An advantage Keyshia Cole has over a lot of her young contemporaries is experience.
As a foster child growing up in Oakland, she went through a lot of downs, and from the sounds of The Way It Is, her first album, she's had her share of complex relationships.
Cole had a hand in the writing of just about every track, and she has a number of major players -- Kanye West, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Ron Fair (Christina Aguilera, Mya), E-Poppi (Missy Elliott, Destiny's Child) -- in her corner.
With only a couple exceptions, The Way It Is is about the ugly parts of a romantic relationship, so there's little room left for upbeat material.
From the opener, "(I Just Want It) To Be Over," the album seems to be set up like a linear narrative about a crumbling relationship, but it doesn't quite play out that way, with the scenes shuffled out of order.
("Love," one of the positive songs, comes after the song where the punk gets dumped and before the song where he's called out for changing.) None of it's all that profound, but Cole sells it all extremely well, especially on "I Should Have Cheated," where she tires of an accusing and hypocritical lover ("I should go have my fun and do all the things you say I do").
Cole's voice is sweet and ringing, like a wiser version of Lil' Mo who has had to weather a tremendous amount of drama.
She could be around for a while.
("Never," her hit song from the Barbershop 2 soundtrack, is included.).
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (I Just Want It) To Be OverK. Cole | Keyshia Cole | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 2 | I Changed My MindKeyshia Cole, John Legend, Kanye West | Keyshia Cole | Play | 03:18 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Love, I Thought You Had My BackK. Cole, C.J. Johnson | Keyshia Cole | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 4 | I Should Have Cheated | Keyshia Cole | Play | 05:27 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 5 | Guess What?K. Cole, S. Garrett | Keyshia Cole | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 6 | LoveK. Cole | Keyshia Cole | Play | 04:15 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 7 | You've ChangedK. Cole | Keyshia Cole | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 8 | We Could BeK. Cole | Keyshia Cole | Play | 03:11 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 9 | SituationsK. Cole, A. Parker | Keyshia Cole | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 35 MB |
| 10 | Down and DirtyK. Cole | Keyshia Cole | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 11 | SuperstarG.M. Cole, K. Cole | Keyshia Cole | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 12 | NeverKeyshia Cole | Keyshia Cole | Play | 04:04 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 48 mins | 112 MB | |||||
| 48 mins | 352 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chops | Horn, Main Personnel |
| 2 | G.M. Cole | Composer |
| 3 | K. Cole | Composer |
| 4 | Keyshia Cole | Composer, Executive Producer, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 5 | Eve | Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Rap |
| 6 | Ron Fair | A&R, Audio Production, Executive Producer, Harmonica, Main Personnel, Organ |
| 7 | S. Garrett | Composer |
| 8 | Gary Grant | Horn, Main Personnel |
| 9 | Manny Halley | Executive Producer |
| 10 | Tal Herzberg | Bass Instrument, Main Personnel |
| 11 | Jerry Hey | Horn, Main Personnel |
| 12 | Jadakiss | Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Rap |
| 13 | C.J. Johnson | Composer |
| 14 | Daron Jones | Audio Production |
| 15 | John Legend | Composer |
| 16 | Metro City | Main Personnel |
| 17 | A. Parker | Composer |
| 18 | Joel Peskin | Horn, Main Personnel |
| 19 | Steve Rodriguez | Bass Instrument, Main Personnel |
| 20 | Chink Santana | Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Rap |
| 21 | Jason Stallworth | Drums, Main Personnel |
| 22 | Kanye West | Audio Production, Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |