Just like You is the second studio album by American singer Keyshia Cole. It was released by Geffen Records on September 24, 2007. Cole started work on the project shortly after the release of her debut album, The Way It Is (2005). She consulted a variety of producers and songwriters to work with her on the album, including Missy Elliott, Bryan-Michael Cox, Scott Storch, Rodney Jerkins, The Runners, J. Wells, Pete Rock, and Soulshock. Guest vocalists include Elliott, Lil' Kim, Too $hort, Amina Harris, Anthony Hamilton, Young Dro, T.I., Chink Santana, and Piper.
| Just like You | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 24, 2007 | |||
| Length | 57:23 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
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| Keyshia Cole chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Just Like You | ||||
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Upon release, Just Like You received mixed and positive reviews from music critics who considered it one of the better R&B albums of the year but was critical about the abundance of ballads within the track listing. She was also dubbed by some critics as the "princess of hip-hop soul".[1][2] It was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards that was held February 2008, but lost to Ne-Yo's Because of You (2007). As of December 2007, the album has been certified platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and remains Cole's highest-selling album to date with 1.7 million copies sold.
Conception
editCole started work on her second album shortly after the release of her debut album, The Way It Is. Cole said about the album: "This album is more about you inside, and how you need to get yourself together, rather than pointing at somebody else and saying: 'You don't treat me right, you don't do this.' I'm truly lovin it, I listen to it myself. The last album, I didn't really listen to until I went on tour. When you listen to your own experience, it's like, I don't want to hear it anymore. I do write from my personal experiences, but I think it's very important to young women."[3]
Promotion
editThe first single off the album is "Let It Go", an upbeat club track that features Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim. The video premiered on BET's Access Granted on July 11, 2007. The second single is the Darkchild-produced "Shoulda Let You Go". The album was promoted with the second season of her reality show, Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is, which premiered on October 30, 2007.[4] "Give Me More" came in at No.1 on The Editor's List inside Cove Magazine October 2007 Issue for the top 5 Soul/R&B recordings for the month of September 2007. The album's title track was the theme for Cole's BET reality series during seasons 2 and 3.
On November 27, 2008, the album was released in Australia, titled Just Like You (International Deluxe Version). This release is a hybrid of Just Like You and The Way It Is and also features Keyshia's collaborations with Diddy and Sean Paul. It contains 16 songs and has a different cover to the original version of the album. On May 9, 2008, the international album had been released in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as well.[5]
Tour
editFollowing the album's release, Cole went on a promotional tour for the album.[6]
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 72/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |   [8] |
| Allmusic |  [9] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[10] |
| The Boston Globe | (mixed)[11] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C[12] |
| New York Times | (favorable)[13] |
| Rolling Stone | [14] |
| Stylus | A−[15] |
| The Village Voice | (favorable)[16] |
| Washington Post | (favorable)[17] |
Just Like You received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 72 based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7] Album of the Year collected 3 reviews and calculated an average of 67 out of 100.[18]
Allmusic editor Andy Kellman found that "in some ways, Just Like You plays out like an album that could've only been made after Mary J. Blige's Breakthrough, balancing desperation with conviction and mixing lush arrangements with penetrative melodies. Despite all this weirdness, this stands as a very good album by Keyshia Cole to the point where Cole's voice grows from an occasionally powerful emotive device into a versatile instrument."[9] Similarly, Thomas Inskeep from Stylus noted that while the "album isn't perfect," it proves "that Cole's capable of some seriously rich, powerful art." He added: "Cole's still finding her way, but on Just Like You it sounds as if she's already named and claimed her voice. Just Like You is tough and tender like Blige's sophomore album My Life, and while it may not quite match its predecessor's legendary status, it's not so far off and it sounds like the R&B album of the year, easily."[15]
Christian Hoard from Rolling Stone called the album "a work of engaging, pop-wise R&B. The beats stick mostly to jumpy keyboard bounce with string stabs and other minor adornments. The ballads are rarely more than snoozy. Cole is at her best when she gives love a kick in the pants. She is not Mary J. Blige yet, but she certainly sounds older than her years."[14] In her review for The Boston Globe, Joan Anderman wrote that the "songstress could have used a good editor on her second album, which is bogged down by too many ballads and overly lush production. But even though Just Like You doesn't match the raw, anthemic power of her 2005 debut, The Way It Is, Cole's a singer to be reckoned with, particularly in an urban market saturated with imitators."[11] Entertainment Weekly's Neil Drumming felt that "Cole still traffics in heartache. But whereas The Way It Is relied on raw hip-hop beats, Just Like You drips with treacly strings and piano. This counterintuitive lushness smothers Cole's modest wail on cuts like "Heaven Sent." The album's best tracks are its barest."[12]
Commercial performance
editOne week after its release, Just Like You debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 behind Rascal Flatts's Still Feels Good (2007) and at the top of Billboard's official Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with first week sales of 281,419 copies that was more than quadruple the first week of her debut album. [19] By December 2007, the album had shipped 1,000,000 copies in the United States and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[19] Just Like You went on to finish 87th on the Billboard 200 and 19th on Billboard's 2007 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums year-end chart.[20][21] As of 2010, the album has sold 1,700,000 copies in the United States.[22]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let It Go" (featuring Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim) |
| 3:58 | |
| 2. | "Didn't I Tell You" (featuring Too $hort) | 3:51 | ||
| 3. | "Fallin' Out" |
| 4:27 | |
| 4. | "Give Me More" |
|
| 3:53 |
| 5. | "I Remember" |
|
| 4:20 |
| 6. | "Shoulda Let You Go" (featuring Amina Harris) |
|
| 3:40 |
| 7. | "Heaven Sent" |
|
| 3:52 |
| 8. | "Same Thing (Interlude)" |
|
| 1:35 |
| 9. | "Got to Get My Heart Back" |
| [23] | 4:17 |
| 10. | "Was It Worth It?" | 3:36 | ||
| 11. | "Just Like You" |
|
| 4:06 |
| 12. | "Losing You" (featuring Anthony Hamilton) |
|
| 3:49 |
| 13. | "Last Night" (featuring Diddy) |
| 4:15 | |
| 14. | "Work It Out" |
| 4:04 | |
| 15. | "Let It Go (Remix)" (featuring Missy Elliott, Young Dro and T.I.) |
|
| 3:40 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16. | "Trust" (bonus track) |
|
| 4:25 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let It Go" (featuring Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim) |
| 3:58 | |
| 2. | "Last Night" (featuring Diddy) |
| 4:15 | |
| 3. | "(When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me" (with Sean Paul) |
|
| 4:04 |
| 4. | "Love" |
|
| 4:19 |
| 5. | "Fallin' Out" |
| 4:27 | |
| 6. | "Was It Worth It?" | 3:36 | ||
| 7. | "I Changed My Mind" |
| 3:23 | |
| 8. | "I Remember" |
|
| 4:20 |
| 9. | "I Should Have Cheated" |
|
| 5:28 |
| 10. | "Heaven Sent" |
|
| 3:52 |
| 11. | "You've Changed" |
|
| 4:17 |
| 12. | "Situations" (featuring Chink Santana) |
|
| 4:46 |
| 13. | "Shoulda Let You Go" (featuring Amina Harris) |
|
| 3:40 |
| 14. | "Give Me More" |
|
| 3:53 |
| 15. | "Let It Go (Remix)" |
|
| 3:40 |
| 16. | "Love, I Thought You Had My Back" |
|
| 4:10 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let It Go" (featuring Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim) |
| 3:58 | |
| 2. | "(When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me" (with Sean Paul) |
|
| 4:04 |
| 3. | "Didn't I Tell You" (featuring Too $hort) | 3:51 | ||
| 4. | "Fallin' Out" |
| 4:27 | |
| 5. | "Give Me More" |
|
| 3:53 |
| 6. | "I Should Have Cheated" |
|
| 5:28 |
| 7. | "I Remember" |
|
| 4:20 |
| 8. | "Shoulda Let You Go" (featuring Amina Harris) |
|
| 3:40 |
| 9. | "Heaven Sent" |
|
| 3:52 |
| 10. | "Same Thing (Interlude)" |
|
| 1:35 |
| 11. | "Got to Get My Heart Back" |
|
| 4:17 |
| 12. | "Was It Worth It?" | 3:36 | ||
| 13. | "Just Like You" |
|
| 4:06 |
| 14. | "Losing You" (featuring Anthony Hamilton) |
|
| 3:49 |
| 15. | "Last Night" (featuring Diddy) |
| 4:15 | |
| 16. | "Work It Out" |
| 4:04 | |
| 17. | "Let It Go (Remix)" (featuring Missy Elliott, Young Dro and T.I.) |
|
| 3:40 |
Notes and sample credits
- ^[A] denotes co-producer
- ^[B] denotes vocals producer
- ^[C] denotes additional producer
- ^[D] denotes uncredited producer
- "Let It Go" samples "Juicy Fruit" performed by Mtume.
- "Got to Get My Heart Back" contains excerpts from "She's Only a Woman" performed by The O'Jays.
- "Losing You" contains excerpts from "Sorry" performed by Natalie Cole.
Charts
edit
Weekly chartsedit
|
Year-end chartsedit
|
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[34] | Silver | 60,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[35] | Platinum | 1,700,000[22] |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
edit| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | September 24, 2007 |
|
|
| United Kingdom | |||
| United States | September 25, 2007 | ||
| Canada | |||
| Brazil | October 8, 2007 | ||
| Italy | October 24, 2007 | ||
| New Zealand | November 8, 2007 | ||
| Singapore | |||
| Japan | |||
| European Union | |||
| Germany | May 9, 2008 | ||
| Austria | |||
| Switzerland | |||
| Australia | November 27, 2008 |
References
edit- ^ "KEYSHIA COLE: Just Like You (Label: Confidential, Geffen) – Soul and Jazz and Funk".
- ^ "Jamaica Gleaner Online".
- ^ ""The Making of Keyshia Cole's "Let It Go""". Vibe. Archived from the original on June 28, 2007. Retrieved June 25, 2007.
- ^ "Keyshia Cole Readies Sophomore Album". Billboard. June 11, 2007. Retrieved June 11, 2007.
- ^ "Diskografie Keyshia Cole Alben". KeyshiaCole.de. Archived from the original on May 27, 2008. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
- ^ "Blog". May 3, 2022.
- ^ a b "Just Like You: Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ Nero, Mark Edward. "Just Like You (2007)". About.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Kellman, Andy. "Just Like You". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Review. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ Walters, Barry. "Billboard CD reviews: Fall Out Boy and Keyshia Cole". Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2020.[dead link] Alt URL
- ^ a b "Tracking the new sounds of the season". The Boston Globe. October 7, 2007. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ a b Drumming, Neil (October 1, 2007). "Just Like You". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (September 24, 2007). "New CD's". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ a b Hoard, Christian (October 18, 2007). "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b Thomas, Inskeep (October 17, 2007). "Just Like You". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on February 19, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ Linden, Amy (September 18, 2007). "Keyshia Cole's Just Like You". The Village Voice. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ Godfrey, Sarah (October 16, 2007). "Keyshia Cole and Jill Scott, Keeping the Music Real". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ "Just Like You". Album of the Year. United States. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ a b "Keyshia Cole Debuts at #2 on Billboard 200". Rap-Up. March 10, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ^ a b "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 2007". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ^ a b "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Year-End 2007". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ^ a b "No. 1 or not, Keyshia Cole is still growing". The Jamaica Observer. December 22, 2010. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014.
- ^ "Pete Rock: Keep It Rollin'". XXL. January 10, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
- ^ "Just Like You: Keyshia Cole: Music". Amazon. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
- ^ "Albums : Top 100". Jam!. October 7, 2007. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ ちょうどあなたのように|キーシャ・コール [Just Like You | Keyshia Cole] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ^ Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: Chris C. – CZR". Zobbel.de. Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
- ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ^ "Keyshia Cole Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ^ "Keyshia Cole Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ^ "Keyshia Cole Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2008". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2008". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ "British album certifications – Keyshia Cole – Just Like You". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
- ^ "American album certifications – Keyshia Cole – Just Like You". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 7, 2018.