Cassandra Ventura burst onto music scene completely by accident. Shortly after being introduced to music producer Ryan Leslie, her mother requested that Cassie record a song for her as a birthday gift.

Cassie approached Ryan about producing the song, and Ryan put together a duet for them called "Kiss Me". As it turned out, Cassie's mother wasn't the only one who loved the song. Ryan played "Kiss Me" for Tommy Mottola, former chairman of Sony, and the record mogul behind the careers of Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, and most notably Mariah Carey. He offered Cassie a management deal, and weeks later Cassie struck a deal with Ryan Leslie to produce her debut album.

In the months that followed, Cassie was invited on a promo tour in Germany to promote a single called "Me & U" that had been leaked on the internet and become a huge club hit.

These were the first steps on her pathway to becoming an international celebrity, performing for thousands of fans, signing her first autographs, and taking pictures with DJs that fell in love with her sweet attitude and girl-next-door personality.

"Me and U", quickly began receiving nationwide attention on radio in the United States and, as of April 2006, was ranked 26 on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart by Billboard Magazine, debuting at number 49 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart.

As of May 2006, shortly after it's release on Apple's popular ITunes music service, "Me & U" rose to #4 on the ITunes top downloaded single's chart.

--Wikipedia