Cassie hits major milestone in her music career as shock verdict in Diddy trial is reached

As Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs faces up to 20 years in prison, his ex-girlfriend Cassie has hit a major milestone in her music career. 

The 38-year-old’s self-titled debut album recently hit one billion total streams on Spotify.

The album, released in 2006, features Cassie’s breakout hit Me & U and the follow-up single Long Way 2 Go.

While it received some mixed reviews upon its initial release, the album went on to develop a cult following and Cassie was praised for pioneering ‘minimalist R&B.’

It was later reissued on vinyl and received almost universal acclaim from critics.  

Cassie played a major role in Combs’ downfall after she accused him of repeated physical abuse and rape in a bombshell $30 million civil lawsuit in 2023.  

Combs, 55, was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution for his treatment of Cassie and another woman dubbed ‘Jane,’ who was so traumatized she used a pseudonym throughout the trial.

The rapper was found not guilty of racketeering conspiracy – the top charge – and sex trafficking, the most crucial.

Cassie, who was the star witness at the trial and testified while heavily pregnant, hasn’t released new music since 2017.

She got her start in the music industry as a teenager working with producer and artist Ryan Leslie, who she had a romantic relationship with.

The former couple recorded a handful of songs together, including the track that would go on to become a global hit for the young model, Me & U.

The song went viral on MySpace and ended up capturing the attention of Diddy, who signed Cassie to his record label Bad Boy in a jaw-dropping 10-album deal.

Diddy released Cassie’s self-titled debut in August, 2006, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200.

After signing with Bad Boy, Cassie split with Leslie and started dating Diddy. 

The 38-year-old’s self-titled debut album recently hit one billion total streams on Spotify

She released a few more singles over the years, including Official Girl with Lil Wayne and the R&B jam Must Be Love with Diddy himself, but both failed to set the charts on fire. 

A promised sophomore album never materialized and Cassie’s music career stalled.

She later claimed during Diddy’s sex-trafficking trial that the music mogul had used her 10-album deal to control her and stifle her music career.

Instead of working on her music, she told a jury that she spent days participating in drug-fueled sex acts with male escorts – dubbed ‘freak-offs’.

‘The freak offs became my job,’ she testified, according to Business Insider. 

The songstress recorded ‘hundreds of songs’ over the years, but most of them ‘didn’t see the light of day.’

‘When I wasn’t working on my music, I was recovering from partying,’ she explained.

‘That was a big chunk of my life,’ she continued, revealing that the freak-offs often left her exhausted and dehydrated. 

Cassie claimed during Diddy’s sex-trafficking trial that the music mogul had used her 10-album deal to control her and stifle her music career

Now there are rumors that Cassie is looking to restart her music career by releasing some of her old material from the vault.  

‘Cassie is considering making a comeback to music now that Diddy is behind bars,’ a source exclusively told DailyMail.com last year. 

‘She couldn’t have imagined her career would have been stalled in the way it was when her first album came out, but she has so many unreleased records that she wants to release if the timing and business is right.’

They added: ‘Her collaborators have been informed of this, so the royalty splits have been agreed.’

The revelation comes after Cassie, real name Cassie Ventura, made amendments to a track titled Into It in May this year, which she had initially registered with Universal Music back in 2010.

There are rumors that Cassie is looking to restart her music career by releasing some of her old material from the vault

Last August, she registered a new song, Midnight Hour, with the record label.  

It comes as Combs put his head in his hands and dropped to his knees when ‘not guilty’ was announced for the racketeering conspiracy charge on Wednesday.

He also did a subtle fist pump when ‘not guilty’ was announced for the second of the two sex trafficking charges.

He turned to his family and mouthed ‘I’m going home’ when the verdict was read.

Diddy’s supporters erupted in cheers and his family left Manhattan court smiling after he was handed the best possible verdict, besides a full acquittal.

Prosecutor Maurene Comey said the government will seek a 20-year maximum for Combs – whereas his defense will fight for less and have requested he be freed on a $1 million bond while awaiting his sentencing.