It's quite clear to see that times in hip hop and R&B have certainly changed. Now the mixtape game no longer belongs to just rappers. In the past few years, R&B singers have jumped in and took over. Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Keri Hilson and Teairra Mari to name a few, have all released their own. Well now it's Cassie's turn. Cassie has went through quite the transformation over the years musically. Many of us can still remember her debuting in 2006 with that hit record "Me & You" like it happened yesterday. Back then she was just a cute, innocent, soft voiced, 20 year old girl next door type of chick. Now at age 26, she has a whole new sassy attitude and swagger in which this, her debut mixtape Rocka Bye Baby, proves very well. Now she hasn't dropped a project since her self titled debut album seven years ago so I kinda wondered would she sound a little rusty on here seeing as how she hasn't put out any music in so long. But to be honest she still sounds the same and she doesn't sound like she missed a beat. For the most part I thought this tape was just decent. Not good, not bad, just decent. Now obviously, Cassie isn't the best singer in the world, but the sound that she gives on this album I think fits her style of R&B the most. She's not like a Beyonce' who could project her voice loudly and hit high notes, let alone perform doing that. She has a very soft and low toned voice which is perfect for the sound this mixtape generates. On this tape she adds to that soft voice a very dark and seductive like attitude. Which goes along with the theme and again fits her because she has tons of sex appeal. So I'll start with the pros first. The overall production was good and I believe is what made this tape listenable. Of course with the exception of the two beats she jacked (Kendrick Lamar's "m.A.A.d City" and Tyga's "Do My Dance"). Throughout the tape she has a few skits, including the intro, from the classic film New Jack City, which obviously goes with the mixtapes title and theme. I thought she used them well and placed them all at perfect moments on the tape. "Take Care Of Me Baby" was probably my favorite of the tape if I had to pick. A dope heavy bassed beat that could bump in the whip. Plus a dope verse from Pusha T who was definitely the best feature on this mixtape. The two singles "Numb" which features Rick Ross and "Paradise" which features Wiz Khalifa were both pretty cool. Two more "bump-in-the-whip" type songs and neither feature didn't over do it (thank God on Wiz's part). "Turn Up" is not only a whip song but I could definitely see the clubs loving this one despite that it's a short song. It's everyones favorite saying now in hip hop and is produced by Young Chop, the man responsible for majority of Chief Keef's hits. Meek Mill's verse wasn't that bad either. "Sound Of Love" features Jeremih and is the only song on here that sounds like legit R&B. It doesn't sound like the rest of the tape at all. It's a okay song. I think females would like it more. Now on to the cons. There were two songs on here where she tries to flex her rap skills, or lack there of. "Rocka Bye Baby" was the first. Honestly the overall sound wasn't THAT bad but this will surely has to grow on me. Still something is missing from it that I can't put my finger on. The other is "Bad Bitches". Personally I'm not a fan of the term "bad bitch" and on this not only does she deliver a poor rap effort but does it in an aggressive way. However the chant on the hook I could so see females who claim to be that chanting along with it in the club. In short, she's a better singer than a rapper. She actually sounds a bit like Lola Monroe rapping but with a little less talent. "I Know What You Want" is the track she samples Kendrick Lamar's beat. I love that beat even when I heard it on Kendrick's album but it doesn't sound right meshed with R&B vocals. Really it sounds like a DJ just blending vocals from one song to the beat of another. Speaking of, her other beat jacking victim like I mentioned was Tyga on the track "Do My Dance". Same beat and title. What's weird about it is considering the content of the original song, the male in me was hoping she would get all sexually explicit too but she really didn't. She was clean on here. Needless to say I was disappointed. However, Too $hort to no surprise stuck to the content. I wasn't really feeling "I Love It" at all either. Mostly because Fabolous delivered one of his worst guest verses ever. I hated his flow on here. He sounded too much like A$AP Rocky. That bothered me a lot. Overall like I stated before, this mixtape is just decent. I could definitely see females liking it because majority of these songs they would relate to. Males I don't know. Might have to grow on y'all like it has to with me. However I do believe that this sound fits her and that she should stay in this lane. She's not really a R&B singer but more of what I like to call a "hip hop songstress". I give it a final grade of a C. I know most men, including myself, only like Cassie because of her gorgeous looks and not her music. Also others believe she's better at other things like modeling and acting. Let's not forget music is the reason she has some level of fame in the first place. That's where it began for her. Let's just hope when she drops the album later this year that's it's a few steps above this. End.
Final Grade: C
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