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The Way It Is
 
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The Way It Is [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

Keyshia Cole
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (244 customer reviews) More about this product

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Frequently Bought Together

The Way It Is + Just Like You + A Different Me
Price For All Three: $34.94

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  • This item: The Way It Is ~ Keyshia Cole

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  • Just Like You ~ Keyshia Cole

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  • A Different Me ~ Keyshia Cole

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (June 21, 2005)
  • Original Release Date: June 21, 2005
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Explicit Lyrics
  • Label: A&M
  • ASIN: B00096S3PY
  • In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (244 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,097 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.

Samples
Song Title Time Price
listen  1. (I Just Want It) To Be Over 4:01$0.89 Buy Track
listen  2. I Changed My Mind 3:18$0.89 Buy Track
listen  3. Love, I Thought You Had My Back 4:10$0.89 Buy Track
listen  4. I Should Have Cheated 5:27$0.89 Buy Track
listen  5. Guess What [Explicit] 3:45$0.89 Buy Track
listen  6. Love 4:15$0.99 Buy Track
listen  7. You've Changed 4:16$0.89 Buy Track
listen  8. We Could Be 3:11$0.89 Buy Track
listen  9. Situations [Explicit] 4:45$0.89 Buy Track
listen10. Down and Dirty 3:51$0.89 Buy Track
listen11. Superstar 3:47$0.89 Buy Track
listen12. Never [Explicit] 4:04$0.89 Buy Track


Editorial Reviews

Product Description
KEYSHIA COLE is the real deal. Like many young people raised in tough neighborhoods, the 21-year-old songstress endured a tumultuous childhood in Oakland, California, and has fought all her life to keep her dream of a music career alive. Now she’s realizing that dream on her own terms with her first album for the A&M label, The Way It Is. It’s been a long road for Keyshia, but it’s her powerful voice – a bell-like instrument whose soaring clarity is topped off with a tantalizing touch of soulful grit – that’s carried her through, not to mention the diminutive singer’s personal combination of sugar, spice, sass and sex appeal, along with a solid-steel spine. With production by Kanye West, Krucial Keys, Ron Fair and Chink Santana, Keyshia’s dreams have been realized.

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Customer Reviews

244 Reviews
5 star:
 (148)
4 star:
 (59)
3 star:
 (18)
2 star:
 (10)
1 star:
 (9)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (244 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
45 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Keyshia Cole : A great Singer!, June 21, 2005
By M Felix (A Southern Californian Forced into Washinton state) - See all my reviews
  
Keyshia Cole is a singer that will be around for a long time. When she sings "I just want it to be over", it ain't about her music career. She has a great voice. To me, it is like a blend between Mary J Blige and the late, Great Aaliyah. Whooo, Keyshia can SANG! Kind of like Toni Braxton, a voice like this doesn't come around too often. I can't wait for Keyshia's second album.

TOP Tracks
1. I just Want it to be over
2. Love
3. Guess What
4. I changed my mind
5. Love, I thought you had my back
Comment Comments (3) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
38 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A young woman with a voice that matches her looks., August 3, 2005
By J. Highsmith (Mitchellville, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
I was first introduced to Keyshia Cole on a show that BET used to have on their network entitled The Next. The show was 30 minutes long and the program would show videos from artists that were very popular in their region and not mainstream or they would show videos from artists that were new and just getting into the business. I saw a video from Keyshia Cole on The Next entitled "I Changed My Mind". Of course, the first thing that came to my mind was I see we have a 2004 Faith Evans, but Keyshia could actually sing and you could definitely relate to what she was talking about in the song. Kanye West supplied a nice track and I knew that Keyshia had the potential to deliver a nice debut CD. I told my old roomate about how much I liked the song and he downloaded three other songs from Keyshia entitled "We Could Be", "I Should Have Cheated", and "Guess What" featuring Jadakiss. All three of these tracks were tight especially "I Should Have Cheated" which had Keyshia talking about a situation she was in and describing the fact that if she knew that the man that she was dealing with was shady that she should have "payed him back" in the worst way, meaning that she should have cheated on him when she had the chance to. Although, some people don't want to deal with real issues when it comes to male/female relationships, Keyshia does a good job of bringing details to the forefront, whether the situation was factual or not. Months later, I heard another track from Keyshia entitled "I Just Want It To Be Over", which is definitely a banger. Kerry Brothers, Mr. Krucial Keys himself, proves why he and Alicia have been able to churn out those hits all along. Keyshia basically is talking about how she is tired of dealing with the day to day stress of being in a relationship that is going nowhere and she just wants things to be done and over with. I knew that once "The Way It Is" was released, that I would definitely go and purchase the CD.

The best moments on this CD is when the right music is put behind the fiery voice of Ms. Keyshia Cole. The best example of this is on the song "Love". No, the track is not a remake of the Musiq Soulchild song with the same title. Keyshia composes her own version with help from Greg Curtis and others. This track should definitely be a blueprint for newcomers in the r&b game. The track doesn't get in the way of Keyshia's vocals and you're meant to believe that she is the only one who can really tell you about what "Love" is about. It sounds as if the track, "Love, I Thought You Had My Back" starts things off as Ron Fair and Toxic use a perfect "Love Jones" sample to start the "love" off and then the actual slow jam "Love" brings things home as part of a two part song. "We Could Be" has Keyshia trying to convince a male that she has been platonic friends to consider taking things to another level or being more than just platonic friends. She does a good job in trying to prove her case. "Situations" is a nice midtempo jam until Chink Santana, who has worked with Ashanti and other The Inc. artists, fails at giving his best 2Pac impersonation. "You've Changed" ends up being a decent answer to Jay Z's "Song Cry" as Keyshia uses the same track to make a sequel of the actual song from the Def Jam President. It would have worked out even better if Keyshia would have found a way to release this track closer to the time when Jay Z first released the song.

Now don't get me wrong, "The Way It Is" isn't without its faults. The tracks "Down And Dirty" and "Superstar" clearly don't compare to the quality of other songs on the CD. They would have been better off just leaving these two songs off of the CD although Keyshia will try to win you over with her voice on "Down And Dirty". On "Guess What" certain people will be turned off by the excessive cursing on the song. There is such thing as unnecessary and excessive cursing on a r&b song but if you listen to the track closely then you will know why the language is needed for that particular track.

"The Way It Is" is a quality debut CD from Keyshia Cole. You get a decent dose of her potential in the r&b game. In the future, if she can get the same quality in the music that she clearly has in her voice, then Keyshia will have no problems staying around for awhile and we all want that.

James' Top 5

1) I Changed My Mind
2) Love
3) I Just Want It To Be Over
4) I Should Have Cheated
5) We Could Be
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Hot!!!!!, May 8, 2006
By KC504 (New Orleans,LA) - See all my reviews
This is one of the few albums that you can listen to all the way through,I give it 5 stars.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best!!
If you want to get the best Keyshia Cole experience, then this is the album to get. I thought "Just Like You" was her at her best, but this is it. Get it!!! Read more
Published 7 months ago by A. Williams

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning Debut
From the first horn blasts on "(I Just Want It) To Be Over" to the last lingering chords on "Never," the debut album by R&B singer Keyshia Cole is absolutely stunning. Read more
Published 14 months ago by dramadude 186

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love This Joint!
Now This Is What Am Talking Bout! A Young Sister Who Has Mad Skills That, Sings From The Depts Of Her Soul. "I Changed My Mind" "Love" I Just Want It To Over". My Favs On This Cd.
Published 16 months ago by Queen Of Books

4.0 out of 5 stars Has a good future in the music business!
This lady will have a good career if she gets support from her record label and provided she records good material with good producers,she has the vocal chops,which is more then I... Read more
Published 21 months ago by J. L. Gee

4.0 out of 5 stars Debut splitting at the seams with potential...
With the recent release of Keyshia Cole's sophomore album `Just Like You' I decided to go back to her debut album and give it the grade. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Andrew Ellington

5.0 out of 5 stars keyshia
what do you say to this cd??? OMG! i just love her voice! can't wait for more & more from this girl! this is a great cd. not one bad song on it!
Published 21 months ago by C. daniels

5.0 out of 5 stars Keyshia the songstress. HOT is an understatement. I think both albums are neck and neck...
If not, this one is surprisingly superior. But Just Like You is f'in hot R&B classics too. Cop em both! Read more
Published 23 months ago by Adrian the Complex Lonely

4.0 out of 5 stars No different from the U.S. release!
Just look at the track listing! Anyway, this CD is good. Almost great!

My favorite tracks are I Changed My Mind, (I Just Want It) To Be Over, Never, I Should Have... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Adrian the Complex Lonely

4.0 out of 5 stars great CD
I very rarely buy CD's, but she has a lot of great songs on here and I'm glad I added it to my collection.
Published on July 14, 2007 by Valerie Filipowski

5.0 out of 5 stars Keyshia is Da Bomb!!
Keyshia is a very beautiful, sexy, talented young woman. Everyone should buy this cd from my future ex-wife/baby mother.
Published on July 9, 2007 by Bruce Wayne

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The Way It Is opens new browser window by Keyshia Cole opens new browser window is mainly Contemporary R&B, quite Blues, with hints of Traditional R&B”

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Way It Is
51% buy the item featured on this page:
The Way It Is 4.3 out of 5 stars (244)
$13.98
Just Like You
24% buy
Just Like You 4.3 out of 5 stars (132)
$10.97
A Different Me
17% buy
A Different Me 3.9 out of 5 stars (99)
$9.99
Jennifer Hudson
4% buy
Jennifer Hudson 3.9 out of 5 stars (163)
$9.99



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