Cassie Ventura

 ( 1986 Births ) 

Leslie produced most of the album, which is a mix of R&B, hip-hop and pop. Ventura said in an interview, "I rapping, I sing, I do my R&B, I do my slow songs and stuff that the girls will love, I have a down South joint, I have a rock music song that I did with my girls this band called Pretty Boys." She paid tribute to Filipino culture by incorporating OPM sounds into some of the . The album, Cassie, was released on August 8, 2006, and sold 321,000 copies in the United States. Its lead single, "Me & U", peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, selling more than 1 million digital downloads.

To promote her album, Ventura performed on Total Request Live and . Her performances were described as "rocky" and "less-than-stellar", but Combs said that was due to her inexperience. He said he would be "with her through her development" and that he had no "question on her ability to". Ventura addressed the events on her MySpace page, saying she was aware that her performances were "pretty bad" and was "still getting over stage fright".

MTV News reported in June 2007 that, contrary to rumors, Bad Boy Records had not dropped Ventura after releasing two singles from Cassie. Combs said she was working with producers Kanye West and Pharrell Williams on her second album. It was reported that Ventura was no longer collaborating with Leslie. Ventura later said she had been open to working with Leslie again. According to Bad Boy A&R Daniel "Skid" Mitchell, rather than largely relying on one songwriter-producer, the new album's mix of writers and producers and her own co-write input made it a more personal record for Ventura.

Additional production on the album came from Seven, LV, and Combs. Ventura said she had collaborated with Akon, The Neptunes, Danja, Eric Hudson, The Surf Club, and Rob Holiday, although she was not sure which tracks were going to be on the album. Of the number of producers, Ventura said she "collaborated with a lot of different producers and a lot of different writers, which was an amazing opportunity for me, because on my first album, one producer straight through... which was fun, but it was nice to experience other people."

After several delays, it was announced in December 2009 that Ventura had signed a new record deal with Interscope Records. She was featured in a spread in the August/September issue of Bust, in which she said a new single would be released in the fall. At the time of an October 2010 interview with HitQuarters, Mitchell said that Ventura had already recorded around 50 songs for the album and that she was taking her time because she wanted "it to be something that people are going to respect". She appeared in rapper Wiz Khalifa's "Roll Up" music video as his love interest.

Ventura released the single "King of Hearts" in the United States on February 14, 2012, along with its video. On April 24, 2012, she performed the single live for the first time at BET's 106 & Park music video show. She concluded the performance with a brief dance number set to Kanye West's remix of the song, along with four dancers. After the performance Ventura and 106 & Park were worldwide trending topics on Twitter and it received mostly mixed to positive reviews. The single "Balcony", featuring Young Jeezy, was sent to U.S. urban radio stations on September 18, 2012.

On September 13, 2012, Nicki Minaj released the lead single off her re-release album , titled "The Boys", featuring Ventura. The song was sent to urban radios on September 25. A video was released on October 18.

In July 2012, Ventura announced that she had been working simultaneously on her album and a new mixtape, RockaByeBaby. It was released on April 11, 2013, and was named the best mixtape of the year by Dazed & Confused. The mixtape saw the release of "Numb" featuring Rick Ross on April 2, along with the song's video. "Paradise", featuring Wiz Khalifa, premiered on April 9, 2013, alongside the video on BET 106 & Park. In April 2013 it was announced that Ventura was the face of the Summer 2013 Forever 21 collection.

In January 2019, after ending her relationship with Combs and leaving Bad Boy Records, Ventura worked with producers Chris n Teeb and singer-songwriter Ro James. In the summer of 2019, she released several singles on her Ventura Music label: "Moments" with The Code, "Excuses", "Hungover", "Don't Let Go", "Speaking Of", "Rollercoaster" featuring Ro James, "Teach Me", and "Simple Things". Ventura called the series of releases "Free Fridays". They served as a teaser for her second album's release.

Ventura's debut album is R&B and pop rock with urban and contemporary R&B styles. It contains "looming synthesizer patterns" and "ice-cream-truck melody to give it a slightly twisted and threatening edge", as well as "flippant playfulness". RockaByeBaby is an R&B and hip-hop mixtape with a "dark" and "raw, laid back vibe".

Ventura is considered a style icon due to her "edgy style" and "feminine" and "sophisticated" fashion. She is credited with setting the trend among women of shaving their hair after shaving hers in 2009, influenced by punk fashion. She has cited Kate Moss as a style influence.

Ventura was in a long-term relationship with rapper Sean Combs from 2007 to 2018. On November 16, 2023, she filed a lawsuit against Combs alleging that he subjected her to a decade-long "cycle of abuse, violence and sex trafficking". The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law that allows people who say they have suffered sexual abuse to sue after the statute of limitations has expired. Ventura claimed that the abuse began when their relationship started and that this included a 2018 rape after she tried to leave him, and multiple instances of domestic violence. Combs's attorney Ben Brafman denied the allegations. One day after Ventura filed the lawsuit, the parties announced they had reached an out-of-court settlement and did not disclose its terms. Ventura later testified in court that she had received a $20 million settlement in the case.

In 2011, Ventura was also in a relationship with Kid Cudi, who later claimed that Combs blew up his car and testified in Combs's trial that his car was destroyed by a Molotov cocktail.

In May 2024, CNN obtained and published a video of Combs grabbing Ventura, punching her, throwing her to the ground, kicking her, and stomping on her in a hotel hallway on March 5, 2016. Combs subsequently issued a video apology in which he acknowledged the incident. On May 12, 2025, Ventura began testifying in the federal sex-trafficking, racketeering, and prostitution case against Combs, detailing the abuse to which he subjected her while they were dating.

On October 3, 2025, Ventura's lawyer, Doug Wigdor, issued a statement to ABC News after Combs's sentencing, saying, "While nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs, the sentence imposed today recognizes the impact of the serious offenses he committed."

• Cassie (2006)