Keyshia Cole singing 'Shoulda
Let You Go' From The Album
'Just Like You' Biography
About Keyshia Cole. One of the
more genuine urban
songstresses out there in the
mid-2000s, Keyshia Cole worked
her way up the industry ladder
diligently yet quickly, making
her major-label debut in 2004
at age 21. Born on the other
side of the
more

Keyshia Cole singing 'Shoulda
Let You Go' From The Album
'Just Like You' Biography
About Keyshia Cole. One of the
more genuine urban
songstresses out there in the
mid-2000s, Keyshia Cole worked
her way up the industry ladder
diligently yet quickly, making
her major-label debut in 2004
at age 21. Born on the other
side of the California Bay the
often tough and troubled
streets of Oakland Keyshia
aspired from an early age to
make music her life, so much
so that she started working
the angles while still a
preteen. For instance, she did
some recording with fellow Bay
Area resident MC Hammer way
back in the day, when she was
only 12 or so. Her singing
aspirations really began to
take flight during the early
2000s, however. In particular,
she sang on Messy Marv's
'Nubian Queen' remix in 2001,
and Tony! Toni! Toné! member
Dwayne Wiggins featured her on
his soundtrack to the film Me
& Mrs. Jones, also in 2001.
Following Bay Area
opportunities such as these,
she began contemplating a leap
for the big time: Los Angeles.
So when she discovered that
her then-boyfriend had cheated
on her, she immediately packed
her bags and never looked
back. In Los Angeles she
quickly impressed many with
her golden soprano voice and
thus made plenty of industry
contacts, among them A&M
Records president Ron Fair,
who immediately signed her to
a solo deal. And to work she
went on her debut album, The
Way It Is, co-writing a number
of songs and working alongside
a number of hitmakers: the
trendiest talent in hip-hop at
the time, Kanye West,
collaborated with her on 'I
Changed My Mind,' the album's
lead single, and other
big-name collaborators
included 112 group member
DaRon, Murder Inc. rapper
Chink Santana, and veteran
producer E-Poppi. Plus, she
got the chance to collaborate
with one of her inspirations,
Eve, for a song on the
Barbershop 2 soundtrack,
'Never,' which was released as
a single in early 2004.
When A&M/Interscope was ready
to release The Way It Is in
the spring of 2005, Keyshia
found herself positioned
alongside fellow young urban
female singers like Brandy,
Monica, and Beyoncé. Yet
Keyshia had an edge over her
peers a street edge. Having
grown up in Oakland and lived
there most of her young life,
she knew life wasn't all
glitter and gold like it was
in Hollywood. She knew the
streets, and that inner-city
viewpoint informs many of her
songs, which are generally a
bit rougher and less naïve
than those of your typical
young female urban vocalist.
Two singles released from The
Way It Is, 'I Should Have
Cheated' and 'Love,' reached
the Top Ten of the R&B chart,
and the album eventually sold
a million copies in the U.S.
The wait for her second album,
2007's Just Like You, was
broken up by memorable
appearances on Diddy's Press
Play ('Last Night') and R.
Kelly's Double Up ('Best
Friend').(c) 2007 Geffen
Records

Category Music

Tags Keyshaia, Cole, Shoulda, Let, You, Go, Songwriter, Artist, Geffen, Records