Word? Cassie? Are you two cool?

Cheri Dennis: Cassie’s my homie. We gotta stick together around all the testosterone. She’s a sweet girl. A lot of the stuff that happened to her in the beginning of her career is not her fault, because she wasn’t ready. I felt bad for her. This industry can be very hard on somebody like me who can sing. I won’t say Cassie’s not a singer. She can hold a note, but she’s a beautiful girl that came from the modeling world.

Point taken. But you had a fair share of downs too. What went through your mind when you were arrested last year?

Cheri Dennis: I wanted to kill myself (laughs)! It wasn’t my fault. My cousin got into an altercation with somebody. Then, we’re walking to the car in the parking lot, and cops come out of nowhere.

Whoa.

Cheri Dennis: I’m thinking they were filming for COPS because they asked for a release [form]. When I started asking for badge numbers and names, they pushed me to the ground, pepper sprayed me, and locked me up-the whole thing took ten minutes.

Did they force you to sign the release?

Cheri Dennis: Are you kidding me? No way!

Of course, not the kind of press you want.

Cheri Dennis: People kept on asking me, “Was it a publicity stunt?” I’m like, “Oh my God! Am I hurting that bad?”

You still had your record deal though.

Cheri Dennis: It almost feels like a marriage. It’s so weird. I couldn’t even tell you why we’ve been supportive of each other all these years.

You didn’t sound very supportive on the album’s intro. Were you taking a swipe at Diddy?

Cheri Dennis: No. I didn’t pick the intro. That was a Puffy call. Did he take a swipe at himself? You’d have to ask him.

Ok. Then how do you explain the title of your album?

Cheri Dennis: “In and Out of Love” relates to the moments I’ve been happy and extremely annoyed. Oh gosh, that makes me sound like a serial dater! But I guess it also relates the relationship with my label. Home // CELEBRITIES // WEB EXCLUSIVE // Cheri Dennis