Cassie

Cassie always seemed destined for stardom. Brought up by a Filipino father and an African-American mother in Connecticut, she was modelling at 14 and studied singing and dancing. By the time she was 16 she had appeared in many teen magazines and studied at the Broadway Dance Center in New York. Performing at clubs and parties she was discovered by music producer Ryan Leslie, who wrote and produced her first single Me & U in 2005; it went on to sell 1 million digital downloads and reached Number 3 in the US singles chart. Her self-titled debut album, released on P. Diddy's Bad Boy label, mixed rap with rock and R&B, and reached Number 4 in the US album chart and produced a second hit, Long Way 2 Go. Cassie subsequently collaborated with a variety of other artists, including The Neptunes and Akon, resulting in the singles Official Girl (featuring Lil' Wayne), Must Be Love (with P. Diddy) and Let's Go Crazy (with Akon). Second album, Electro Love, was released in early 2011.