Keyshia Cole
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| Keyshia Cole
<tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3">Image:Keysh.jpg Keyshia Cole promo shoot for her 2005 debut album The Way It Is </td></tr>
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| Background information
<tr><td>Born</td><td colspan="2">October 15, 1981</td></tr><tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Oakland, California, United States</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">R&B</td></tr><tr><td>Occupation(s)</td><td colspan="2">Singer-songwriter</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">2004–present</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">Interscope/A&M (2004–2006)
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Keyshia Cole (born October 15, 1981) is an American R&B singer-songwriter. She released her platinum selling debut album The Way It Is in 2005, and is preparing the release of her sophomore album Tears From a Soldier's Heart, to be released in 2007.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
Cole grew up in Oakland, California where she lived a life of crime and was a foster child adopted by Yvonne Cole at the young 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. Cole'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 only at age 16, with a rented car and a thousand dollars and moved to Los Angeles, California. Keyshia had written an early version on "Love" and performed it in front of record executives Ron Fair and Jimmy Iovine in June/July 2002. She was than signed by the president of A&M Records, Ron Fair in December 2002. Cole than started to record her debut album. In 2004, Cole made her first solo appearance on the track "Never", taken from the Barbershop 2: Back in Business soundtrack with rapper Eve. Keyshia Cole has a niece named Leah Chatmon that she loves spending time with as so as her other family members. Keyshia made a television show named the way it is. It was basically explaining her background w/ friends, family, etc
[edit] 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 cerification.
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. 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.
[edit] Tears From A Soldier's Heart (2006)
Cole is currently working on her second album, titled Tears From a Soldier's Heart, with producers Kanye West and Cool and Dre. The album will feature appearances from R.Kelly, John Legend & Jagged Edge.[1]. Tony! Toni! Toné! will also be doing a few tracks on the album. [2] Keith Sweat will likely have produced a track, but it is unsure if the song will appear on the final cut due to some problems with the engineer. Trackstarz produced a song and will feature Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. Young Jeezy will make an appearance on the track. [3] Denaun Porter will likely be a producer on the album. It was thought that Keyshia's new album would be released on GOOD Music because she is now signed to that label for a three album deal, but Tears From A Soldier's Heart will be released on A&M Records Keyshia's former label. This is because of her two album recording deal with A&M Records and with only her debut album The Way It Is being released by A&M Records she had to record this album with them before she could record or release an album with Kanye West's GOOD Music.[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Album cover | Album information |
|---|---|
| The Way It Is
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Tears From a Soldier's Heart
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[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | UK Singles | ||||
| 2004 | "I Changed My Mind" | #71 | #23 | #48 1 | The Way It Is | |
| 2005 | "(I Just Want It) To Be Over" | #101 | #30 | - | The Way It Is | |
| 2005 | "I Should Have Cheated" | #30 | #4 | #48 1 | The Way It Is | |
| 2006 | "Love" | #19 | #3 | - | The Way It Is | |
| 2006 | "(When You Gonna) Give It up to Me" (with Sean Paul) | #3 | #5 | #31 | Step Up soundtrack, The Trinity | |
| 2006 | "Last Night" (with Diddy) | - | - | - | Press Play | |
| 2007 | "I Need A Soldier" (featuring 50 Cent) | - | - | - | Tears From a Soldier's Heart | |
| Notes1 "I Changed My Mind" and "I Should Have Cheated" were released as a double A-side in the United Kingdom on 3 April, 2006 | ||||||
[edit] Album appearances
| Year | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | "Nubian Queen (remix)" (Messy Marv featuring Keyshia Cole) | Still Explosive |
| 2006 | "What's Going On" (Remy Ma featuring Keyshia Cole) | There's Something about Remy: Based on a True Story |
| 2006 | "Stay Down" (Bailey featuring Keyshia Cole) | Champ Bailey |
| 2006 | "(When You Gonna) Give It up to Me"(Sean Paul featuring Keyshia Cole) | The Trinity & Step Up |
| 2006 | "Be Somebody" (Dre featuring Keyshia Cole) | The Trunk |
| 2006 | "I Have This Dream" (with various artists, written and produced by Michael Jackson) | |
| 2006 | "Last Night" (Diddy featuring Keyshia Cole) | Press Play |
| 2006 | "Dreamin'" (Young Jeezy featuring Keyshia Cole) | The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102 |
| 2006 | "Playa Cards Right (Female)" (Tupac featuring Keyshia Cole) | Pac's Life |
[edit] Soundtracks
| Year | Song | Movie |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Get Up" | Biker Boyz |
| 2004 | "Never" featuring Eve | Barbershop 2: Back in Business |
| 2004 | "We Could Be", "I Should Have Cheated", "Superstar" & "Situations" | Hair Show |
| 2005 | "Guess What" featuring Jadakiss | Transit |
| 2006 | "Impossible" (Kanye West with Keyshia Cole & Twista) | Mission: Impossible III OST |
| 2006 | "(When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me" | Step Up |
[edit] Career activities
- Cole served as the inspiration for her mother and cousin, Cali Castillo, to establish Cole Talent Agency in November 2005. It is based in the Central Valley of California and represents those with musical and literary gifts.
- In Fall 2005, Cole released the mixtape Team Invasion Presents Keyshia Cole, mixed by DJ Green Lantern. The tape featured highlights from The Way It Is and a number of new tracks, including guest appearances by Remy Ma, Ghostface Killah and Fat Joe.[4]
- In February 2006, Cole signed a deal with acquaintance and frequent collaborator Kanye West to be included on the roster for his GOOD Music imprint.
- As of May 2006, Keyshia Cole was named the new face of Akademiks Ladies for the Fall 2006 Advertising Campaign, with the collection to be available in stores in August.
- Starred in her own reality show Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is, which premiered on BET on July 12 2006 and ended on August 16
- In the near future, Keyshia 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.
- Keyshia Cole will be feature on Tupac Shakur latest album Pac's Life on the song call "Playa Cardz Right (Female)"
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 2005: Next Award at the 2005 Vibe Awards (Win tied with Young Jeezy).Also nominated for R&B Voice of the Year and Vibe Vixen
- 2005: Best New Artist at the 2006 NAACP Image Awards (Nominated)
- 2006: Best Female R&B Artist & Viewer's Choice (for "Love") at the 2006 BET Awards (Nominated)
- 2006: Best Female R&B/Soul Single (for "I Should Have Cheated") & Best Female R&B/Soul Album (for "The Way It Is") at the 2005 Soul Train Awards (Nominated)
- 2006: Favorite Female Artist at the 2006 American Music Awards (Nominated)
[edit] External links
