2012: Initial virality as Krispy Kreme Michigan-based Tyler Cassidy began rapping at 19. Writing for
The Stranger, Megan Seling noted that Krispy's deadpan delivery featured in "The Baddest" made many unsure if the video was authentic or satirical in nature. On May 14, Krispy Kreme released his follow-up single, "Haters Wanna Be Me", which also quickly became popular. "Haters Wanna Be Me" was ranked as the No. 20 best music video of 2012, so far, by
Complex. Krispy's first two videos were noted by media outlets for their slow-witted and braggadocio lyrics. On May 31, Krispy released another song, "Best Friends", a more serious rap than the previous two, with the lyrics focusing on his friendship with Money Maker Mike and referencing the influential rapper
Tupac Shakur towards the end of the song. On June 3, 2012, Kreme gave a motivational speech to his fans about chasing their dreams. Krispy Kreme uploaded another song on July 6, 2012, titled "Stolen Bikes". His seventh song, titled "The Fight", was uploaded on August 24, 2012. Afterwards, on September 14, he released a song called "Denzel Washington", praising
the actor. Around this time, the rapper was also featured on the
Comedy Central show
Tosh.0. In November 2012, Krispy Kreme was featured in a
Mashable article that listed fifteen people made famous by the internet.
2012–2013: Froggy Fresh and Money Maker (Reloaded) On December 3, 2012, Cassidy, while in character, stated on his YouTube channel that his father received a call from the
Krispy Kreme doughnut company telling him that his name was trademark infringement. He also stated that he could not use any variation of the words 'Krispy' or 'Kreme' without facing legal problems. Krispy Kreme announced that he would be changing his rap name to one of the following, depending on viewer comments: Froggy Fresh, Candy Cane, Jelly Bean, Jelly Bean Jack, Lil Kuntry, or White Chocolate. Though he was originally going to change his stage name to Jelly Bean Jack, on December 18, the rapper announced he would go by Froggy Fresh. Also in December 2012, Froggy Fresh released his debut album,
Money Maker (Reloaded) on the
iTunes Store. The album featured new songs in addition to existing ones already on his YouTube channel. On January 9, 2013, the music video for "Same Old Kid", the rapper's first song under the name Froggy Fresh, was released. On January 26, 2013,
Money Maker (Re-Loaded), debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Comedy Album chart. Froggy Fresh deleted all his music videos that featured the moniker "Krispy Kreme", before re-posting the videos on February 15, switching "Krispy Kreme" to "Froggy Fresh". In February 2013, Froggy released an announcement video that also included a freestyle. The music video for "Mike's Mom" was released on March 4, 2013. In March 2013,
John Cena spoke about Froggy Fresh, during an interview, praising the rapper.
2013–2018: Dream Team and Escape from Hood Mountain On May 21, 2013, Froggy Fresh released the single, "Dunked On", which Froggy previously revealed would appear on his second album. The album, confirmed to be titled
Dream Team, was released in October 2014, on iTunes. Froggy released a non-album single, as well as its music video, titled "Jimmy Butler Is Your Father". The song's lyrics center on praising
Chicago Bulls basketball player
Jimmy Butler, as well as the entire Bulls franchise, and dissed the
Cleveland Cavaliers and their star
small forward,
LeBron James. Froggy would release the track and music video on May 9, 2015, one day after the
Chicago Bulls defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the third game of their
Eastern Conference Semi-finals series. In the 23-minute video, Cassidy revealed that Froggy Fresh was indeed a comedic character created after years of struggling to gain attention as a serious rap artist. He uploaded both original and cover songs on the channel. In October, Cassidy released a non-album track titled "Amber Guyger", named after and criticizing the police officer found guilty of
murdering Botham Jean. On October 30, 2019, Cassidy released
Renee, his debut album under his real name.
2023–2024: Retirement from music and Cameo account On November 20, 2023, Cassidy made an announcement on his Instagram and Facebook stating that he was retiring from his music career, and started selling items used in previous music videos. On December 4, Cassidy opened up a
Cameo account where he, as his Froggy Fresh character, would make short songs based on stories that fans would submit in for a request. In September 2024, Cassidy released "Still The Baddest", a remake of "The Baddest". ==Other ventures==