Recording and production sessions for the mixtape took place with producers Rob Holladay, Da Internz, Knotch, Noel Cadastre, The Fr3shmen, Soundz, Magnificent, BJONES!, Mike Will Made It, Young Chop, David D.A.
Doman, THC, Sounwave and Terrace Martin, with Cassie, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Matthew "Matty Rich" Testa and Holladay serving as executive producers.
RockaByeBaby received positive reviews from music critics, who praised Cassie's vocal performances and complimented its production and the mixtape features, with some calling it "hip-hop's streetest spitters."
[3][4] After hearing "Kiss Me," Mottola offered Cassie a management deal, with Leslie also signing her to NextSelection Lifestyle Group, his music-media company he had founded with online marketing partner Rasheed Richmond.
[10] Cassie then released yet another single from her planned sophomore album, "King of Hearts", in the United States on February 14, 2012, along with the official music video.
"[17] "Paradise" is a "Slow-bubbling minimalist" song[18] and has an "old-school vibe",[19] it features American rapper Wiz Khalifa, is produced by Da Internz[20] and written by James Fauntleroy.
[24] In July 2012, Cassie announced in a letter to her fans that she has been working simultaneously on her album and a new mixtape entitled "Rock-A-Bye Baby", which will be released on April 11, 2013.
"[26] On March 20, 2013, Cassie released a trailer in support of the mixtape, The clip features footage of a shooting scene from New Jack City, where she got the title from.
"[43] PrettyMuchAmazing posted on their website, "While the best songs on the mixtape play on the vaporous alt r&b tropes that are en vogue right now, Cassie's uniquely uninterested – if not flat-out bored – vocal delivery somehow keep things interesting.
"[42] Marc Hogan of Spin wrote that the mixtape offers both "Cassie's icy digital soul and her no-holds-barred vision of hip-hop — and on early listens it’s thrillingly audacious.
"[45] Dimas Sanfiorenzo of Global Grind complimented the mixtape's "dark music," as well as the use of "clips from New Jack City intertwined throughout the project," calling the featured rappers "hip-hop's streetest spitters.
"[51] In the opinion of The Washington Post's Allison Stewart, the mixtape "feels like the work of a returning heroine stooping to conquer: It’s twitchy and raunchy, begrudging and spare.
"[53] VIBE Vixen received the mixtape positively claiming its "new sound's giving us chills," with writer Jaz Cuevas stating that the singer is "serving up a raw, laid back vibe, and it's obvious that Cassie is making music that is true to herself," listing "that sexy, sultry, low voice that made us fall in love with Cassie from the jump (cue "Me & U")" and the accompanying collaborations and visuals as some of its positive aspects.
[54] Singersroom.com applauded the body of work for its "aggressive sound" and Cassie's "edgier side," saying that she "rocks out on every track with her soft voice, but with the bravado of a female rapper.
"[56] Despite the project boasting several featured artists unlike 2006's Cassie, Interview's Marcus Holmlund felt "it stays true to her now-lauded transient affect: only amplifying her aggression lyrically while sticking to her atmospheric vocal style.
"[58] RockaByeBaby was named mixtape of the week by Stereogum's Tom Breihan, who also remarked it could've been released as a proper album, likening the "same sinister, debauched chill to it" as the Weeknd's House of Balloons: "Cassie's got that same predatory, almost threatening sexuality in her voice, but she sounds in control in ways that Abel Tesfaye rarely does," praising her voice and stating all the featured rappers brought "their A-game" with the project still sounding "like it belongs entirely to her, like it’s being beamed directly from a world of her creation.
[63] The Fader referred to Cassie as "the pioneer of R&B vaporware"[64] and listed the extended edit of the mixtape track "All My Love" by producer Kingdom as one of the most underrated songs of 2013.