A Different Me (2008)

Image credit: Jordan Strauss

A New Woman: Keyshia Cole

If Keyshia Cole tired of the nonstop Mary J. Blige comparisons her first two discs of raw-edged R&B earned her, she's chosen an odd way to escape them: On A Different Me, this Oakland-born belter turns her focus from heartbreak to happiness only a few years after Blige promised she was done with drama. Fortunately, Cole (the star of her own hit BET reality series) still sounds plenty intense singing about finding a guy who completes her; in her experience-ravaged vocals you can hear relief, but also the knowledge that stability has a way of attracting trouble. B

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