In just three years, R&B singer Keyshia Cole has scored two platinum albums, three No. 1 singles on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and a top-rated reality show on BET.
All these professional achievements belie the pain-filled personal saga that first introduced Cole to the spotlight. Many of her biggest hits — “I Should Have Cheated,” “Love,” “Let It Go,” “I Remember” and “Heaven Sent” — simultaneously evoke vulnerability and a fierce, don’t-mess-with-me confidence.
But Cole’s third album “A Different Me,” set for release on December 16 via Geffen/Interscope, finds the scrappy singer/songwriter having more fun.
“The first two albums (2005’s “The Way It Is” and 2007’s “Just Like You”) were more . . . painful,” she says. “It’s a different me this time: a young woman who’s still growing and finding myself, exploring life through different routes musically and in other areas. I wrote more about other people’s situations than my own. I’m moving forward.”
And while the pain quotient is definitely lowered on “A Different Me,” the emotional realness and accessibility that fans have come to love in Cole’s music remain — as do her searing vocals. It all adds up to “fearless R&B,” says her label boss, Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair.
She’s reflective and coy on the melodic lead single “Playa Cardz Right” featuring a posthumous Tupac Shakur; the track originally appeared on his 2006 album “Pac’s Life,” but dressed up with a new verse and arrangement, the song has shot to No. 25 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart after only five weeks. It’s competing with Cole’s last single from her sophomore album, “Heaven Sent,” which is No. 14 on the chart.
A girl-talk intro colorfully sets up Cole’s duet with real-life friend Monica on “Trust,” while the pulsating “Make Me Over” taps into Cole’s upbeat side. She further hones her ballad skills on the track “You Complete Me” and flashes a sultry side on a cover of R. Kelly’s 1992 hit, “Honey Love.”
While Cole’s rise may seem fast to the public, the 27-year-old singer first began dabbling in music when she was 12, recording with MC Hammer and being mentored by Shakur. Born in Oakland, Calif., to a drug-addicted mother and adopted by a family friend when she was 2, Cole is the younger sister of rapper Nutt-So.
“Other people recognized my talent before I did,” Cole says. “There were times when Hammer, Pac or other people from around my way would say, ‘That little girl can sing. Sing something.’ And I’d say, ‘You got $5?’”
Cole says the idea of seriously pursuing a music career didn’t kick in until Shakur was murdered in 1996 — “he saw it in me,” she says. That sorrow — and heartbreak brought on by a cheating boyfriend — pushed Cole to Los Angeles and a renewed focus on her career.
That hard work eventually led to an audition for Fair, who signed her initially to a contract in 2004. As Cole recalls, “That was the easiest part: Ron saying I was signed after hearing one verse of ‘Love’ and the chorus.”
The marketing strategy for “A Different Me” will focus on two objectives: building awareness of the album and revealing Cole’s evolution as an artist since “The Way It Is.”
Cole ushered in the third season of her top-rated BET reality show, “The Way It Is,” on Tuesday. Her current single, “Playa Cardz Right,” doubles as its theme music. The single’s video is receiving airplay on BET and MTV, while VH1 — which recently presented Cole with its Soul Sista Black Girls Rock Award — will air an upcoming hourlong special, “Soul Story.”
Beyond “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” or “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” her handlers are looking to showcase Cole’s tongue-in-cheek humor through bookings on shows like PBS’ “Tavis Smiley” and E’s “Chelsea Lately.” A holiday tour also featuring Lil Wayne and T-Pain will be revealed shortly.
Next year Cole will hit the road with a screenwriter in tow, as part of a plan to develop a movie based on her life. But Cole suggests her story is far from being told.
“I haven’t reached my goal yet,” she says, adding that she eventually wants to live in a log cabin and own horses, operate a veterinary hospital and pet store — plus a coffee shop on the side. “I want that real bad. I can just see the couches and the fireplace going.
“But to get there,” she notes, “I have to first accomplish my musical goals. To quote Tupac, ‘I got my money right, I got my mind right, and now I want war.’”
