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Keyshia Cole (born October 15, 1981) is an American R&B singer-songwriter known for her soulful and deep voice. She released her platinum selling debut album The Way It Is in 2005, and is preparing to release her second album Just Like You in 2007.
Keyshia Cole grew up in the tough and troubled streets of 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 and that he was like an older brother to her. Sean raps under the alias "Nutt-so", and recorded several songs with Shakur before his death. Keyshia's first recordings were with MC Hammer at the age of twelve. 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.
Cole was inspired by her grandmother 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. 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.
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. 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, Keyshia 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 sophomore album. The Way It Is has sold 1.3 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 premeired on BET on July 12, 2006 and ended on August 16, 2006. It was also promoted with rapper DMX's reality show as well.
Cole has finished working on her second album, Just Like You. Its release date is currently unknown. The album will feature appearances from R.Kelly, John Legend & Jagged Edge.[5] Tony! Toni! Toné! will also be doing a few tracks on the album. Trackstarz produced a song and will feature Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. Young Jeezy will make an appearance on the track. Denaun Porter will likely be a producer on the album. Anthony Hamilton is a confirmed guest on the album, and Nas is in talks to appear as well. DJ Clue may be producing for this album. Other confirmed guests include Keith Sweat, Missy Elliott, 50 Cent and Olivia.
Just Like You will not be released solely on GOOD Music because she is still signed to A&M Records for a two album recording deal. The album may be a joint venture between the 2 labels. It should also be noted that in the future, Cole will have her own record label, and plans to sign her acquaintance, the Oakland rapper Amina and the R&B quartet Metro City, who appeared on The Way It Is. A working title for the label is "Pinky Swear" which is what Cole and Fair did as he promised that she would be a huge superstar.
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