As Cassidy readies his third album B.A.R.S. for next month, the North Philadelphia rapper begins a three-part series with HipHopDX, about the three bars in his own life that he’s had to overcome. The first entry is 2005’s murder charge, and finding the right ways to talk about it.

In life, people are always going to perceive you differently. There’s always going to be people that like you and people that hate you. That’s natural. And I knew, after the murder case, it was going to be that way regardless. I’m never really concerned with what people think, ‘cause I’m so real. I’m not afraid to address anything, talk about anything or speak about anything. So if you’re a real nigga or a real person, period, then you’ve got to respect it and you’ve got to like me. If you’re respecting me or you’re not liking me, it’s because you’re not real, yourself. Or you just don’t understand it. Or you might not have the correct information, or you heard something the wrong way. Eventually, when you find out the truth, then you’re going to know that I was right. I’m not really concerned with how people think.

When I came home, I was just happy to be home. Happy I made it through that. Happy I beat the case. Happy I was back with my family, free again. That was my main concern when I got released – not how people were going to think about me, or what my career was going to be like. I’m not really concerned with all of that. I was more concerned with beating my case, period.

I knew I had to come back and let people know some of the things that I’d been through. You’re not going to come back after two or three years, after taking a break, and not say nothin’ about where you were, what happened; you have to speak on it. Speaking on what I went through would’ve made it a depressing, sad, down type of album. I’ve got deeper songs on my album, and a lot of songs that will be big records. But you’ve got to build into those, you can’t just hear them coming from nowhere. In the summertime, everybody is dropping nothing but club songs. Everybody wants to get out of school, go out and celebrate. Why would anybody come with a down, depressing record? It’s not going to fit in at that time. To make it work, I had to come with “My Drink and My 2-Step” ‘cause it’s a business too. I’m not just doing this for the love, or just ‘cause I wanted to do it, or just to tell my story. I also have to sell records, sell ringtones and get booked at shows too. So at the same time, I had to balance it out. So for my first single, that’s not how I’m coming. I don’t want to be sad and depressing, because it’s over with. I beat the case. There’s no reason to be sad no more. The only way to get the story across and get these people excited, happy and willing to celebrate with me was to do it to an up-tempo beat. “My Drink and My 2-Step” is not really a party song. The chorus is talking about “I’m home! Get some cups in here, get the Patron, let’s toast, ‘cause I’m home!” Every time somebody gets home from jail, you either get champagne or toast liquor. It’s a celebration. “Congratulations, you’re home!” It’s a comeback song, not a club song. Just because the tempo of the beat, the energy of the song, the way it feels, it’s big in the clubs. That’s what it is. I wanted to come with a song that had that anthem feel to it, not something sad. They feel like dancing; they feel like having fun. But I’m still talking about my case, my accident, the trials and tribulations I went through – the B.A.R.S. of my life.