Going through a Wendy’s drive thru in Queens, New York on a Tuesday night and ordering some food seems like a simple task. But the man placing that order is anything but. He is a dynamic rapper out of Hartford, CT known as Cashus C.R.E.A.M. Reared by a single mom in the now condemned Charter Oak housing projects; Cashus re-confirms the diagnosis of some infamous hood tales. “Charter Oak had its share of violence. You could be coming home and see someone running out the building carrying your T.V. ” Besides the violence and other crimes what would the hood be like without the rats (I’m not talking about the resident tattle-tellers, but the actual rodents.) The rats were big as hell”, laughs Cashus.

With the aspiration to overcome such hardships, a fourteen-year old Cashus joined the Underage; a group formed by his cousin who was a big time hustler in CT. “We need to add another element to the group, someone who will cater to the shorties”, Cashus recalls his cousin telling him. Cashus agreed to join the group, but was adamant about penning his own rhymes. With the deal sealed, Underage went on to win a local high school talent show. “After that experience, I continued to write rhymes and join ciphers for fun. But a lot of people were like “yo, you need to take this [rhyming] seriously”.” With that encouragement, Cashus grinded his way to a deal with 1st Ink Ent., an indie label out of CT and was able to tour around the U.S.

Fast forwarding to 2006, Cashus is currently signed to the indie production company PKing Ent. PKing has worked with Scarface, Ludacris, Miri Ben Ari, and on the Nutty Professor 2 Soundtrack. “Getting such vivid tracks that basically tell you how to write from a man who has worked with multi-platinum artists has been my greatest accomplishment”, boasts Cashus. Having secured track from such a well-established producer is something that Cashus credits to staying on his grind, networking and creating a buzz. In May, Cashus dropped his promo album entitled “Same shit, Same hood”, and with a track by the same name, Cashus rhymes about the similar experiences seen throughout hoods nationwide. “Hate and violence are two things that no matter where you’re from you have it going on in your neighborhood”, he adds.

On this album, which is currently available in mom and pop shops along the east coast, don’t expect too many collabos, “other than a feature from Consequence and John Legend on the “I Choose You” track, this album is all about me”, he confesses. Yet, if Cashus was offered a feature from Ice- Cube, Jay-Z or Mary J. Blige, he probably would not let the opportunity pass. “I admire Jay-Z and Ice Cube as artists, businessmen, and entrepreneurs. And Mary J. Blige is extremely soulful and I think she’d bring out the kind of energy in me that I didn’t even know I had.” On another track entitled “I Should’ve Cheated Too”, a response to Keyshia Cole’s “I Should’ve Cheated”, Cashus rhymes of his disdain for his cheating girlfriend. “It is what it is/ could have been real/ ‘til you did what you did/ even if I forgive/ it is what it is/ and now it’s no secret/ you was never shit/ never gon’ be shit/ it is what it is”.

Even with the fickleness displayed in the music industry, Cashus is not troubled by it. “I’m on the outside looking in; I am not emerged in all the hype that’s going on in the industry. I’m focused on making good music.” With a high saturation of just plain wack music, Cashus is a breath of fresh air for the industry and with that can do attitude we can expect more creative and innovative ideas from Cashus C.R.E.A.M. and PKing Ent.

To find out more on Cashus C.R.E.A.M. go to www.myspace.com/cashuscream and look out for the “Same Shit, Same Hood” video…