Thanks to blogger Toya for finding this nugget of information on Keyshia Cole. According to the AP, the R&B Diva regrets her decision to release her single “I Ain’t Thru” from her new CD Calling All Hearts, featuring newcomer rapper Nicki Minaj.
Though her rap style is cartoonish, Minaj is the hottest thing smoking in Hip Hop right now. And it’s understandable that Cole wanted some of that heat on her record. But Cole now admits that that particular single wasn’t the right vehicle for both of them to jump on.
The label didn’t really want to drop the record because they knew that people wanted a more intense, soulful record from me about love and I really should have followed (their) direction. But I wanted that to be a statement record. It’s like saying, ‘I’m doing me, you know. I don’t have no regrets for nothing that I’m doing’
What Keyshia didn’t comment on was the ongoing power struggle between her management and the label that spilled out of the boardroom and into the streets.
Such was the animosity between her manager, Manny Hailey, and Interscope Records that Cole hired a second manager to keep an eye on things for her.
One of those ‘things’ being her fourth studio album, Calling All Hearts.
One Interscope record label exec told me the album sounded like it was “rushed in the studio.” The exec, who asked to remain anonymous, indicated that the higher ups at the label weren’t happy with the end product and they voted to shelve the album indefinitely. But, he said, Keyshia’s management insisted that the album be released.
“There’s no way to predict how people will respond to things,” said Ron Fair, chairman of Geffen (Interscope) Records. “It’s something that Keyshia really wanted to say.”
Calling All Hearts is in stores now.
