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

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

I'm sorry this girl CANNOT sing. It's like she's trying really hard to be a young Mary J and Still hasn't made it halfway. Her lyrics are banging, music is okay, VOICE TOTALLY IRRITATING!!!!!!! I bought this cd and can't even listen to because after two or three songs, her little nasally sung voice gets on my last nerve. It's like she Brittany's black counterpart. Don't waste your money.

Man, how can you like this album, specifically for the Love track. They won't stop playing it on the radio and it makes me suicidal everytime it comes on. The way her voice cracks during the chorus is very disturbing, it's like she's doing a yoddle instead of singing. Lets hope the next album flops. Sorry Keisha, but you need to find a new job.

Let's bring on the unhelpful votes, since there's alot of people that think this garbage is good.

First off Mary J she isn't, first off Mary had producers and writers who gave her material that she could work with. In her early years, she never covered anything she couldn't handled and was allowed to grow as the years went by. Mary brought raw emotion and attitude to tracks in a way the music world didn't see before, and that's why we love her till this day. I see none of that in Keysha Cole, none whatsoever, this girl flat out sucks, and that's being nice.

After listening to "I Should Of Cheated", I felt cheated out of my money and the four minutes of my life I'll never see again. The torture reached a climax when "I Found You" blasted, unfortunately found my ears. Hearing her voice cracking and all, made being deaf sound a little pleasant, where's Simon when you need him. This girl can not sing, she makes Total sound like En Vogue, Ashanti sound like Aretha Franklin, and Mya sound like Patti LaBelle. Soon as her voice comes on the radio, the dog start howling.

The sad thing is, we'll have to endure her for another year or two. If I had my way and saw this chick in concert, I'd have a bullhorn and tell her to shut up. And no, acting ghetto and dressing in what Foxy Brown and Lil Kim tossed out the window isn't sexy, is downright slutty. Sane people take a pass on this please, don't insult your intelligence.