LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 21: Keyshia Cole attends the world premiere screening of Lifetime's "Keyshia Cole: This is my story" at The GRAMMY Museum on June 21, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Victoria Sirakova/Getty Images)
When it comes to Keyshia Cole, her early ballads kept (and still hold) folks in a headlock–from the homies on the street corner to ladies at the R&B club night.
Well, it turns out that Keyshia was hating on one of her biggest hits, “Love,” way before fans memorized every lyric. Not only did she dislike the song, but Cole also admitted to VIBE’s Mya Abraham that she “hated” the iconic riff in the track.
“I didn’t really tink that I was good at writing slow records, but I took my lil CD player and sat in the corner…and I just wrote the record,” she said. “Everybody loved it, but I just didn’t like it.”
As for the riff, Keyshia Cole admits it was an error that her music executives at the time loved. Despite her objections, the riff made the track’s final cut.
“I messed up, and they said do it again. They kept it, but I hated it,” the singer said.
The decision to release the track with the error ultimately added to Keyshia’s career. Released in 2006, “Love” was track four on Keyshia’s album “The Way It Is” and later the most popular single from the project.
On the US Billboard Hot100, the track debuted at number 82 and peaked at number 19, spending four weeks in the Top 20. Meanwhile, on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, “Love” peaked at number three.
Fans will see more behind-the-scene moments of Keyshia’s rise to fame when her biopic, “Keyshia Cole: This Is My Story,” premieres on Lifetime tomorrow (June 24).
