A completely genuine urban singer/songwriter, Keyshia Cole rose above her circumstances to become one of the hottest R&B talents Los Angeles has ever spawned. Born on October 24, 1983, Cole was taken in by a foster parent and raised on the mean streets of Oakland, early on finding an escape in music. Her first recordings were with MC Hammer at the age of 12, and as she grew older Cole appeared on the albums of several prominent Bay area musicians. Legend has it that she split for Los Angeles on the same night she discovered that her boyfriend was cheating on he
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r. Cole made some important record industry contacts in Los Angeles, including A&M Records President
Ron Fair, who signed her to her first solo recording deal. Cole released her debut album, The Way It Is, under Interscope/A&M Records in June 2005. The album featured the single “I Should Have Cheated," which gained Cole her first widespread R&B success, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. Subsequently, the fourth single, "Love," was a radio smash, zooming into the top 10 of the R&B chart in a matter of weeks. The album was ultimately certified Platinum February 2006.
The wait for Cole’s second album, 2007's Just Like You, was broken up by rumors that she was dating
Young Jeezy and memorable appearances on Diddy's Press Play ("
Last Night") and R. Kelly's Double Up ("
Best Friend"). The album was subsequently released in September 2007 and went on to garner a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary R&B album. The single “
Let It Go” was also nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. In conjunction with the Just Like You release, BET began airing the second season of Cole's reality show "Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is. 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 number one series telecast in BET history, proving once and for all that you can’t keep a good urban star down.
