Keyshia Cole and Ne-Yo

It’s not normally a good idea to meet your idols, so goes the accepted wisdom. It’s doubly true if they happen to be musicians, since one builds up such a convincing portrait of them based on their music that’s probably still false. However, it seems Keyshia Cole had the experience that every musician dreams of having when they meet their idols. At the age of twelve, Cole and her brother Sean were trying to make it in the music world so they decided to go straight to the source for information. They called MC Hammer. Of course, Hammer was nothing if not a busy man in the early 90’s, so it took many, many calls and many terse conversations with his secretary but miraculously, they managed to get through to him, and the twelve year old Cole found herself recording with him soon afterwards.

What’s more, it would happen again, but this time in infinitely more tragic circumstances. After working with Hammer Cole became something of a name in the Hip-Hop scene and later struck up a friendship with Tupac Shakur. Again, it was almost too good to be true, as he promised to help her out with her singing career, giving her a leg up by letting her write and sing a hook on an upcoming track of his. However, that would all happen on the same night he was tragically murdered. However, Keyshia Cole turned out to be the kind of artist who wouldn’t need that kind of help, and true to form, her first major successes would come on her own terms.

At the age of 18 she moved to Los Angeles from Oakland, and by the time she was 21 she was introduced to Ron Fair, an A&R man from A&M Records. He heard a demo of “Love”, a song that would go on to be her first platinum single, and signed her almost immediately after. Her first singles may not have set the charts alight but they showed off some impressive collaborators, with hr debut single featuring Eve and her second single being produced by some no-hoper called Kanye West. Her first mixtape came out soon afterwards, which again saw some impressive team ups with Fat Joe and Ghostface Killah. However, her debut album was what made her a star.

It was an immediate top ten smash, selling nearly a hundred thousand copies in its first week. Everything that followed “The Way It Is” was a hit, third single “I Should Have Cheated” hitting number 30, and “Love” going straight in at number six. Cole had arrived. Since then she’s gone from strength to strength, with two other platinum albums following her debut and since 2006, she’s had a succesful side venture as a reality TV star, with a number of shows following her personal life to this very day. Clearly, Cole is an artist that every fan of Hip-Hop and R&B should feel pretty blessed to have going, and she’s not out of her prime yet. One to see as soon as possible.

Originally from Camden, Arkansas, Ne-Yo grew up in and has worked in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is said that growing up in Vegas with only his Mother after his parents’ divorce helped him become the songwriter he is today; as she encouraged him to keep a journal to help him work through his emotions and this became the inspiration for his song writing process.

Not only is Ne-Yo known for his smooth R’n’B, soul pop and hip-hop, but he is also an actor, producer and dancer with a wide range of all star collaborations to boast of. Most notably are the likes of hit track “Knock You Down,” with Kanye West and Keri Hilson, “Irreplaceable” with Beyoncé and “Take A Bow” and “Unfaithful” with Rihanna, but the list is extensive.

The first big move to launch his successful song writing career certainly set the tone in terms of genre and chart success, as Ne-Yo co-wrote Mario’s hit single “Let Me Love You” released in late 2004 and named the eighth most successful single of the decade by Billboard.

Ne-Yo’s solo work followed suit from his success on Mario’s single with a record deal from label Def Jam. Within just two years (2006-2008) Ne-Yo released three studio albums, “In My Own Words,” “Because of You,” and “Year of the Gentleman” all of which went platinum in the US and received global chart success. His most popular singles from the albums include “So Sick” (one of many collaborations with Stargate, a Norwegian production duo), “Because of You,” “Miss Independent” and “Closer.”

His later works, “Libra Scale” released in 2010 and “R.E.D” released on label Motown in 2012, did not see Ne-Yo maintain his mainstream success. Instead both albums, which were much more dance-pop inclined, spent a little time in the charts, the latter being his slowest selling album of all.

Ne-Yo continues to write dance-pop tracks much like his collaboration with rapper Pitbull, “Give Me Everything”, whilst maintaining his strong connection to his R’n’B roots.