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Keyshia Michelle Cole (born October 15, 1981) is an American recording artist. She released her platinum selling debut album The Way It Is in June 2005, and her sophomore platinum album Just Like You in September 2007. Cole's third studio album, A Different Me was released on December 16, 2008, and is also certified platinum. She is also known for her reality/documentary series Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is which aired on BET from 2006 to 2008, which depicted Keyshia navigating both her career and strained relationships with her biological mother and sister. Keyshia cites Mary J Blige and Brandy as her biggest influences and inspirations.

Career

Early life

Keyshia was born on October 15, 1981 in Oakland, California, where she was also raised. Keyshia was born to Francine "Frankie" Lons and Sal, her deceased father. She was later adopted by Yvonne Cole and her husband,family friends who raised her. Along with her brother Sean, Keyshia was first introduced to the music industry at the age of 12, when she met and recorded with MC Hammer. She later formed a friendship with Tupac Shakur, who promised to help start her singing career before he died unexpectedly. Keyshia moved to Los Angeles when she was 18 to pursue a music career. In 2004, after releasing a mixtape, she attracted the attention of A&M Records executive Ron Fair, who signed her and began mentoring her.

Before being signed, Keyshia collaborated with artists from her native Bay Area, among them D'Wayne Wiggins of Tony Toni Tone and Messy Marv.

In anticipation of her debut album, Keyshia and DJ Green Lantern released a mixtape, Team Invasion Presents Keyshia Cole, in June 2005. 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", and "I Should Have Cheated" were also included.

2004–2005: The Way It Is

Keyshia'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 Keyshia 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, Keyshia released her first single, "I Changed My Mind", featuring Kanye West. 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, and reached #1 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 (#101).

Keyshia completed her debut album in early 2005. The Way It Is was released on June 21, 2005. It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, selling 89,000 copies in the first week of release. It has since sold 1.4 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. 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 sophomore album, Just like You, was due for a release on July 8, 2007, but wasn't released until September 25, 2007. It featured the singles "Let It Go" featuring Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim, "Shoulda Let You Go" featuring Amina, "I Remember", and "Heaven Sent". Other guest artists included Too $hort, Anthony Hamilton, Young Dro, and T.I.

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, however Cole failed to win any of them.

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. 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.

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 Destiny McMorris-McCall 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.

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. The album has gone on to sell over 850,000 copies in the US, receiving a gold certification from the RIAA. The album is Keyshia's least successful album to date.

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, due to Cole's pregnancy.

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…. Keyshia began work on her fourth studio album in early 2009 also with Jasmyne.

She also toured with Keri Hilson, The-Dream and Bobby Valentino on the A Different Me Tour.

2010-present: Calling All Hearts

In August 2009, Keyshia Cole announced that she was beginning work on her fourth studio album Calling All Hearts which will be released by Winter of 2010. The new album is said to contain production from KrucialKeyz, The Runners, Kanye West, and Missy Elliott. 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. Cole also worked with Gucci Mane on the song "Bad, Bad, Bad" from The State vs Radric Davis. 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 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 Keyshia herself via Twitter on October 15, 2010. The album's second single entitled, "Long Way Down" was released November 19, 2010.

Other Ventures

Acting career

In 2005 Keyshia Cole starred as herself in the dance movie "How She Move". She is currently said to be in the sequel of the hit movie "ATL" which is to be released in 2011.

Reality TV

Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is

In conjunction with her album release, BET began airing the second season of Cole's reality show Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is 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. Season 3 of the series was filmed in Summer 2008 and premiered on November 11, 2008. 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.

Personal life

In 2006, Cole dated rapper Young Jeezy. Their relationship ended after a declined proposal; however, there has been conflicting reports on either side as to who actually proposed. Jeezy claimed that Cole proposed to him in a Vibe article, while Cole asserted in an Essence article that she turned down a proposal from him.

In March 2009, Cole began dating Daniel Gibson of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. and later became engaged to him. On February 4, 2010, the pregnant Cole was hospitalized for precautionary reasons. 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.

On March 2, 2010, Cole gave birth to her first child, a boy, named Daniel Hiram Gibson Jr. Keyshia currently resides in Ohio and Georgia. Keyshia and Daniel are currently engaged.

Discography

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

Tours

• 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)

Filmography

Television

Films

• How She Move (2008) - Herself
• ATL 2 (2011) - TBA

Awards and nominations

References

1. Joyner, Joyner. "Radio Host Knows Who Keyshia Coles father is". Telewatcher. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
2. ^ Birchmeier, Jason. "Keyshia Cole Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
3. Whitmir, Margo (2005-06-29). "Coldplay Logs A Third Week A No. 1". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
4. AACR, Stand Up To Cancer
5. Cohen, Jonathan (2008-12-24). "Taylor Swift Trumps Big Debuts To Stay No. 1". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
6. http://www.rap-up.com/2010/11/12/exclusive-keyshia-cole-titles-new-album/
7. "Keyshia Cole - New Album Due Out in Early 2010".
8. "Keyshia Cole - Pepsi: We Inspire".
10. http://www.mediatakeout.com/24815/young_jeezy_keyshia_cole_bought_me_a_ring_and_asked_me_to_marry_her__but_i_said_no.html
11. Eskridge, Sonya (2009-05-29). "Keyshia Cole is dating a baller". Sister 2 Sister. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
12. Withers, Tom (2010-02-24). "Cavs' Gibson out to be with fiancee". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
13. Arnold, Monica (2010-03-02). "Keyshia Cole in Labor". Twitter. Retrieved 2010-03-0. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
14. "Keyshia Cole Welcomes Baby Boy". TVGuide.com.

www.en.wikipedia.atl.com

External links

• Official website
• Keyshia Cole at IMDb

Template:Persondata

• 1981 births
• African American female singer-songwriters
• American adoptees
• American hip hop musicians
• American people of Italian descent
• American rhythm and blues singers
• American sopranos
• Living people
• Musicians from California
• People from Oakland, California
• Reality television participants