Keyshia Cole - A Different Me

Album Review of Keyshia Cole’s “A DIFFERENT ME”

By Michael Hannah a.k.a Young Son

A Different Me is the third studio album by American R&B singer Keyshia Cole set to be released on December 16, 2008. The album includes production from Ron Fair, Theron "Neffu" Feemster & Poke and Tone, amongst others. As we’ve seen plenty in this year of 2008, artists are following a trend of showing the world a “different” side of them personally and musically. Judging by the title of Keyshia’s newest release, she must have that in mind as well.

We slide into the album with the A DIFFERENT ME (INTRO), a record of weird proportions. The production was sub-par and Keyshia’s vocals and approach to the whole thing seemed really like something she was just playing around with. In my opinion, it was definitely an awkward way to begin an album. It didn’t really give a suspense factor or really lay down the album to be something epic. I felt the approach could have been way better.

MAKE ME OVER came with a live band feel, with excited percussion and horn samples. The song at first could sort of throw you off a bit, but when it comes in, your head starts bobbing. The vibe almost reminded me of some contemporary gospel song styles by artists such as Mary Mary or Yolanda Adams. The “Make Me Over” idea could definitely have a spiritual crossover. Polow da Don & Ron Fair definitely shined on the track. The song is short and sweet, wrapping up at a little over three minutes. It was a very solid, fun track in my opinion.

PLEASE DON’T STOP is the next record we get to. The high-tempo synthesized beat from The Runners exhibited standout quality on the track. Keyshia definitely delivers a mature party style record, almost reflective of dancehall…in a Rihanna style vibe, but just way better than Rihanna could ever do vocally in my opinion. I could actually hear Kanye spitting a feature verse on the track with his PARANOID flow (I bring that up a lot in my reviews…but I guess people are catching on to the trend and sticking with that 80s vibe on some of their joints! I can dig it).

We move on to a track called EROTIC. Keyshia’s vocals are reminiscent of Brandy’s late 90s style. The production exhibits some hard strung violins and other string instrumentation while Keyshia delivers some captivating, vulnerable lyrics with a sexual style of passion.

YOU COMPLETE ME contains some stripped down production on the verses and sounds like classic Keyshia Cole from the first album. Over some live drums in the faint background, Keyshia talks to her man about how he makes her who she is and that his love makes her feel whole.

NO OTHER comes in with some orchestral style production once again. I realized at this point that the records on the album seemed to mesh really well, in the since of the transition from one to another. It was almost like each new track is just an extension of the previous. Keyshia served up decent vocals on this track…though just like the previous ones, I felt she didn’t do anything vocally that was like “WOW! SHE SNAPPED”. I felt it really lacked that factor. Featuring artist Amina Harris, who previously was introduced with Keyshia on “Shoulda Let You Go” on Keyshia’s sophomore effort “Just Like You” served up a Weezy-esque style verse, except just the lady version. I felt her part was the standout point of the track. Overall, it was a decent song that still lacked that “umph” that I am used to from Keyshia.

We roll into the epic-on-paper super collab track “OH-OH YEAH” featuring Nas. I personally really liked the drum kit. The kicks were bouncy and real hollow. Keyshia sounded vocally captivating on this track. I really liked the brass production. The ongoing feel of all of the tracks productions, including this one and that ones preceding had a “Late Registration era Kanye West “ feel too it. Just like that project, this exhibited epic horns and a vibe that sort of thematically captivates you, mixed with a cinematic approach and feel.

PLAYA CARDZ RIGHT returned to that 90s style R&B soul that we love Keyshia Cole for. These are the type of tracks that make people call her the new Mary J. Blidge. What better rapper to posthumously lace the track than the legend Mr. Shakur himself, who made a huge impact on hip hop forever in the 90s. I liked the track a lot for that fact, but I felt the record came off sounding really unfinished and obviously since it was a track that was pieced together, the chemistry and vibe didn’t seem natural and it sort of didn’t really flow. I’d definitely give it an A for effort, but not a well put together track or single for Keyshia.

BRAND NEW was a sultry style ballad with an airy style production. Just like the previous track, though I didn’t mention it before, the vibe was totally different than that of the first 7 tracks with their retro and 80s style approach on the production.

TRUST was a really solid duet track. In the introduction, Monica sounded really mature talking to Keyshia, almost in an Aretha style vibe , though she’s only a year older than Keyshia. The two blended very well as the album vibe returned to some of the orchestral feel it contained initially. Keyshia finally exhibited some of her strong vocals she is usually known for on this song, especially in the last minute of the song.

As we move to the slightly amateur sounding production of THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW, Keyshia tells any prospective men that are planning to woo her that she is very perceptive of the whole game and she can hold things down herself. She basically just foiled the plans of many of the men who thought they could buy that one drink and have things on lockdown from initial charm alone. As the song continues, you can hear lyrically that Keyshia is starting to lighten up the tension from the initial feel she brought with her “independent woman” type stance. Overall, it sounded like a great track that actually could have been on “Just Like You”, Keyshia’s previous album.

THIS IS US served to be an entirely different vibe than what I’ve ever heard from Keyshia. I actually really liked it. The production was borderline country and I could have definitely been sung by another female pop or country singer such as Jordin Sparks or Leann Rhymes. I felt this was a standout track and really could be the signature track for the topic of the title. It definitely exhibit’s a “different” Keyshia.

WHERE THE LOVE COULD END UP clobbers you immediately. The song was vocally low-fat and ended very quickly. It was a decent, but very forgettable song. It almost seemed like something that you could vibe to in the background while doing something else. I guess they official call that sub-conscious listening.

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC had some warm production from Poke and Tone with some harmonious vocal spiels from Keyshia. It’s definitely a solid, lounge style two-step track for the grown and sexy. Her hip hop swag/rap style breakdown was projected very smoothly and gave the track that “umph” talked about earlier that made you want to play the track back again.

The outro takes us out and it sums of the album nicely. The same production going out that came in sounds much more appropriate on the outro than the latter.

Overall, I thought the album went by very quickly and was easily forgettable. There wasn’t a lot of parts in the album that made you really want to play things back again. It was a great effort by Keyshia, but sadly it may have been my least favorite album from her to date. Maybe it’s because it liked the jumping party tracks like “Let It Go” or the soulful, “I can’t help but turn this up because this song is so captivating” style joints like “Love”. Overall, I commend Keyshia for showing us “A Different Me” (in her words), but the original her, the one we all knew and loved, was just fine.

That’s just my two cents…and then some!

Website: http://www.youngsonmusic.com

Nathan, your opening paragraphs are always impressive/insightful! Good job man!

I LOVE the “different” Keyshia!
I was ready to give the album classic status after I heard the first half of it: R&B music I could listen in my Mp3 player and in my car without feeling embarrassed in front of the fellas?!? Only a FRESH PRODUCTION could pull that off, complemented with serious vocal skills and catchy, well developed melodies.

I mean, when was the last time a song caught you from the first second due to the VOCALS?! I’m talking about “Please don’t stop”, that starts off with soft angelic vocals but surprisingly turns into an upbeat joint, with serious skills on the production side (the breakdown with the drumming is CRAZY GOOD). Production on tracks like “No other” is unbelievably taken to the extreme: Dr. Dre meets orchestra meets guitar (electric too!)

MH, I’m surprised you gave this 3* rating; despite any flaws, that sounds very unfair... maybe this was just not for you. See the intro, for example, I loved it for the reason exactly you disliked it: “Keyshia’s vocals and approach to the whole thing seemed really like something she was just playing around with”.
See, Keyshia is such a good performer that she can do it even in her sleep! I actually liked the accurate concept of making an intro what it should be (opposed to the “intros” in hip hop albums, except maybe for Lupe’s "Free Chilly" and Kanye’s "Good Morning"): give you an idea of what is to come and not give you the whole picture right away!

Tracks like "This Is Us" and "Beautiful Music" might have me pressing the skip button, never because they are not good but rather cuz I wanna hear "Please Don`t Stop", "No Other", "Make Me Over" and "You Complete Me", again!
I smell Grammies…

PS: “At this point we’re exploiting his (Pac) memory more than honoring it.”
That’s a conscious statement… it makes you wonder! (… sips tea… lol @ Lameleon… engages brain... careful consideration… tea’s almost finished and…)
Hmmm… yeah, I agree, the Pac duet insanity should stop!

How much better is this than Beyonce’s “I am…” change attempt?! I think its 2x times better at least… Keyshia’s as comfortable in this album as ever, if not better! Thus, she’s my personal R&B princess and soon to be queen.

Nathan Review of Keyshia's Album was praising her too much, personally keyshia can never replace Mary J. Blige, coz her vocal-intelligence(harmonies,adlibs,& tones) has a lot of growing to do. I more so agree w/ michaelhannah's review this album is a tepback for keyshia compared to her last 2 albums...this album is truely forgettable...I really on like "trust" n thats bcoz monica's voice sounds so damn great.

i love dis album from what i heard so far

First of all keyshia cole is good and i gve her that much but whoever said she was better than beyonce is wrong and that show me that the people dont no a queen when they see her cause she is never better than beyonce not even compare to beyonce on some rreal shit i like keyshia but i love beyonce and brandy and i really thnk keyshia cole is not even compare to brandy becuse brandy is 10times better than keyshia cole.they all have differnt singing types dont get me wrong djbooth people all of them are great and beautful singer but keyshia cole is not better than beyonce or brandy sorry to whoever feel that she is cause she not realtalk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@ Tankhead: It’s ironic that you followed your bold remarks by ellipses: “this album is a stepback for keyshia compared to her last 2 albums...”; “this album is truely forgettable...”
Well, don’t be “shy”, go ahead and tell us WHY!

ok fredrico tell me how she better than beyonce please cause i want to no cause i dont see it at all she cool and she can sing but as i said she anit no where compare to beyonce singing wise not even brandy as i said tell me how she better prove me wrong

Deontelp, I didn’t compare singers, I compared albums! Even further, I compared the purpose of those albums, which was showing something different.
I justified my remarks about Keyshia doing well on her album: outshining production, for example. Beyonce owes more to production than Keyshia; see “Crazy in love” or “Baby Boy”… were any of Keyshia’s hits due to production, dancing or even videoclip (“Beautiful Liar”)? Keyshia is Jay-Z man: never had one number one record! But who denies his greatness? I could go on…
But you (like Tankhead) just threw statements as if they were self explainable!
“she is never better than beyonce not even compare to beyonce on some rreal @*#$!” Why is that comparison so absurd to you? So Beyonce sings better than ANYONE in the world now?
Acknowledge that even someone who never recorded an album MAY be better than Beyonce and that just the fact that you know Beyonce for long and she had many hits have made you biased. What about Jenifer Hudson? Did Beyonce shine brighter than her on “Dreamgirls” JUST cuz she was Beyonce? Beyonce’s not perfect. Alicia Keys maybe, she’s amazing live.
My point is, it’s ok for you to like Beyonce better, I LIKE Beyonce TOO, I just don’t understand why is it so absurd to say Keyshia is better. It’s worthless to explain how Keyshia did better than Beyonce on their last albums unless you’re unbiased.
:) But I loved you impersonation of Mims (no offense, we all do that sometimes, but man, you didn’t explain sh!t,): “keyshia cole IS NOT BETTER than beyonce or brandy sorry to whoever feel that she is CAUSE SHE NOT” …I got it: you’re right cuz you’re correct, I aint cuz I not!

PS: Did you (2* rating giving people) even listen to Keyshia’s album?

yes i listen to keyshia cole ablum and i only like 3 song on there but dont get me wrong beyonce and brandy are not the best singer in the world but they shouldnt be compare to keyshia cole i love keyshia cole but no she should be compare to them!!!!!!!!!!

It's a great album. It's that kind of album you put on and let it ride.

WOW, FREDRRICO I WASN'T BEIN SHY JUST DIDNT WANT 2 TYPE SO MUCH. AND YEAH I LISTENED TO KEYSH'S ALBUM 4 TIMES HOPIN EACH TIME MAYBE ONE MORE LISTEN WILL MAKE ME LIKE IT MORE. BOTTOM LINE IS THIS KEYSHIA IS NO RIHANNA. THOUGH HER VOCALS R FAR BETTER THAN RIRI, KEYSHIA ATTEMPTS TOO MANY POP INSPIRED TRACK ON THIS ALBUM & COMPARED TO HER LAST ALBUM VOCALLY SHE HASN'T SHOWN ANY GROWTH. ARTIST LIKE BEYONCE, BRANDY, ETC. SHOW VOCAL GROWTH WIT EACH ALBUM THEY RELEASE (EVEN IF THE SONG SUX, THE VOCALS R ON POINT) AND THE SAME VOCALS NOTES KEYSHIA HITS ON THIS ALBUM KOODA BEEN HEARD ON "JUST LIKE U". PRIOR TO HER LAST RELEASE SHE SAID SHE HAD TAKEN VOCAL LESSONS...I WAS MAD IMPRESSED WIT HER SOUND ON "JUST LIKE U" BUT NOW IT SEEMS SHE STOP THERE, UNAWARE OF THE FACT SHE STILL GOT LOTS OF GROWING TO DO, ESPECIALLY IF SHE WANTS TO TRUELY EARN MARY J 'S TITLE. AND AS FOR MY SAYING IT WAS FORGETTABLE, ILL RETRACT THAT BUT I WILL SAY MOST OF THE TRACKS WERE. NOTHING BESIDES "MAKE ME OVER", "TRUTH" & "OH OH, yEAH YEAH" STOODOUT TO ME. I RESPECT U SAYING U LIKE THIS ALBUM WHAT U CHOOSE TO LISTEN IS YOUR PEROGATIVE I WAS SIMPLY STATING MY FEELINGS ON "A DIFFERENT ME". LORD KNOWS KEYSHIA LAST 2 ALBUM GET MANY PLAYS ON MY IPOD, BUT THIS ALBUM I JUST DNT CARE TOO HEAR ANYMORE, HOPEFULLY HER NEXT ALBUM IS THE BETTER THAN ANY OF THE 3, BCOZ I LIKE HER AND THINK SHE IS A GREAT ASSET TO R&B/SOUL MUSIC, BUT RON FAIR AND IMANI MNGMNT NEED TO NOT CHANGE HER FORMULA SO MUCH, SHE IS A SOUL SANGER, SO I DONT NEED TO BE HEARING NO AVERAGE POP SONGS ON HER RECORDS, OR I GUARANTEEED HER ADULT FANBASE WILL NOT BUY HER ALBUMS.

I MEANT "TRUST", NOT "TRUTH"

I'll jsut say that I am NOT a fan of Keyshia Cole. I mean sometimes I like her but most of the time I don't. I must say I LIKE this album I only have run through it about twice tomorrow I will listen more. I hate her remake of Tina Turners Make Me Over but to name a few faves I love, "Please Don't Stop" "You Complete Me" "Oh-Oh Yea Yea" "This Is Us" "Beautiful Music" (minus the sing/rapping) & "Erotic" so I say GO KEYSH!!! I'm glad you made something from the not so hood/street I been through it all (even though I have) Kinda girls! I think it's great. I don't think she should stcik to ALL love songs on the next album but I think this was a nice change. It's a bit more mature and womanly. Just stop trying to hard int he videos lol ok! Live the Different Keysh.

Terrible mistakes in the post but oh well yall get the gist of it lol It's about 3am and I can barely see lol

pretty much like her last two. perfection. she deserves the pac track.

Well I like Keyshia Cole, but I must agree with the rest...NO WHERE does she come close to Beyonce, Bey isnt the best in the world but ONE Of the best in this world and in the game!!! Nor is she as good as Brandy or Mary J. Keyshia is an OK artist, her voice is DREADFUL live and is only good in the STUDIO but her songs are good. I think this album is okay her 1st album is the best to DATE. This album is giving: Im trying to be like evryone else when we ALL know she is no where near SEXY OR GLAMOROUS...I like 6 songs on this album thats it.Ill be purchasing the BOOTLEG...Sorry but "A DIFFERENT ME" Should have been a different CD. BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME KEYSH!!!

I like KC but this album is some TRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO disappointed. Keyshia stick to what you KNOW not what you SEE.

not feeling this album. it has some nice tracks, but none of em do I say "wow, I wanna hear that again. Where's the back button." It's music, but not stuff that will stay in your head. There are times where KC even sounds unsure about HOW to sound on the music. See: Make Me Over. Then, she sounds the same on all the other tracks, with each of them progressing the same... I love KC's voice, but it doesn't carry the passion on this album like it did the last one. These songs are just too light, airy, flat. Background music at best.

And yes FredRico, I DID listen to the whole album. I think the comparisons to Beyonce might be a little off, because they have different styles. But at least with I Am... there were songs that stayed in my head. Pop or not, it's not really good to me unless I find myself humming the melodies later in the day.

And Nathan, how can you leave out of the discussion Alicia Keys for Queen of R&B? She's had far, far more success that KC, and has the soul, the talent, and the musical background. AND she's way prettier lol. I don't hate too much on using Pac, unless it's really BAD (like his last 2 posthumously released albums). It seems that unless new kids hear him, only old peeps would honor him. I say use him sparingly, wisely, and make sure it's damn good.

This album is not the best its very flat @donjonjon you sumed it up for me! This is Keyshia's WORST CD thus far. Only song I can dig is " Exotic" and "Make me over" sounds ver Beyonce-ish and her voice is SO computerized through out the whole album. Im not feeling the "NEW HER" this album condrdicts the last one. "JUST LIKE YOU" now its "A DIFFERENT ME". Wont be buying this record, glad I listened to it first.

Solid effort. The fans spoke, it sold 330k copies first week.

Nice work, Nathan.

SHE THE COOLEST RAPPER

how do u mistak a singer fo a rapper?

I like this album alot. My favorite track gotta be Please Dont Stop the production was real good on that the runners did there thing. I like the duet wit monica to I could see that being a single in the future. I think you complete me is the next single but that track is jus aiight to me it gets a lil boring

worst ablum keyshia cole ever made !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Geez deonte, we got the point... :p chill my man! Peace

lol fredrico u mad i got u mad lol just telling the truth!!!!!!!

nice that is a good cd , i love how you sing you do great job on that cd. you are awesome at singing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dic iz da SHIT she definitly outdonr herself

gotta love it thiz cd is good keyshia did her thang go gurl!!

keyshia is one of my fav singers omg.............my fav song is please dont stop i dont want nobody stop lovi me and i will show somebody somethin brand new

I love this song always loved it

I LOVE YA GURL