Keyshia Cole

Keyshia Cole (born October 15, 1981) is an American singer–songwriter and actress. She gained nationwide acclaim when her 2005 debut album, The Way It Is went platinum. Her sophomore album Just Like You went into production shortly after that and was released in September 2007.^[2] Her third studio album, A Different Me was released on December 16, 2008 and is certified Gold for selling 900,000+ units in the United States. She also achieved moderate success for her reality/documentary series Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is which aired on BET from 2006-2008 which gave a close look at Cole's career and personal life with her biological mother and sister. In December 2010, she released her fourth studio album, Calling All Hearts.

Career

Early life

Cole was born on October 15, 1981 in Oakland, California, where she was raised. Cole was born to Francine "Frankie" Lons and Sal, her now deceased father. She was later adopted by family friend Yvonne Cole and raised by Yvonne's husband's family and friends from the age of two. Yvonne learned that Cole could sing when she was five. At a school function, she snuck away from her mother and the next thing she knew, Cole had won a talent show.^[3] Along with her brother Sean, Cole was first introduced to the music industry at the age of 12, when she met and recorded with MC Hammer.^[4][5][6][7] She later formed a friendship with Tupac Shakur,^[8] who promised to help start her singing career before he died unexpectedly. Cole remembers Shakur as "really outspoken and really bright. He was definitely a guy who gave off a superstar vibe."^[9] Cole moved to Los Angeles when she was 18 to pursue a music career. During this time, Cole collaborated with artists from her native Bay Area, among them D'Wayne Wiggins of Tony Toni Tone and Messy Marv. In 2002, she was introduced to A&M Records executive Ron Fair, who signed her and began mentoring her after hearing her singing a verse of her hit song "Love".

In anticipation of her debut album, Cole and DJ Green Lantern released a mixtape, Team Invasion Presents Keyshia Cole, in June 2005.^[10] It featured appearances by Shyne, Remy Ma, Fat Joe and Ghostface Killah. The mixtape was composed mostly of songs recorded over popular hip-hop instrumentals, including 2Pac's "I Get Around", Nas' "Ether", Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones (Part II)" and Scarface's "Guess Who's Back", among others. The singles "(I Just Want It) To Be Over", a remix of "I Changed My Mind", "I Should Have Cheated", and "Love" were also included.

2004–2005: The Way It Is

Cole's debut single, "Never", featuring Eve, was released on March 23, 2004 to promote the soundtrack to the film, Barbershop 2: Back in Business. The single failed to chart, and Cole proceeded to record her debut album for the rest of 2004 and into early 2005. "Never" eventually became the final song on The Way It Is. On November 9, 2004, Cole released her first official single, "I Changed My Mind", featuring Kanye West^[11]. The single reached #71 in the US, and was not a huge hit for Cole. The second single from the album, "(I Just Want It) To Be Over", was released on April 5, 2005^[12], and reached #1 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 (#101). Cole completed her debut album in early 2005. The Way It Is was released on June 21, 2005^[13]. It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, selling 89,000 copies in the first week of release. It has since sold 1.5 million copies in the US, receiving a Platinum certification from the RIAA. The third single from the album, "I Should Have Cheated" was released on August 3, 2005, and reached #30 on the Hot 100. The fourth and final single, "Love" was released on January 6, 2006 and reached #19 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It has been regarded as Cole's "breakthrough single" by many.

2006-2007: Just like You

Cole began work on her second album in early 2006, shortly after the release of her debut album. She was featured on the single "Last Night" by Diddy, which was the third single from his fourth studio album, Press Play. The recording of her second album was documented on her reality TV show, Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is in late 2006 and early 2007. Cole's second album, Just like You, was due for a release on July 8, 2007, but wasn't released until September 25, 2007. It spawned three #1 singles, "Let It Go featuring Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim, "I Remember", and "Heaven Sent" which stayed at #1 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for 9 weeks. Other guest artists included Too $hort, Anthony Hamilton, Young Dro, T.I., and Cole's artist, Amina, on the top ten single Shoulda Let You Go. Just like You debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 281,000 copies in its first week, and has proceeded to sell 1.6 million copies in the US, earning a Platinum certification from the RIAA, like her debut. The album was nominated for four Grammys, Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2008 Grammy Awards and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

The lead single from the album, "Let It Go", featuring Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim, was released on June 19, 2007. The single is Cole's most successful single to date, as it reached #7 in the US and #1 on US Hip/Hop R&B charts. The second single, "Shoulda Let You Go", featuring and introducing Cole's best friend Amina, was released on October 19, 2007, and was mildly successful, by reaching #41 in the US. The third single from the album, "I Remember" was released on December 5, 2007. The single was highly successful, by reaching #24 in the US. The fourth and final single was the critically acclaimed "Heaven Sent", was released on March 7, 2008. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for nine weeks, and #28 in the US. Cole was featured on Jaheim's third single, "I've Changed", off his fourth album, The Makings of a Man and Keith Sweat's "Love U Better" which was featured on the Why Did I Get Married? soundtrack and his ninth studio album Just Me.

2008–2009: A Different Me

In 2008, Cole made guest appearances on songs such as "I Got a Thang for You" with rapper Trina on her album Still Da Baddest and "Boyfriend/Girlfriend" with hip-hop band C-Side on their album Class In Session. She also made a guest appearance in the music video for "She Got Her Own", by singers Ne-Yo Jamie Foxx and in the song "Game's Pain" by Compton-based rapper The Game. Cole is also featured on the charity song "Just Stand Up", which was released in August 2008 and raises money for cancer research along with various pop, hip-hop, and R&B artists that year. As a result of SU2C fund raising endeavors, the SU2C scientific advisory committee, overseen by the American Association for Cancer Research was able to award 73.6 million dollars towards novel, groundbreaking cancer research.^[14] Cole embarked on the I Am Music Tour with Keri Hilson, Lil' Wayne, and T-Pain from December 2008 to February 2009.

She released her third studio album, A Different Me, on December 16, 2008. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 322,000 copies in its first week.^[15] The album has gone on to sell over 950,000+ copies in the US, and 5,000,000+ worldwide receiving a gold certification from the RIAA. The album was preceded by lead single "Playa Cardz Right", featuring the late rapper 2Pac, which was released on October 28, 2008, and reached #63 on the Hot 100. The second single from the album, "You Complete Me", was released on January 20, 2009, and reached #62 on the Hot 100, making the first and second singles mild hits. Cole released the third and final single from the album, "Trust", a duet with Monica, on May 5, 2009, and reached #5 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and #70 on the US Hot 100. The fourth single from A Different Me was confirmed as "This is Us", and was due for a release in September 2009, but it was never released. For promotion towards A Different Me, Cole went on her first headlining tour, A Different Me Tour in summer of 2009 with opening acts, Keri Hilson, The-Dream, and Bobby Valentino. Cole was on the cover of the March 2009 issue of Vibe, and was on the cover of the Summer 2009 final double-cover issue of King. Keyshia and Yvonne Cole appeared on the June issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine. In 2009, she also made a guest appearance on Keri Hilson's "Get Your Money Up" from her debut album In a Perfect World…. Cole began work on her fourth studio album in early 2009 also with Jasmyne. In September 2009, Cole was featured on the remix of R. Kelly's single "Number One" along with T-Pain. She is also currently listed as one of the inspirations for Pepsi: We Inspire.^[16] Cole also worked with Gucci Mane on the song "Bad, Bad, Bad" from The State vs Radric Davis.

2010-2011: Calling All Hearts

On June 27, 2010 she returned to the spotlight for her first televised appearance since the birth of her son, filling in for Hayley Williams to sing the chorus to B.o.B.'s "Airplanes (Part II)", featuring Eminem during the 2010 BET Awards. Cole featured on Faith Evans album Something About Faith. In August 2009, Cole announced that she was beginning work on her fourth studio album Calling All Hearts^[17] which was released on December 21, 2010. This album contains featured tracks from artists such as Timbaland, Nicki Minaj, Tank and Faith Evans. As a special feature, Cole's mother, Dr. Yvonne Cole, is featured on the album as well.^[18] In September 2010, Cole stated that her fourth studio album will be released on December 21, 2010. The album's first single, entitled "I Ain't Thru", features Nicki Minaj and was released by Cole herself via Twitter on October 15, 2010. She released the video to "I Ain't Thru" on 106 and Park along with "Long Way Down" which Interscope Records did not release as a commercial single. In February 2011, Cole released her second single from "Calling All Hearts", "Take Me Away", to urban radio after being chosen in a poll by her fans on Twitter. Cole performed the single on January 19, 2011 on Conan" after releasing Imani Entertainment as her management.^[19] The single's video, directed by Taj Stansberry, premiered on VEVO on April 18, 2011 and was also released on 106 and Park on the same day. The song has since then peaked on the Billboard US Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs at #27. To promote "Calling All Hearts", Cole was a part of the Love Letter tour with R. Kelly and Marsha Ambrosius.

2011-present: Woman To Woman

Cole started development on this project shortly after her 2010 release, Calling All Hearts. She has disclosed that she was working with writer Ester Dean. She has also collaborated with producers Boi-1da, Cool & Dre, Bangladesh, J.U.S.T.I.C.E League, Toxic and Earl Powell. This is Cole's first album to be released without A&R Executive Ron Fair. Cole says this album is not like any other album she has released becoming her most evolved album thus far. Cole has stated that she would like to have R&B singers Brandy and Monica on this album. She also tweeted that long awaited collaborator Trey Songz would likely be on the album.

She is featured on a song called "Legendary" by DJ Khaled, also featuring Chris Brown and Ne-Yo. It is the fourth single from Khaled's fifth album We the Best Forever.

Cole was nominated for an MP3 Music Award in October 2011 and won in December 2011 for her R&B hit "Take Me Away".

Cole tweeted on October 14, 2011 that the first single from her forthcoming new album Woman To Woman will be released during the first week of January. The album is believed to have 15 tracks to be chosen. It is slated to be released commercially in the spring of 2012.

Reality TV

Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is

In 2006, BET broadcast a reality show/documentary entitled Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is to show Cole's life in making music, touring, and being with her family. Although being a rating success, the show failed to promote her debut, The Way It Is as the album stayed at selling 1.5 million units. In conjunction with her sophomore album release, Just Like You, BET began airing the second season on October 30, 2007. The show premiered to record breaking ratings for BET. It is the top returning series premiere in BET history, as well as the number one original series premiere of the year. A reported 2.9 million viewers and 2.0 million households watched the season 2 finale. It is now the #1 series telecast in BET history.^[20] Season 3 of the series was filmed in Summer 2008 and premiered on November 11, 2008 and featured the process of recording and touring for Cole's third album, A Different Me. The show was rumored to be having a fourth season, however; Cole has concluded that there will not be a fourth season. On Tuesday, August 25, 2009, Cole's mother and sister debuted their own reality show titled Frankie & Neffe on BET. Their show's season finale aired on Tuesday, October 6, 2009.

Family First

In mid-July, Cole tweeted that she, her husband Daniel, and James DeBose will be launching a new reality TV show entitled Family First which began shooting shortly after the announcement. During the six episode series, Cole will be crafting her follow up album to Calling All Hearts. "I just kind of lay out all my emotions then we start from there. I usually work with big name producers and stuff like once all from my heart and soul is out that I need to get out," Cole said. Aside from a look into the making of her yet to be titled album, Cole and husband, Daniel "Boobie" Gibson, re-wed during the taping of Family First.^[21] The show is currently in production and will premiere in the first quarter of 2012.

Personal life

From early 2005 to late 2007, Cole dated rapper Young Jeezy, but the relationship ended after she declined a marriage proposal from him.

In March 2009, Cole began dating Daniel Gibson of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.^[22] and became engaged to him on January 1, 2010. On February 4, 2010, the pregnant Cole was hospitalized for precautionary reasons.^[23] On March 1, 2010 Cole was admitted into the hospital with labor pains. One of Keyshia's closest friends, R&B singer Monica, confirmed the labor situation via her official twitter page.^[24]

On March 2, 2010, Cole gave birth to her first child, a boy, named Daniel Hiram Gibson Jr.^[25] On May 21, 2011, Cole and Gibson went to Cleveland for a private wedding ceremony. On September 24, 2011, Cole and Gibson held a big wedding ceremony in Hawaii, which will be aired on their show Family First. ^[26] Cole currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio and Johns Creek, Georgia.

Musical style

Cole is known differently for the way she uses her vocals. She is a soprano with a 2.5/3 octave. Her voice is favored because it is said, mostly by critics, that it is powered by angst. She grew up listening to artists such as Tupac Shakur and Faith Evans. Cole cites Mary J. Blige and Brandy to be the biggest of her many musical inspirations and influences.

Discography

• The Way It Is (2005)
• Just like You (2007)
• A Different Me (2008)
• Calling All Hearts (2010)
• Woman to Woman (2012)

Tours

• Sweatsuit Tour (opening for Nelly) (2005)
• Dreamin' Tour (performing with Young Jeezy) (2007)
• Double Up Tour (opening for R.Kelly) (2007)
• I Am Music Tour (opening for Lil Wayne) (2008)
• A Different Me Tour (headliner) (2009)
• Love Letter Tour (opening for R. Kelly) (2011)

Filmography

Television

Films

• How She Move (2008) - Herself

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official website
• Keyshia Cole at the Internet Movie Database