, like "All By Myself" and "I Pray". And the Angie Stone assisted "Leanin' on the Lord", where Cass tells stories about other people before he finally talks about himself, is passable.
Still, those songs aren't the most exciting either. "My Drink N' 2 Step" was a no-brainer for the first single, but the songs that follow aren't as inspiring. Actually, "Where My N's At" is fine except for the first verse, which contains the disgusting bar, "My nickname should be Diarrhea/How I run ish". And the obligatory song about snitching, "I Will Never Tell (Uh Uh)", is corny. Another manufactured track is the necessary song for the ladies, "Take a Trip", featuring Mashonda from his first album.
But one song that really doesn't sit right with me is "Damn I Miss the Game". And it's not only because of its uninteresting chorus, but it appears that Cass didn't do his research. Although I feel him when he says that society tends to blame hip-hop for violence, he brought up the supposedly wrong incarcerations of Shyne and Cool C. Huh? Shyne shot somebody in the face, and Cool C killed a police officer! The song also has Cass lamenting on how rappers today are just talking about bling and hustlin'. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't his last album called I'm a Hustla?
Cassidy seems to want to stray away from the street life with this album, and he KIND OF succeeds, but B.A.R.S. just isn't as interesting as intended. It's his best album yet, but that really isn't saying much.
Anthony Rupert
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Cd, November 6, 2007
Cassidy finally makes the cd we all knew he could make. Been waiting this cd from him after his first two way too commericalized cds.
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