Cassie's constant disappearing acts merely fuel her mystique

This article is more than 11 years old

It's six years since the distinctive R&B diva's last album, with its follow-up slated and shelved twice

In 2006, you couldn't go to a club without hearing Cassie's late-night R&B anthem Me & U dripping from the speakers. Its neat, minimal refrain, and Cassie's icy, Janet Jackson-esque delivery were fresh, hypnotic and alarmingly sexy. The song reached No 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in the Top 40 for nearly five months. R&B had found itself a new star.

But in the six years since, Cassie Ventura's career has remained in limbo. Last month her catchy, squelchy track with Nicki Minaj, The Boys, showed signs of thrusting Cassie into the spotlight again, her understated look traded in for a punky, abrasive new image. But the song made ripples, not a waterfall, and was unofficially demoted to "buzz track" status rather than an official single release. It's part of a familiar pattern. Since Me & U, it's been a series of false starts and canned projects.

Clover Hope, deputy editor at urban music bible Vibe, suggests the long silences between releases may have been Cassie's downfall. "People don't know what to make of her because they don't know anything about her," she says. "Her absence from the spotlight makes people think she's not working hard, which may or may not be the case." Fans want bang for their buck, in other words. "People see Rihanna everywhere."

Cassie's debut album came out in 2006 and sold reasonably in the US. But despite a slick studio sound courtesy of original mentor Ryan Leslie, her live performances were shaky. Diddy, who kickstarted her career by signing her to Bad Boy Records, said at the time that he had "no question on her ability to sing" and would "be with her through her development", while Cassie took to MySpace to say she was still getting over her stagefright. At this point, the story becomes a tapestry of rumour.

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There was talk that Bad Boy Records had dropped her after only two singles. Diddy refuted that, claiming she was in the studio with Kanye and Pharrell Williams working on her second album, Connecticut Fever. Then came excited whispers of a collaborative album with Akon, the Neptunes, Danjahandz and Eric Hudson. However, by 2008, aside from a trickle of leaked studio tracks – including the madly brilliant 2 The Morning, all swampy bass and choral stabs – Cassie only actually had two further officially released songs to her name, Is It You and Official Girl (feat Lil Wayne). The album never came.

In 2009, Cassie announced that, in fact, her second album would be called Electro Love. Two more singles were released, Must Be Love (feat Diddy) and Let's Get Crazy (feat Akon). They both failed to chart. At the end of 2009, it was announced that Cassie had signed a new record deal with Interscope. Exhausted yet?

In May 2012, Cassie came to the UK to promote King Of Hearts, which was to be the lead single for yet another mooted second album, now delayed by six years. Diddy stirred up excitement with an over-the-top trailer. "Trust me when I tell y'all, on this album, she's going to show you what she got. Her swag is impeccable."

She did a handful of interviews, so I met her, and had the chance to ask what was taking so long. She gave me a flash of perfect dentistry. "Ha, I knew you'd say that. Um, I've just been working really hard. I'm a perfectionist and, when it comes to people I want to work with, I have changed my mind, like, millions of times. I started work on this new record in 2007 and I only feel right now that it's coming together." I asked if, after Me & U, she felt pushed in a direction that didn't feel right. She deflected the question sweetly, taking her time to answer. Her words sounded rehearsed. "I never feel like I've been pushed towards a certain thing, but now, at 26, I do feel like I have integrity over my output, you know? There's a fine line between saying, 'You can't tell me what I can and can't do,' and taking on board people's opinions."

'Everything I did felt quite rushed along to keep up with the momentum. It was insane'

Cassie Ventura — Cassie at the King Of Hearts single launch. Photograph: Trago/Getty Images

Was she scared by that early success? "Oh yeah," she said. "I was so naïve back then, with no idea about what the [music] industry was like, or what I was supposed to be having fun with. Everything I did felt quite rushed along to keep up with the momentum. It was insane."

She seemed excited by King Of Hearts, enthusing about her love of "working with weird beats and noises and flipping things on their head – I'm a total sound geek". Sadly, predictably, King Of Hearts never ended up being released in the UK. I asked the label about what happened a number of times, and they've always given the same response: "We don't know". Even Diddy has gone quiet.

There are upsides to Cassie's sporadic output, not least that it's conferred upon her a kind of cult status. She's been regularly sampled and remixed by bass music producers (seek out Jacques Greene's Marriage Proposal Mix of Must Be Love). R&B nerds who love her really love her, and if they're only fed tidbits, they stay hungry. But it's a big shame that she can't get the break she needs to make it on the wider stage, because she's a distinctive voice among a series of increasingly bland pop "superstars". She's more leftfield than those singers such Katy Perry or Rihanna who disingenuously make a big deal of how weird they are – "I am different to those girls, who I love, but good different, I think," she told me – and the material she has managed to release so far has effortlessly bridged the gap between the blogs and the clubs. There's still a chance for her to make her mark, of course, but six years is a long time in the pop game, and her time could well be running out.