A Different Me

A Different Me
Studio album by Keyshia Cole
Released	December 16, 2008
Recorded	2008
Genre	R&B, hip hop soul, hip hop, soul
Label	Imani, Geffen, Interscope
Producer	Keyshia Cole (exec.), Manny Halley (exec.), Ron Fair (exec.), Polow da Don, The Runners, The Outsyders, Kwamé, Orthodox & Ransom, Carvin & Ivan, Toxic, Tank, Jason T. Miller, Theron "Neffu" Feemster, Reo, Poke & Tone, Spandor
Professional reviews
The reviews parameter has been deprecated. Please move reviews into the “Reception” section of the article. See Moving reviews into article space. Allmusic 2008 The Boston Globe (favorable) 2008 Daily News 2008 Entertainment Weekly (B) 2008 Hollywood Reporter (favorable) 2009 New York Times (mixed) 2008 Rolling Stone 2009 Slant 2008 Spin 2008 USA Today 2008
Keyshia Cole chronology
Just like You (2007) A Different Me (2008) Calling All Hearts (2010)
Singles from A Different Me
"Playa Cardz Right" Released: October 28, 2008 "You Complete Me" Released: January 20, 2009 "Trust" Released: May 5, 2009

A Different Me is the third studio album by American R&B singer Keyshia Cole, released on December 16, 2008 in the United States.^[1][2] The album has been certified gold by the RIAA.^[3]

Conception

A Different Me focuses less on heartache and more on maturity of her vocals and lyrics.^[4] Cole explained that, "The first two albums were more…painful. 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."^[2]

On the songwriting process, Cole stated, "When I hear something, I hear it—it doesn't take me three, four, five times to hear a song and say, 'OK, let's write.' If I don't write to it right off the bat, it's not working."^[2] All the songs on the album were written or co-written by Cole.^[5] Guest appearances include Amina, Nas, Monica and 2Pac.^[5] Along with the album, Cole is developing a movie based on her life. A screenwriter will develop the script with Cole in 2009.^[2]

The lead single of the album, "Playa Cardz Right" featuring Tupac, was released on October 21, 2008. It originally appeared on Tupac's Pac's Life, but was rearranged by Cole and producers Ron Fair and Carvin & Ivan.^[2]

Reception

Critical response

The album received generally favorable reviews. Andy Kellman of Allmusic gave the album four out of five stars, calling the album "Cole's most free-spirited and adventurous album to date", going on to say that there are "at least seven songs here that rate as highly as the best from the first two albums".^[6] Jim Farber of Daily News also gave the album four out of five stars, noting that "Cole's assertions of sweetness and light hardly prove as seamless, or simple, as her songs declare". He declares that "her makeover feels less like a day at the spa than a night at the shrink", going on to say that "instead of seeming harrowing or dark", the album's result is "soulful and fulfilling".^[7] The Boston Globe said that "Cole emphatically dares to be different—and pretty great".^[8] On the contrary, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times noted that Cole "let go of her doubt", going on to say that "it's missed".^[9]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 322,000 copies in its first week, giving Cole her best week sales.^[10] In its second week, the album fell to number seven, selling 127,000 copies.^[11] In its third and fourth week, the album remained at number seven, selling 54,000 and 37,000 copies, respectively.^[12][13] In its fifth week, the album fell to number nine, selling 31,000 copies.^[14] In its sixth week, the album climbed to number six, selling 31,000 copies.^[15] In its seventh week, the album fell to number eight, selling 31,000 copies.^[16] In its eighth week, the album fell to number ten. Despite the two tracks not being singles, Beautiful Music and Where This Love Could End Up both made it on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #95 and #79. The album has sold over 900,000 copies in the U.S.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"A Different Me" (Intro)		Reo	1:47
2.	"Make Me Over"	Ester Dean, Polow da Don, Keyshia Cole[17]	Polow da Don & Ron Fair	3:05
3.	"Please Don't Stop"		The Runners & Ron Fair	4:04
4.	"Erotic"		"THE-RON" Feemster (Additional Production by Ron Fair)	4:10
5.	"You Complete Me"		"THE-RON" Feemster (Additional Production by Ron Fair)	3:51
6.	"No Other" (featuring Amina Harris)		Kwamé (Additional Production by Ron Fair)	3:34
7.	"Oh-Oh, Yeah-Yea" (featuring Nas)		The Outsyders	3:58
8.	"Playa Cardz Right" (featuring 2Pac)		Carvin & Ivan and Ron Fair	4:51
9.	"Brand New"		Additional Production by Ron Fair	4:16
10.	"Trust" (with Monica)		Toxic Donald Alford and Ron Fair	4:13
11.	"Thought You Should Know"		Tank and Ron Fair	4:18
12.	"This Is Us"		Ron Fair and Jason T. Miller	3:16
13.	"Where This Love Could End Up"		Poke & Tone and The ARE	2:55
14.	"Beautiful Music"		Poke & Tone and Spanador	3:59
15.	"A Different Me" (Outro)		Reo	1:31
16.	"Playa Cardz Right (No Rap Version)" (iTunes bonus track)		Carvin & Ivan and Ron Fair	3:57
17.	"I Love You (Part 3)" (featuring Lil Wayne) (iTunes bonus track)		Carvin & Ivan and Ron Fair	4:23

Notes

• "Make Me Over" contains a sample from "Tina's Wish", by Ike Turner and Tina Turner.^[17]

Personnel

"Toxic" Donald Alford – producer Ivan "Orthodox" Barias – producer, musician Keyshia Cole – executive producer, vocal arrangement, A&R, vocal producer Claudio Cueni – engineer Esther Dean – vocal arrangement, vocal producer Bojan Dugich – engineer Mike "Angry" Eleopoulos – engineer Eric Eylands – mixing assistant Ron Fair – organ, harmonica, conductor, producer, vibraphone, executive producer, vocal arrangement, horn arrangements, string arrangements, vocal producer, string conductor Ron Feemster – drums, keyboards, producer, musician Bernie Grundman – mastering Josh Gudwin – engineer Carvin "Ransum" Haggins – producer Manny Halley – executive producer, A&R, management Tal Herzberg – engineer, digital editing Dan Higgins – flute Nate Hill – assistant engineer Buffy Hubelbank – production coordination Chris James – engineer Johnny "J" – producer Ryan Kennedy – assistant engineer

Kid Named Gus – engineer Jonathan Merritt – assistant engineer Jason T. Miller – producer, guitar, synths Peter Mokran – mixing James Murray – engineer Vek Neal – illustrations Outsyders – producer, engineer Carlos Oyanedel – mixing assistant Dave Pensado – mixing Jason Perry – drums Poke & Tone – producer Polow da Don – producer James Poyser – producer David "DQ" Quinones – engineer Josh "Guido" Rivera – guitar Mike Ruiz – photography The Runners – producer, engineer Allen Sides – string engineer Johnnie "Smurf" Smith – keyboards Phil Tan – mixing Tank – producer Eric Weaver – mixing assistant Frank Wolf – string engineer Andrew Wuepper – mixing assistant

Chart history

Chart (2008)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200[18]	2
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[19]	1

References

1. ^ "Keyshia Cole official site". KeyshiaCole.com. http://www.keyshiacole.com/default.aspx. Retrieved 2008-11-07. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Mitchell, Gail (2008-11-07). "Keyshia Cole Shows A New Side Of 'Me'". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003888600. Retrieved 2008-11-07. 
3. ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum". RIAA. http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&title=a%20different%20me&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 2009-03-19. 
4. ^ "BET Keeps it all in the Family with the Return of 'Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is' and the New Original Series 'Brothers To Brutha'". MarketWatch. 2008-11-06. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/BET-Keeps-all-Family-Return/story.aspx?guid={FFC9F1C7-6D44-4C1E-8FB2-E04CD0BB45B5}. Retrieved 2008-11-07. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Keyshia Cole Set to Release 3rd CD - 'A Different Me'". MarketWatch. 2008-11-12. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Keyshia-Cole-Set-Release-3rd/story.aspx?guid={C9993023-171A-4E7F-906A-5B0B1851C227}. Retrieved 2008-11-125. 
6. ^ Kellman, Andy. "A Different Me - Overview". Allmusic. http://www.allmovie.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fcfyxz8kldse. Retrieved 2008-12-29. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ Farber, Jim (2008-12-21). "A Keyshia Cole front". Daily News. Mortimer Zuckerman. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2008/12/21/2008-12-21_a_keyshia_cole_front.html. Retrieved 2008-12-29. 
8. ^ "Keyshia Cole, A Different Me". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. 2008-12-15. http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2008/12/15/keyshia_cole_a_different_me/. Retrieved 2008-12-29. 
9. ^ Caramanica, Jon (2008-12-14). "Critics' Choice - New CDs". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/arts/music/15choi.html?_r=2. Retrieved 2008-12-29. 
10. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2008-12-24). "Taylor Swift Trumps Big Debuts To Stay No. 1". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/taylor-swift-trumps-big-debuts-to-stay-no-1003924895.story. Retrieved 2008-12-24. 
11. ^ Hasty, Katie (2008-12-31). "Taylor Swift Reigns Again On Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/taylor-swift-reigns-again-on-billboard-200-1003926053.story. Retrieved 2008-12-31. 
12. ^ Hasty, Katie (2009-01-07). "Taylor Swift Still In Control Of Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/taylor-swift-still-in-control-of-billboard-1003927556.story. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
13. ^ Hasty, Katie (2009-01-14). "Taylor Swift Tops Album Chart For Sixth Week". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/taylor-swift-tops-album-chart-for-sixth-1003929962.story. Retrieved 2009-01-14. 
14. ^ Hasty, Katie (2009-01-21). "Swift Makes It Lucky Seven Atop Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/swift-makes-it-lucky-seven-atop-billboard-1003932876.story. Retrieved 2009-01-21. 
15. ^ Hasty, Katie (2009-01-28). "Taylor Swift Album Starts Eighth Week At No. 1". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/taylor-swift-album-starts-eighth-week-at-1003935143.story. Retrieved 2009-01-28. 
16. ^ Hasty, Katie (2009-02-02). "Springsteen Has 'Dream' Debut Atop Album Chart". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/springsteen-has-dream-debut-atop-album-chart-1003937687.story. Retrieved 2009-02-02. 
17. ^ ^{a b} Copyright Catalog. United States Copyright Office. Search by Registration number, PA0001733233. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
18. ^ "The Billboard 200 - A Different Me - Keyshia Cole". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=305&cfgn=Albums&cfn=The+Billboard+200&ci=3105105&cdi=10100308&cid=01%2F03%2F2009. Retrieved 2008-12-31. ^{[dead link]}
19. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - A Different Me - Keyshia Cole". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=333&cfgn=Albums&cfn=Top+R%26amp%3BB%2FHip-Hop+Albums&ci=3105058&cdi=10098682&cid=01%2F03%2F2009. Retrieved 2008-12-31. ^{[dead link]}