Rows of leather, snakeskin, and peau de soie shoes in which to strut a million miles. Racks with enough clothes— magentas, greens, grays, and sequins—to party through
nine lives. Sun high, air cool, it was the beginning of an everlasting day in uppermost Hollywood when Keyshia Cole and her chatty, extensive entourage arrived. Among
others, Cole’s mother, Frankie Lons, and her niece, Breanna Banks, were chilling in the mansion perched on the lip of a leafy canyon. Breakfast burritos and bagels were abruptly waved aside by Frankie in favor of KFC. Cole, ever serene, arrived in Hello Kitty snow boots and a BAPE sweatshirt and nibbled on a banana, her jet hair swept into brow-grazing bangs.
She’s eons away from the girl who strutted on skinny legs through her old neighborhood with burgundy locks streaming—a ’round-the-way rock star. She’s a certified international superstar now. Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is..., in which she stars with her knotty family, is BET’s highest-rated show. Not to mention the sold-out tours (including this year’s I Am Music extravaganza with Lil Wayne), the new teeth, chic outfits, and the buoyant, soulful, chart-topping third album, A Different Me (Geffen, 2008). And whether her fans like it or not, Keyshia, at 27, is leaving behind the pink visors and Chucks for YSL and Narciso Rodriguez. Cole’s jagged edges endeared her to legions of listeners, but in the interest of growing up, she says she’s leaving behind old protocols for a new approach, inside and out. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Keyshia
told us from the get-go: She’s changed her mind.
VIBE: When you were younger and got that first money—whether it was $10 or a thousand dollars—what was the first fly thing you bought?
Keyshia Cole: Child, I got so much shit, I don’t even know where to start. I do, however, remember—but it wasn’t my money I spent. I think I was 21. This was when I was signed with Death Row, and a bunch of us had all gone to Hawaii—Ray J, myself, a bunch of other artists Suge signed. We all went to the mall in Maui. It had it all—Louis Vuitton, Gucci. I saw a pair of Louis sneakers, the burgundy ones, when the burgundy line was out. I got a burgundy purse and burgundy shoes, and I went back to Oakland thinking I was all that.
Do you have any brands you’re loyal to right now?
Not necessarily. Of course I got a lot of Louis and Gucci. Yves Saint Laurent, I really like YSL. I went to Valentino and got some nice bags. I’m kinda getting turned off by the names, the print [logos], and all that.
Why, do you think?
I’m just over it. I got money now. I don’t have to prove to anybody that I have money by wearing a handbag.
Do you have a particular accessory that you have to pack?
Umm...ooh...earrings. My diamond studs that [my manager] Manny bought me, and now I won’t take them off.
What was the occasion?
My birthday. October 15.
Libra? Okay. Balance.
I am unbalanced, actually [laughs].
What’s the biggest fashion mistake you’ve made?
Oh, God! The Fight.
You’re talking about the Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya fight this past December? People were getting their snap on.
I didn’t think it was that bad. I liked it before we walked out. People are so used to me being one way...it was just bad.
What didn’t you like about it?
Well, there’s this really funny thing, I don’t know if I want to share it though, because it’s really, really, really embarrassing.
Can’t be that bad.
It’s so funny to go back and see it now. But there’s a thing on... what is that thing you can go on and see all the videos and stuff?
YouTube?
There you go. YouTube. A performance I did around my birthday when I turned 21.
What did you have on, Keyshia?
Well...I don’t know. It was cute though. I had a little visor on—it was pink. I had on pink Chucks. I had on a white sweater that was cut midriff that had pink letters on it. And then I had some checkered pants on, like some pleated pink pants. Oh God.
Slacks?! What kind of pants?
Little bitty, they were girl shorts. They were in between pants and shorts. Or something [laughs].
So you’re saying you didn’t look cute that day?
I was kind of cute. I was working it out. We probably had a $200 budget, so I was working it out the best I could.
Why did you decide to get the gap in your teeth closed?
It made me look a little young, and every time I looked at it, I wasn’t happy with it. I’ve always wanted to change it.
Are you happy you did it?
Yes. My teeth are a little more even. I could have kept the gap. They were telling me I could’ve kept it, but I just went all out with the whole thing.
I think you’re beautiful now, but why the change from the old Keyshia?
The old Keyshia is still here, but I have to challenge myself to grow, and I do that on a personal level, without the “Keyshia Cole” thing going on—the artist Keyshia Cole. I still have to grow and still have to live every day. I have to be happy with myself. I love my fans, love everybody who recognized me for who I was in the beginning and who I am now, but it’s still a change that’s necessary. Every day I learn, and I get better as I go.
Are there things you used to do that you wouldn’t do now?
Of course, the clothing has changed. The older you get, the more sophisticated [you become].
What’s the difference from the girl in the first video to the girl now?
I used to be real passive, no matter what it was—my performing, everyday living, a man, family. Now, it’s like I’ve got to put my foot down. I’ve come too far for me to keep accepting a lot of anything. I’m comfortable with myself.
Did your mother have any influence on your style—mental or otherwise?
Not necessarily, because my mom...it depends. [My adoptive mother] Yvonne Cole, definitely. Definitely more than my biologi- cal mother because [while] I was around my mother my entire life, she was really gone. I’d see her, I would find her, and in the next
10 minutes, she’d be gone. She was constantly moving. But Yvonne taught me everything about [being] a woman that I need to know. Everything. Don’t go to church without a slip. All of that.
Are you feeling sexier about yourself now?
I am. I’m feeling a lot sexier, and hopefully I can get more comfortable with my sexuality and loving myself, and everybody around me—that loves me.
Read the rest of the Keyshia Cole interview in the March 2009 issue; on newsstands now!
Photographed by Kenneth Cappello
Styled by Memsor Kamaraké
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