Keyshia Michelle Cole, (born October 15, 1981) is a Grammy Award nominated American , R&B singer-songwriter, and record producer known for her soulful voice. She released her platinum selling debut album The Way It Is in 2005, and her second album Just Like You in 2007. Biography Her mother is African-American and her father is Italian-American as her mother Frankie tells but Keyshia Cole took a DNA test. Her mother's drug addiction led to her becoming a foster child adopted by Yvonne Cole at the age of 4. She has said that her musically talented brother, Sean Cole and Tupac Shakur were close friends . Sean Cole raps under the alias "Nutt-So", and recorded several songs with Shakur before his death. Keyshia's first recordings were with MC Hammer at the age of twelve. In the early 2000s, she appeared on tracks by San Francisco Bay Area artists including Tony! Toni! Toné!'s D'Wayne Wiggins and San Francisco rapper Mess