Barry Adrian Reese (born July 7, 1982) better known by his stage name Cassidy, is an American rapper.
His most successful work to date is his 2004 album Split Personality, which reached #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart and #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. He won BET's Rap City Best Booth.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cassidy attended Central High School, Philadelphia. Cassidy is of African-American and Dominican descent. He started to rap when he was 13 years old and rose to prominence by appearing on a radio competition on 103.9 The Beat, named the Cipher. He was also a member of the crew Larsiny with his home-town-friends Cal Akbar & Shiz Lansky. Producer Swizz Beatz signed Cassidy to his Full Surface label and featured him on his 2002 album Presents G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories. He was the champion on Philadelphia-based radio show "The Cypher".
Cassidy received some fame after he won a freestyle battle with Roc-A-Fella artist Freeway. Cassidy recorded his first album, Split Personality in 2003. The record is divided into three parts: The first is credited to Cassidy and reflects his pop side, the second, credited as "Tha Problem," aims at fans of his mixtapes and the third is credited to B. Reese from fans from his early days.
Cassidy recorded the lead single "Hotel" in R. Kelly's Chicago studios with a vocal contribution by Kelly - there is also a remix featuring vocals by Trina. The song became a hit, reaching the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in February 2004 and was nominated for a Vibe Award in the category Coolest Collabo that year. It also reached the top 5 of the UK reggiechart and the top 40 of the Australian chart in May 2004. May 2004 was also the month Cassidy featured on the cover of The Source magazine, alongside Lil' Flip, Young Gunz and J-Kwon.
Split Personality was released on March 16, 2004 and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 album charts and at #1 on the R&B/Hip Hop albums charts. The second single, "Get No Better", featured a contribution from labelmate Mashonda but did not do as well on the singles charts, reaching #82 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In September 2004, Cassidy was nominated for "Lyricist of the Year" at the Source Awards.
