Keyshia Cole (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Keyshia Cole (born October 15, 1981) is an American R&B singer-songwriter known for her soulful 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.

Biography

Keyshia 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. 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.

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. 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. Producers on the album include Kanye West, Scott Storch, Bryan Michael Cox & Greg Curtis. The album is scheduled to be released September 25, 2007.

The first single is "Let It Go " featuring Lil Kim & Missy Elliott. 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 #11.

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 31, 2007 at 10:30/9:30p.m.

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

She'll be on the October cover of Sister 2 Sister magazine, which hits newsstands September 11.

Discography

For further information, see Keyshia Cole discography

Albums

Album Cover	Information
	The Way It Is Released: June 21, 2005 Chart positions: #6 U.S. U.S. Sales: 1.4 million RIAA certification: Platinum
	Just Like You Release date: September 25, 2007 Chart positions: TBA U.S. Sales: TBA RIAA certification: TBA

Singles (as solo or lead artist)

Year	Title	Chart Positions			Album
Year	Title	Hot 100	U.S. R&B	UK	Album
2004	"I Changed My Mind" (featuring Kanye West)	71	23	48 ¹	The Way It Is
2005	"(I Just Want It) to Be Over"	101	30	-
2005	"I Should Have Cheated"	30	4	48 ¹
2006	"Love"	19	3	-
2007	"Let It Go" (featuring Lil Kim and Missy Elliott)	11	1(3 weeks)	TBR	Just Like You
2007	"Shoulda Let You Go" (featuring Amina)	TBR	TBR	TBR	Just Like You
Notes¹ "I Changed My Mind" and "I Should Have Cheated" were released as a double A-side in the United Kingdom.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award/nomination
2005	Vibe Award Win (Tied with Young Jeezy) for Next Award
	Vibe Award Nomination for R&B Voice of the Year & Vibe Vixen
	NAACP Image Awards Nomination for Best New Artist
2006	BET Awards Nomination for Best Female R&B Artist & Viewer's Choice
	Soul Train Awards Nomination for Best Female R&B/Soul Single & Best Female R&B/Soul Album
	American Music Awards Nomination for Favorite Female Artist
2007	Soul Train Music Awards Nomination for Best Female R&B/Soul Single
	Urban Music Awards Nomination for Best Collaboration 2007
	BET Awards Nomination for Best Collaboration
	ASCAP Award Win for R&B/Hip Hop Song ("Love")

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