Split Personality

Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn
by: john reed

After months and months of steady air play with “Hotel,” Cassidy’s duet with R&B songster R. Kelly, we finally get to hear what Cassidy can do on his own, and it is not always what we expected. While "Hotel's” groove looms long in your head (and I'll mention only in passing that R. Kelly did kinda borrow a bit from his own tune "Fiesta" for “Hotel”), it is more in the R&B/pop genre and Cassidy, true to the CD's title, tries to work both sides of his persona. Not content to be a smooth or slow jam rapper, he beats out some great Hip-Hop revelry cries as "Get No Better," "The Pump, and "I'm Hungry."  As these are all decent refrains, they don't compare to "Make You Scream," which features Snoop Dogg and "Can I talk To Ya," a partnership with Jadakiss. All in all, it makes one wonder if Cassidy is destined to live in "collaboration" hell or can he really situate himself on his own for a full CD? Regardless, it's nice to see some more musical talent to emerge from Philadelphia (Cassidy’s home base), which has been in a dry spell sine the much lauded Gamble and Huff/Philly Soul days. 14-May-2004 1:45 PM