CONNOR THOMAS KHALIL CASSIDY

After breaking into the music biz in early 2012, it's been a long, full-filling road to the sky for young Cass. With the pride of his Irish side, strength of his environment, & mindset of an outsider, his sound isn't exactly your every day find. "I'm here to show you what it's like through my eyes, and for the 19 years they've been open, they've seen more then a lifetimes worth."

As the current COO of Cignature Clothing, a clothing brand dedicated to living out a unique lifestyle & pursuing your passions at all cost, Cass is rapidly climbing his way into recognition. Having earned the title: "the wolf of Hip-Hop" due his individualism, insomnia, wolf-of-wall street like style, and business mind, he is constantly pushing to better himself not just as an artist, but as a human being.

Growing up in Norfolk, MA for most of his lifetime, Cass resided in an old hunting lodge that his father had self-renovated as a housing unit. In his teens, Cass immersed himself in the punk-rock scene, self-taught himself guitar, and would spend most of his days wandering the east side of his town with his tight knit circle of close friends.

“We were the ones who never really fit in perfectly anywhere, whether that was cliques at school, the kids over at Gillette (the hang out spot for all the teens), the local party scene, or even just your typical categories that kids our age were supposed to fit in to. We kind of just did our own thing.”

During early 2013, while trying to earn his stripes in the Boston music scene by battling at countless venues, free-styling for whoever he'd cross paths with, and performing at everywhere from basement parties to sold out venues, Cass had a revelation.

It was an extremely cold night in early February, and Cass was out in Manhattan visiting his sister Caitlin. After three days of being exposed to NYC, and deeply analyzing the fear he saw in the eyes of a lot of people he came across on the sidewalks, he began to do a lot of reflecting.

He thought about the choices he had in his life, the paths he'd lost some of his closest friends to, the violent and dark lifestyles of his generation, and of all the problems he could find as he looked at the world that surrounded him. These three days, in a sense, became a mental rebirth for Cass, as he deeply considered what he really wanted to leave this world with.

From then on, he decided that he had to do whatever it takes to try and shift his culture. Having had his own lifestyle and ways of thinking formed by the influence he'd drawn from artists/band such as Rise Against, Mos Def, Kid Cudi, Eminem, Tupac Shakur, Drake, & many others, he decided this would be his route. He would adopt the craft of his mentors, and would use it as an attempt to eventually shift the minds of younger generations in a different direction. “It felt like it had to be.”

As he began to further adapt to his urban environment, Cass began to understand how unique his upbringing really was. From the ages of 14 – the present, he worked minimum wage jobs as a janitor, supervisor, parking lot attendant, painter, and landscaper. During this time, many of his closest friends and family members were living in low income housing, had parents that didn’t care for them, and were constantly forced to fend for themselves on a daily basis.

As drugs, violence, and reputation got introduced to the situation, Cass found himself with a choice to make. He would either follow the route of his friends, or choose to break off. At the age of 18, a year and half after he made his choice, he earned a spot at the University of Miami, FL where he currently attends as a freshman. “This whole experience has been surreal. Kids like me aren’t ‘supposed to be’ in institutions like this, and it feels good to say that. The craziest part is meeting all these kids from backgrounds I didn’t even know existed, let alone understand.”

Up to date, Connor has worked with artists Tayyib Ali, Kyle Bent, Lyrica Jada, 6ix, Caitlin Cassidy, Sean Mula, Cignature, DVBBS, Waka Flocka Flame, Sam Adams, Dizzy Wright, & more, along with opening up for artists: Machine Gun Kelly, Los, Shwayze, Cory Gunz, & many others. Notable shows include: a performance at the Worcester Palladium with fellow emcee Kyle Bent, in front of 2500 spectators, two sold-out headlining shows in Cambridge, MA, and a sold-out show of 1500 in Washington, DC. By continuing to work with those whom he believes carry the right intentions as artists, he feels as though all this time has just been the calm before the storm.

Sickened with ambition, Cass gears up to release his debut free-album: Peace Of Mind, dedicated to showcasing his journey & individual pursuit of happiness, ”Cause after all, that's what we're all out here trying find, while helping as many as we can do the same.”