The growing cult of Cassie
Two years ago the Guardian wrote about Cassie’s brilliant second album, which never saw the light of day. Now the R&B singer is finally getting some attention thanks to leftfield artists
Posting a picture of your new tattoo to Twitter on 1 January generally means that your New Year’s Eve got a bit out of hand. But for Robin Carolan, who runs the Tri Angle record label and tweeted a “Me & U” design freshly emblazoned on his arm, it was a considered and sober homage to an unsung R&B legend … Cassie.
“Getting the tattoo was a sincere thing”, he tells me. “I genuinely view her as someone who in 20 years’ time will be re-evaluated. I’m stunned [that] she can be making such good songs but still be in complete limbo.”
Cassie is the model and singer who scored a hit with Me & U in 2006, but who has since seen her second album shelved (Electro Love is apparently due this year, but don’t hold your breath) despite the beauty of leaked tracks such as My House and Stray. Tri Angle puts out records by acts who have been tagged with the “witch house” label that did the blog rounds last year; but while there are (sometimes literally) echoes of R&B in their work, it’s a long way from Cassie’s expensive American studio sheen and makes Carolan perhaps an unlikely person to etch permanent loyalty to her on his skin.
But he’s just one in a whole cult of Cassie fanatics. Last year Deadboy released Cash Antics Vol 1, which reworked the singer into throbbing 2-step. Skydiver, a free download of Cassie “remixes, tributes and marriage proposals” by post-dubstep producers such as Jacques Greene and Brackles was released by Local Action records in December. Other recent remixers in thrall to her include Brenmar, Kastle, CFCF and Four Tet, who threaded Me & U through his remix of Joe Goddard’s Apple Bobbing. “People like the xx and all these UK dance producers love her,” says Carolan. “For my artists, such as oOoOO and How to Dress Well – the idea of Cassie singing on their tracks is a dream. Others might view her as a has-been, but in this world she’s a legend.”
“In her vocals there’s a lot of space; from a producer’s point of view that’s what you want, you can completely mash it up and reconstruct it,” Carolan says. But she is more than just a vehicle for producers wishing to showcase their own talents. “It sounds like she’s trapped in ice. There’s this stillness to [her voice]. Even though she’s not forcefully singing she still demands your attention.”
Caught between the club-banger bellowing of Kelly Rowland and Rihanna, the fearsome spitting of Nicki Minaj and the melismatic arsenal of Beyoncé, Cassie has fallen through the cracks, scorned by R&B fans who, according to Carolan, “can be snotty about [lack of] technical ability”. But her sad, sing-song vocals are work on a different level, meaning that, despite not having the strongest vocal chords, she nevertheless has one of the strongest voices in pop. “There’s a melancholy quality to a lot of her music. Maybe because of that and the fact that her career has stalled, people like myself can’t help develop this vaguely tragic narrative around her,” Carolan says. “We all feel the world doesn’t deserve her.”