been rhyming all my life," states Cassidy. "Rhyming for me was just like how some people play basketball for the fun of it. It's an everyday activity."

"He's just young and hungry," adds Swizz Beats. "He can freestyle for hours, but he also has a large vocabulary. He knows how to blend words for effect in battles or songs. I have all the faith in the world in him."

Faith is what Cassidy has been living on since he started taking rap music seriously in 1996. In junior high school, Cassidy battled for fun while turning to the streets to economically keep himself afloat. After being challenged by a friend to take rapping seriously, Cassidy assigned himself to battling the champion of "The Cipher" show on Philadelphia station 103.9 FM.Cipher host Zulu soon crowned Cassidy the new champion. "I was winning the battles week after week," states Cassidy. There was goodcompetition, but being challenged is exciting to me. And when callers would cheer me on that's when I started taking this thing [recording rap music] serious."

Cassidy's victories on the Cipher caught the attention of Delfonics founder and lead singer William Hart, who wanted to break into the rap game. "We recorded a few songs for a demo," Cassidy remembers, "but it didn't amount to anything as far as getting a deal. It did give me studio experience however."

One year later, a chance meeting in a Philly barbershop with Swizz's father, Terrance Dean; who was working with his brothers' Dee and Wah Ruff Ryders label, brought Cassidy to