Did you see her perform over the weekend? She killed it!
No, I'm not talking about B_____y S____s killing her career (as if) with a fascinatingly amateurish lip-sync of a song that didn't sound that bad. That performance may have had current popular girl or pop tart du jour Rihanna looking for an umbrella to hide her giggles under (time is cruel), but the wreck factor was predictable amid today's mania for celebrity ambulance-chasing.
I'm talking about Keyshia Cole, whose show at Mezzanine on Friday served up the kind of thrill you get when seeing someone really talented starting to peak in a way that makes you -- and probably her -- wonder just how great she can make this thing. After Hurricane Chris and the "One More Chance" remix (and Michael Jackson, Prince, Bell Biv Devoe -- and Luther) heated up the club, Keyshia set it on fire with two half-hour sets during which she brazenly covered songs that Mary J. Blige covered early in her career, and -- working a blond pageboy -- brought an earlier Bay Area soul singer, the legendary Etta James, to mind. Decked out in white, with a pair of tough backup singers and a young band (her guitarist looked straight outta high school, with enthusiasm to match), Keyshia was like a sports-fit young Etta.
Got any juices? Word on or around the concrete loop has been that Mary J. Blige and Keyshia are feuding. If so, Keyshia's interesting choice of cover versions at Mezzanine -- "I'm Going Down" and "Sweet Thing" -- threw down the gauntlet.
In covering the covers found on What's the 411? and My Life, Keyshia is being outrageously feisty, though as an Oakland girl, she has the right to channel the wrath of Chaka Khan more than the background to steal Rolls Royce from Mary. There's room for more than one real unpretentious woman in hip-hop soul, so the enmity, if it's something more than hype for both, is a shame. The bottom line is this: Keyshia is the fiercest singer to hit the charts since early Mary (and Mary today is not early Mary). At Mezzanine, Keyshia proved she's only getting better: her version of "I'm Going Down," was very much her version, and it hit like a knockout punch. No matter what song she sings, Keyshia Cole sounds like Keyshia Cole.
As for her own material, since it's still a few weeks before Just Like You officially drops, Keyshia stuck to tracks from her first album The Way It Is, a collection that I will testify keeps on giving in a way that no R&B record has, um, since maybe What's the 411? or My Life. Even on The Way It Is's non-single tracks, Keyshia brings a lot of different sounds, styles, and moods, and the songwriting on some of them -- "You've Changed" and "Love, I Thought You had My Back," in particular -- is as strong as on the tunes that have made her name to date. At Mezzanine, "We Could Be" was the song she made me hear a new way: tapping into an ambiguity not heard since the stylistically quite different Aaliyah, she makes you consider all the lyric's possibilities. There's no doubt whether the "real good good friend" she's addressing is a lover, but as for whether the lover is secret or not...she leaves that one open.
Keyshia went out singing "Let It Go, " the first single off Just Like You, where the power of her sisterhood lets a middling Missy and less helpful Lil' Kim take a ride to the charts. The "Juicy"-to-Mtume sample is obvious in a way that only a singer of Keyshia's caliber can make fresh -- once again, she's stepping back to the heyday of the Bad Boy era and showing she can hold her own.
On Just Like You, though, I'm expecting more songs that are just like Keyshia -- just like the best singer around right now.
Sorry Jose Gonzalez and Devendra: Keyshia gets first play from me on Sept. 25.
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Comments (5)
Yes, Mary today isn't Mary of yesterday, but she's still Mary and is 15 years deep in the game so please respect it'; the shade must cease. She can still get gutter with the new ghetto girls, but she's a grown ass woman now. And Keyshia Cole is well on her way to becoming her own artist. Hopefully she finds her own identity and people can identify with her.
Posted by Hip-Hop Soul Kid | September 11, 2007 05:08 PM
No arguments with that.
Believe me, I respect Mary, she's made some of my favorite recordings ever, and most of the people who know her as a pop star don't know the depth of those early albums. I don't think her more recent stuff is as solid, but she's evolved and still brings it sometimes.
There shouldn't be a problem with the Mary of now being different from the Mary of then. Keyshia is the one inviting comparisons by her choice of cover versions. It's brash, but she's talented enough in her own right to do it. I like it: what she's doing right now isn't that different from what sometimes went down between the likes of Billie and Dinah and Etta.
Posted by Johnny | September 11, 2007 05:19 PM
Johnny:
I have to say, you have written really good reviews on Keyshia Cole and, most recently, Mary J. Blige (and by that I mean they have been well-written and showcase a great deal of knowledge of contemporary R&B). Your observations are always on point, i.e. Mary's self-affirmations becoming trite and Beyonce's "B-Day" being packed with lyrics in each verse. Are you a fan at all of Ne-Yo's? I'm curious about what you think of his second CD, because in my opinion it did not have the same charisma that his debut album did.
Posted by R&B Chick and Former Intern | January 14, 2008 05:36 PM
Thank you.
I listen to a lot of R&B, it's almost another form of daily consciousness sometimes.
But Ne-Yo is someone I need to listen to more before I'd say anything. I do know that I like the title track -- or the melody in particular -- of Because of You. What do you like more about the first album in comparison to the second?
Posted by Johnny | January 15, 2008 07:17 PM
Honestly, I only listened to Because of You once; other than the title track and "Can We Chill," the album didn't grab me. In contrast, I listened to the first CD at LEAST twice a day EVERYDAY, which my former roommate can attest to. Because of You sounded rushed, and Ne-Yo did not sound like himself. Instead, most of the CD can be described as Prince impersonations sprinkled with lackluster "filler" songs. I have nothing against Prince, and I know Ne-Yo looks to him for inspiration, but it would have been nice to hear the thoughtful lyrics and fluidity that were present in his debut. Also, In My Own Words didn't have as many tacky sex songs. The raunch factor seemed too forced in Because of You.
Posted by R&B Chick | January 18, 2008 10:02 PM