Keyshia Cole

Keyshia Michelle Cole (born October 15, 1981) is an American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer known for her soulful voice. She released her platinum selling debut album The Way It Is in 2005, and her second album Just Like You in 2007.

Biography

Cole grew up in Oakland, California and was a foster child adopted by Yvonne Cole at the age of 5. She has said that her brother, Sean Cole and Tupac Shakur were close friends. Sean Cole raps under the alias "Nutt-So", and recorded several songs with Shakur before his death.^{[citation needed]} Keyshia's first recordings were with MC Hammer at the age of twelve.^[1] In the early 2000s, she appeared on tracks by San Francisco Bay Area artists including Tony! Toni! Toné!'s D'Wayne Wiggins and San Francisco rapper Messy Marv.^[2]

Cole was inspired by her ex-boyfriend to further pursue her career, so she left the Bay Area at age 16, with a rented car and two hundred dollars after catching her boyfriend cheating.^[3] She moved to Los Angeles and within several months of her arrival, had attracted the attention of A&M Records president Ron Fair, who in turn recommended her to chairman Jimmy Iovine, for whom she performed an early version of "Love" in June/July 2002. She was signed by then A & R rep Fair in December 2002. Cole started recording her debut album soon after. In 2004, Cole made her first solo appearance on the track "Never", taken from the Barbershop 2: Back in Business soundtrack with rapper Eve.

The Way It Is (2005)

Cole released her debut album, The Way It Is, on June 21, 2005 under Interscope/A&M Records. The album received a positive reception from music critics and debuted at number-six on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums charts, eventually receiving a platinum certification.

Cole released the mixtape Team Invasion Presents Keyshia Cole, mixed by DJ Green Lantern, before the album's release.^[4] At the outset of her album's release (with lead single "I Changed My Mind"), Cole found little success, except at radio in New York City and her native Bay Area. With the failure of her debut single, the label decided to push back the album and release a second single (I Just Want It) To Be Over, produced by Krucial Keys. The track also failed to affect major radio stations. Cole's label continued to see promising album sales after it was released, so they pushed forward a third single I Should Have Cheated. At this time, Cole experienced the most success. The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and became one of the biggest female R&B hits of the year. The single pushed the album to gold. On November 22, 2005, Cole released her own version of the holiday classic, Silent Night, to iTunes Music Stores. In 2006, the fourth single, "Love", was a bigger success, reaching #3 on the R&B chart and #19 on the Billboard Hot 100. This single pushed the album to Platinum. The video featured singer and actor Tyrese Gibson. A video for the fifth and final single, "You've Changed", was shot, but was not released due to Cole working on her second album. The Way It Is has sold 1.4 million in the U.S.

To further promote the album, Cole starred in her own six-episode reality show, Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is. It premiered on BET on July 12, 2006 and ended on August 16, 2006. It was also promoted with rapper DMX's reality show as well.

Just Like You (2007)

Cole has finished working on her second album, Just Like You. The album was released September 25, 2007 and debuted at #2 selling 281,400 copies in its first week.

The first single is "Let It Go " featuring Lil Kim & Missy Elliott.^[5] The single has become a huge success for Cole, becoming her first #1 on Billboard's R&B chart, and her biggest hit on the Hot 100, peaking at #7.

In preparation for the release of the album, BET will air a second season of Cole's reality show "Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is" prior to the album's release for promotion. It will focus on Cole recording her second album, her mother's recent release from jail, and her sister Neffe.It is set to premiere on October 30.

She will be making an appearance in an MTV film this year titled "How She Moves" as herself.^[6]

She will be on the October covers of Sister 2 Sister magazine, and Essence magazine.

Discography

For further information, see Keyshia Cole discography

Albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

Notes

1. ^ "Manifesto CD Reviews", 2002-03. Retrieved on 2007-03-18. 
2. ^ Keyshia Cole - Only Michelle - Connecting the Official Fanbase 24/7. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
3. ^ Lee Hildebrand. Keyshia Cole: On the Edge of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
4. ^ http://mixconnect.com/albumsList.php?album_id=295/ Mixconnect.com Retrieved on 04-24-07
5. ^ Hillary Crosley. Keyshia Cole Readies Sophomore Album. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
6. ^ How She Moves.
7. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003656214

External links

• Official Site
• Keyshia Cole at Geffen Records
• Keyshia Cole at MySpace

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