Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, known mononymously as Cassie, is an American singer, dancer, actress, and model. Born in New London, Connecticut, she began her musical career after meeting record producer Ryan Leslie in late 2004, who signed her to his record label, NextSelection Lifestyle Group. Two years later, Ventura released her debut single "Me & U", which was discovered by rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs; Leslie agreed to partner his NextSelection imprint with Combs' Bad Boy Records for the commercial release of her debut album. The song marked the first of her two entries on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number three by July 2006.

Anthony Ryan Leslie is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur. He has careers in recording, production, and songwriting for a number of prominent music industry artists in R&B, hip hop, pop and gospel. Leslie has worked on commercially successful releases for Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Diddy, LL Cool J, Kanye West, Usher, and Chris Brown, among others.