Cassidy cut his teeth as a battle rapper, and the punchline-driven style has always had a heavy presence in his recorded material. In a new interview with VladTV, the Philly emcee criticized the current rappers for not being lyric-driven, and accredited the popularization of battle rap with fans seeking out bars.
"Some people like Hip Hop for flows. Some people like Hip Hop for beats. I mean, I like that part too, but what overrules all that is lyrics, bars," said Cass. "That’s what I like more than anything. And I feel as though it ain’t enough of that. When I was younger I used to hear niggas saying shit that I had to rewind or lines that I’m like ‘Damn, that shit crazy.’ That it’ll work your mind and make you think. I don’t hear that like a lot now."
The outspoken spitter than spoke of his theory that the recent success of battle rap events can be attributed to the lack of lyricism elsewhere. "That’s why the Smack battles and all these battles that people doing. Like URL, all these battles. That’s why they winning and the ratings going up on them jawns all the time because those artists are the only ones that’s really focusing on bars,” he explained.
Finally Cassidy spoke of his relationship with Jay Z, revealing that while the two aren't exactly close, they did communicate about the battle Cass did with Freeway, which was one of Cassidy's big breaks, and as he revealed, was actually set up by Hov. “I mean, I wouldn’t consider him my homie or my friend, but we met a few times. We talked a few times, but I don’t got a relationship with him like that," he said. "The most time me and Jay Z spent around each other talking was the Freeway battle. He the one that set it up. It was me, him, and Swizz in the studio before it all went down. So, that was the time I really spent the most time around him. And really talked to him and all that shit. Was that time.”
Watch the interview below.