KEYSHIA COLE

Keyshia Cole is the real deal. Like many young people raised in a tough neighborhood, the 21-year-old songstress endured a tumultuous childhood in Oakland, California, and has fought all her life to keep her dream of a music career alive. Now she's realizing that dream on her own terms with her first album for the A&M label, The Way It Is.

It's been a long road for Keyshia, but it's her powerful voice-- a bell-like instrument whose soaring clarity is topped off with a tantalizing touch of soulful grit -- that's carried her through, not to mention the diminutive singer's personal combination of sugar, spice, sass and sex appeal, along with a solid-steel spine.

"Being young, you have to be really dedicated to doing it for yourself," says Keyshia, who co-wrote most of the songs on her new CD and cites artists like Mary J. Blige and Brandy as inspirations. "There's a lot of trials and tribulations you have to go through to get what you want, especially if you feel like it belongs to you."

LYFE JENNINGS

Chester "Lyfe" Jennings, a native of Toledo, Ohio, transformed the music world in 2004 after the release of his critically acclaimed debut Lyfe 268-192. Hailed as gritty and raw, the album created devoted fans everywhere and sold over a million copies. With brutally honest lyrics and dynamic live performances, Lyfe walked listeners down his turbulent road, giving them an edgy autobiographical history lesson that made him relatable.

He captured an even broader audience in 2006 with his sophomore effort, The Phoenix, which expanded on his life story, taking listeners through different phases of a man. The album featured the smash hit, "S-E-X," a cautionary tale for young women from a male perspective.

Besides showing his growth as a musician and vocalist on Lyfe Change, Lyfe opted not to include his signature speaking interludes or any explicit content on the album. "I wanted people to just flow from song to song without blushing if their kids were around. I also added more up tempo songs to this album. Some can be played in the clubs and some are happy and funny; but there are serious songs as well." He also says that he wanted Lyfe Change to be a fly album. "I just went in the studio, kicked it and came up with the songs."