“Based on my past and how my last album came out, I really need to come back much much stronger, I wanted to have more personality. I really want to tell a story when I’m doing a song. Vocally, either you like my voice or you don’t. I’m not trying to blow like Mariah, back when she was doing that.”

"She’s fu***** for checks. I don’t f*** for checks–I’d rather live on the street.”

“Nope. It wasn’t planned. It was just a song I really loved that I heard. Nobody will ever know who “Official Girl” is about. They think it’s about certain people but it’s not. Anything that happens in my personal life is personal. I never actually put anything out there. Nobody’s really known who I’ve dated.”

“What’s funny about it is, when I was growing up, I wasn’t confused. I knew exactly what I was. My dad’s Filipino, my mom is Mexican, West Indian and black–I’m a little melting pot. In school, you were either black or white. Being Asian really wasn’t anything until I got to high school and was modeling all the time, and it was important because it intrigued people. Black people definitely didn’t claim me before. They were like, ‘Light skinned over there, she’s just not for us.’ It’s all perception. The other day, I was at the drugstore and this girl in line was like, ‘She’s next, the white girl.’ I’m not white. I’m not even close.”

Diddy and singer Cassie are no longer dating, she tells Usmagazine.com -- but that didn't stop them from leaving a NYC party together Wednesday night.

"I will confirm that rumor," the 21-year-old told reporters who asked her to confirm split rumors at DJ Cassidy's birthday at Cipriani 23rd Street.

Though Cassie tells Us she's not seeing anyone special "right now," a party source spotted Diddy and Cassie "slipping out" together after the soiree ended.

The "Me & U" singer, who is signed to Diddy's Bad Boy record label, has been spotted out and about with the mogul.

Earlier this month, they reportedly dodged photographers at NYC hotspot Marquee while leaving in the same car. {Source}

"That's going to really, really catch people off guard," he says. "There's a huge [cry] out there for a younger Britney Spears, a younger Janet Jackson. Those two great artists have paved the way. She has a single out called 'Official Girl' and Danja produced it, and it is a smash.

Cassie released her self-titled debut in 2006, which went on to sell 321,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan. Single "Me & U" peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 3 on the Hot 100. It has also sold more than 1 million digital downloads.

Diddy says Cassie has grown significantly since the debut; at one point during the promo cycle for the album, the pair used viral video to apologize for her poor performance on a radio show.

"I just don't think she was ready," Diddy says. "I think that we threw her into the spotlight without the artist development -- that goes on with a lot of new artists. We pulled out, we took our time, we developed her for like, a year-and-a-half. People are just going to see her there and be like, 'Wow, she's really cocooned into a butterfly.'"

Although the track list isn't finalized, Cassie told Billboard earlier this year she'd worked with mentor Ryan Leslie, Seven, Mario Winans, Bryan Michael Cox, Eric Hudson, Sean C and LV on the project.

AHHA: Let’s get into the new album. What do you want people to feel once they have heard it?

Cassie: It’s a more vulnerable album; it’s a little bit stripped down as far as vocally and the content in the songs. Like I did a song last night called “That’s Not What Love Is” and it’s about a very, very real situation that a lot of people can relate to. It has a lot of emotion behind it. I really hope people get it and they see me in a different light – without the makeup, the hair and the clothes…just me, by myself. My album artwork is going to be really intimate. I want people to see me, how my boyfriend would, if I had a boyfriend that is. The way the music is coming together; I sound like I feel it.

Complex: Anyhow, what’s the last time you heard a record that made you jealous?

Kanye: I know this statement might come off awkward or whatever, people won’t get the exact translation right, but when I saw the Eve video [for “Tambourine”], it made me want to go back and do more shots [on my video] from a style level. She had the Christopher Kane dress, the vintage Chanel glasses. When I saw her style level in that, it made me say, “Damn, I need to step my style level up.” Because it’s not a matter of just guys’ style and girls’ style or black style and white style, it’s a matter of who is the style god period and shit. Read More

Complex: What’s the most hurtful thing that was said?

Cassie: That I slept my way into the industry. I think that’s really vicious. If it had nothing to do with talent, at least it had something to do with charm. But it was never jumping into bed with somebody. That’s just gross. As far as people saying I couldn’t sing, I did a bad job so I couldn’t hate. I was in a tough place for a second. I got really sick and was in the hospital in like November or December. It was stress and exhaustion, and I ended up going home to Connecticut. [Puffy] actually called me up when I was at home and asked me what I wanted to do. I was like, “I want to do another album.” Read More