LAST YEAR KEYSHIA COLE ROSE TO BECOME AN R&B PHENOMENON. USA Today said Cole separates herself from the average R&B/pop diva, as she makes you feel her heartbreak without the histrionics; and People said- [Keyshia Cole] shows that she is more than just a pretender on the thrown and Rolling Stone said Cole serves up grit beyond her years. Her fans agreed, The Way It Is went PLATINUM. Keyshia's sophomore album entitled Just Like You demonstrates that with earnest desire and dedication you can succeed; anyone can, like you!On Just Like You, her sophomore disc, Keyshia Cole proves for a second time--for sure and way beyond the shadow of a doubt--that she's headed for Mary J. Blige-style hugeness. If 2005's The Way It Is won fans for its bottomless vocal appeal and mild grit, Just Like You scores with a more potent and refined dose of the same. Right out of the gate these tracks grab hold: "Let It Go" latches onto a groove and rides it hard, and not just because Lil' Kim and Missy Elliott are gripping, too. It's a Keyshia-derived attitude, an even-keeled brand of cool, that seeps into all 14 songs and gives them heft and substance. Hear it on "Got to Get My Heart Back" and "Give Me More," two of the best and most honest-sounding tracks on a disc that got a lot of help--Diddy guests, and so do T.I., Too $hort, and Young Dro--but clearly didn't need it. Count on Just Like You landing on a lot of R&B top 10 lists for 2007. --Tammy La Gorce
