Cassandra Tenneh Ventura was born on August 26, 1986 in New London, Connecticut.[2] Her father is of Filipino descent, and her mother is of African-American, Indian, and Mexican descent.[3] She attended The Williams School, a preparatory school in New London. She trained as a singer and dancer, and took voice lessons. Cassie began modeling at the age of 14, and by the time she was 16, appeared in print ads for Seventeen and the catalog for popular teen line, Delia's.[2][4] In 2002, at age 15, she briefly appeared in R&B singer Mario "Just a Friend 2002" music video.[5] When she graduated from high school in 2004, she decided to pursue her career in modeling and singing. After high school, Cassie moved to New York City, and continued modeling, as well as attending classes at the Broadway Dance Center. She is represented by Wilhelmina Models and One Management in New York City.

Ryan Leslie spotted her at clubs and parties in late 2002 frequently. The two wrote a duet called "Kiss Me", and after recording the track, Leslie played the song for music executive Tommy Mottola.

2004-06: CassieMottola offered Cassie a management deal, and Leslie signed her to NextSelection Lifestyle Group, his music-media company he founded with online marketing partner Rasheed Richmond.[6][7] Leslie wrote and produced Cassie's first single, "Me & U", in 2005. The song became a club hit in Germany.[2] During this time, Diddy heard "Me & U" in a club, and Leslie convinced him to partner his Bad Boy Records with Leslie's NextSelection imprint for the release of Cassie's debut album.[2]

Ryan Leslie produced most of the album, which is a mix of R&B/hip hop/pop. Ventura said in an interview, "I rap, I sing, I do my R&B, I do my slow songs and stuff that the girls will love, I have a down South joint, I have a rock song that I did with my girls this band called Pretty Boys."[8] She paid tribute to her Filipino culture by incorporating OPM sounds into some of the ballads. The album, Cassie, was released on August 8, 2006 and sold 321,000 copies in the US. Lead single "Me & U" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, selling more than 1 million digital downloads.[9] To promote her album, Cassie performed on Total Request Live and 106 & Park: BET's Top 10 Live. Her performances were described as "rocky" and "less-than-stellar", but Diddy said that it was due to her inexperience.[10] He said that he would be "with her through her development", and that he has no "question on her ability [to sing]".[10] Cassie addressed the events on her MySpace page, saying that she is aware that her performances were "pretty bad", and that she was "still getting over stage fright".[10]

2007-Present: second album

Cassie at the premiere of Step Up 2: The Streets in 2008.

MTV News reported in June 2007 that contrary to rumors, Cassie had not been dropped from Bad Boy Records after releasing two singles from her self-titled debut album. Diddy said that she was in the studio working with producers Kanye West andPharrell Williams on her second album.[11] It was also reported that Cassie was no longer collaborating with Ryan Leslie, who had produced the majority of her debut album.[12] However, the singer later stated that she was open to collaborating with Leslie again.[13] According to Bad Boy A&R Daniel 'Skid' Mitchell, rather than largely relying on the one songwriter-producer, the new album's mix of writers and producers, as well as her own co-write input, makes it a more personal record for her.[14]Additional production on the album came from Seven and LV, as well as Diddy himself.[15] Cassie said that she had also collaborated with Akon, The Neptunes, Danja, Eric Hudson, The Surf Club and Rob Holiday, although she was not sure which tracks were going to be included on the album.[13] Commenting on the number of producers on the album, Cassie said that she "collaborated with a lot of different producers and a lot of different writers, which was an amazing opportunity for me, because on my first album, one producer [Ryan Leslie] straight through…which was fun, but it was nice to experience other people."[16]

In July 2009, Cassie announced that the album's title would be Electro Love. The idea was given to her by DJ Cassidy; Cassie explained by saying that "it's basically the sound of the album. It's not supposed to be taken so literal. 'Electro' could be like house and techno, but that's not what it is, but it's definitely a dance album. I just wanted it to be a reflection of that and the vibe of the music. It has that love song feel to it, but accompanied by that specific beat."[13] Cassie said that her new album will demonstrate more "independence"; there will be a "difference in vocals, a little bit more personality. And it's definitely a sensual album."[17] Three singles have been released from the album; "Official Girl" featuring Lil Wayne in August 2008, "Must Be Love" featuring Diddy in April 2009, and "Lets Get Crazy" featuring Akon in August 2009. All three singles failed to chart in the USA.[12] After several delays, it was announced in December 2009 that Cassie had signed a new record deal with Interscope Records.[18] She is featured in a spread in the August/September issue of Bust in which she said a new single will be released in the fall. She has recently told her Twitter followers that she is still in the studio recording for her album. At the time of an October 2010 interview with HitQuarters, A&R Daniel 'Skid' Mitchell said that Cassie had already recorded around fifty songs for the album. Mitchell said that she was taking her time over the album because she is keen for "it to be something that people are going to respect."[14] She also appeared in rapper Wiz Khalifa's "Roll Up" music video as his love interest.

Cassie's sophomore album will be released in 2012.[19] The first single, "King of Hearts", was released in the United States on February 14, 2012, along with the official music video.[20] Cassie also collaborated with Machine Gun Kelly on the track "Warning Shot" for his EP "Half Naked and Almost Famous".

In July 2012, Cassie announced in a letter to her fans that she has been working simultaneously on her album and a new mixtape entitled "Rock-A-Bye Baby".[21] The single, "Balcony", featuring Young Jeezy, was then sent to US urban radio stations on September 18, 2012.[22]

On September 13, 2012, Nicki Minaj released the debut single off her re-release album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up, titled "The Boys", featuring Cassie.[23] The song was then sent to urban radios on September 25 and a music video was released on October 18.[24]

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