In the six years since R&B singer Cassie released her self-titled debut album, Rihanna has released five albums. That's not to say Cassie hasn't been making music – in fact, there have been enough singles and leaked tracks that an unofficial second album, The Other Side, has emerged – it's more that for whatever reason she hasn't been able to follow it up. The delay has given Cassie an almost cult status, with underground remixers and producers reworking the minimal song structures of her debut in tribute.
After some ill-judged collaborations with Akon and Lil Wayne in 2008-9 Cassie returned, almost out of the blue, with the amazing King of Hearts earlier this year. Hinting at a new dance direction it melds Cassie's luxuriant vocals with big beat drops, looped handclaps and the sort of slowburn build usually jettisoned by David Guetta and Calvin Harris. Again its sparse production and Cassie's delivery has proven catnip for remixers, with Richard X and R3hab giving it a rerub. Cassie's obviously quite a fan of the latter remix as she's made a brand new video for it, involving close-ups, running around a stately home and, finally, once the remix goes completely bonkers, dancing in a club. It's not as good as the original, but very few things have been this year.
