mixtape maestro (2.0)

Cassie has so many odds stacked against her (a barely there voice; disastrous live performance attempts; being the owner of one of those rare Weezy-featuring tunes that flops real hard; being more popular in 2009 for her “shocking” haircut, leaked nude pics, and the “is-she-or-isn’t-she with Diddy?” gossip rag banter than anything music-related) that it’s a wonder why she even persists on still having a singing career when she can simply just go on being low-B/ high-C-list famous for…well, being hot.

Not to say that her weightless brand of spacey R&B/ Pop isn’t appreciated (especially amongst the sects of anonymous hook singer-craving producers and “puny-voiced starlets over electro beats”-loving critics, to which her nonchalant presence holds a certain appeal), it’s just that after debuting with something as strong as her summer of ’06 seducer “Me & U”, no argument would have been made for her just as quickly disappearing back into model-land semi-obscurity and becoming this decade’s equivalent of 1990′s one-(and-a-half-)hit-wonder INOJ.

Nevertheless, she’s once again returned to re-launch her long-delayed sophomore set, Electro Love, with the Mario Winans/ Bryan Michael Cox-produced “Must Be Love”, a wispy midtempo ballad that sets Cassie and guest star Diddy on opposite ends of a life-altering new romance.

Fluttery Spanish guitar strums and distant ringings give it a light and pretty ambience and there’s a certain heated undertone ‘neath Cassie’s whisper-thin musings as she comes to terms with her feelings, but damn if the song doesn’t threaten to put you to sleep at every turn, Diddy’s monotone verses lacking the burst of energy “Must Be Love” begs for.

Thankfully the Bad Boy CEO helps rescue the underwhelming number by firing up one of those all-star remixes he used to pull off so well and crowding up the listless groove with strong guest turns from Busta Rhymes, R&B boy band Day26 and underground rap favorite/ new Bad Boy signee Red Café. Yeah, when placed betwixt the male personalities Cassie feels more like an afterthought on her own record, but the sequel definitely ends up carrying more of a worthwhile heft than the original.

Catch the main version’s video below, than snatch up the remix afterward.

Electro Love is expected to be released sometime later this year (though if this record doesn’t catch on, don’t get your hopes up too high conerning an actual release).

DL: “Must Be Love (Remix)” (alt)

The current season of MTV’s increasingly soapy Making The Band has been a depressing one to watch: Danity Kane’s future feels bleak now that the quintet has been reduced to a duo; Donnie’s career seems to has ended before it even began once the public realized it didn’t need another Justin Timberlake; and show focal point, R&B boy band 112 2.0 Day26, seem to spend more time bickering than they do recording their sophomore album. All that, plus the show’s oft-overlooked reality of the music industry’s current, crumbling status, makes one wonder why Diddy hasn’t completely pulled the plug on the project (it’s doubtful that all this drama could inspire an amazing musical renaissance for the Bad Boy label).

But staying in line with the chant that their CEO has (annoyingly) repeated so many times over the years (“I thought I told you that we won’t stop”), Day26 seems to have put all the in-fighting aside and turned their attention back onto their career, this time planting their focus on dominating the club realm with Forever In A Day lead-off single, “Imma Put It On Her”.

The Southern-fried banger is arguably their best record yet, but little of it’s appeal has to do with the sleepy rap cameos from featured guests Yung Joc and Diddy (whose corny, Ciroc-laced sixteen was hopefully not ghostwritten) or the predictable R&B loverman lyrics about panty-less dimepieces hypnotizing male watchers on the dance floor.

No, the track’s main pull is it’s stimulating background going-ons: a pummeling drum beat, screwed echoes of the title, and the faint flicker of rock guitar hiding behind monstrous slabs of synth that make the song sound like it’s floating by in slow motion. If the production behind Usher’s “Love In The Club” could give birth to a child, this would be it’s offspring.

Forever In A Day drops April 14th.