The Way It Is is the debut studio album by American R&B singer Keyshia Cole; it was released on June 21, 2005, by A&M Records. The album debuted at number 6 on the US Billboard 200 and it was supported by five singles, including "Never", "I Changed My Mind", "(I Just Want It) To Be Over", "I Should Have Cheated" and "Love". The album sold 89,000 units in its first week.

The album was certified gold within 17 weeks, and then platinum, only eight weeks later. The album stayed on the charts for over a year, eventually selling over 1.6 million copies and it is Cole's second highest-selling album to date.

Reception

Critical response

Upon its release, The Way It is garnered generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a rated mean out of 100 from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 77. Andy Kellman of Allmusic rated the album four out of five stars. He felt that "from the opener, the album seems to be set up like a linear narrative about a crumbling relationship, but it doesn't quite play out that way, with the scenes shuffled out of order. None of it's all that profound, but Cole sells it all extremely well. [Her] voice is sweet and ringing, like a wiser version of Lil' Mo who has had to weather a tremendous amount of drama. She could be around for a while." Janet Tzou, writing for Entertainment Weekly found that "Cole certainly nails all the basics on The Way It Is: big-name guest talent and husky ballads lamenting those tricky matters of the heart. But Cole's native Oakland, California upbringing gives her vocals depth and her songs a genuine, lived-in feel."

Track listing

Notes
  signifies a vocal producer
  signifies an additional producer

Sampling credits
 "I Changed My Mind" contains an sample from "Get Out of My Life", written by Allen Toussaint and performed by Solomon Burke.
 "Love, I Thought You Had My Back" contains elements from "Loves Jones", written by Randolph Murph, Ralph Eskridge, and Clarence Johnson from Brighter Side of Darkness.
 "You've Changed" contains elements from "Sounds Like a Love Song", performed by Bobby Glenn.
 "Never" contains sampled portions from "Never Too Much", written and performed by Luther Vandross.

Personnel
 Charlie Bisharat – violin
 Jacqueline Brand – violin
 Roberto Cani  – violin
 Nico Carmine Abondolo – bass
 Mario de Leon – violin
 Brian Dembow – viola
 Joel Derouin – violin
 Bruce Dukov – violin
 Stephen Erdody – cello
 Steve Erody – cello
 Marlo Fisher – viola
 Matt Funes – viola
 Armen Garabedian – violin
 Berj Garabedian – violin
 Julie Gigante – violin
 Endre Granat – violin
 Alan Grunfield – violin
 Clayton Haslop – violin
 Dan Higgins – flute, horn
 Josephina Vergara – violin
 David F. Walther – viola
 Jerry Hey – horn
 Suzie Katayama – cello
 Songa Lee – violin
 Natalie Leggett – violin
 Gayle Levant – harp
 Phillipe Levy – violin
 David Low – cello
 Rene Mandel – violin
 Darrin McCann – viola
 Vicki Miskolczy – viola
 Robin Olson – violin
 Simon Oswell – viola
 Sid Page – violin
 Sara Parkins – violin
 Joel Peskin – horn
 Katia Popov – violin
 Steve Rodriguez – bass guitar
 Anatoly Rosinsky – violin
 Sarah Thornblade – violin
 Kenneth Yerks – violin
 Raj Ertui – clarinet
Miri Ben-Ari – Israel violin

Production
 Executive producers: Keyshia Cole, Ron Fair
 Producer: Tal Herzberg, Loren Hill, Sean Garrett, Diesel, Daron Jones, Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, John Legend, Chink Santana, Rich Shelton, Kevin Veney, Kanye West
 Vocal producer: Keyshia Cole, Ron Fair, Sean Garrett, Alicia Keys
 Engineers: Shannon Braxton, Tal Herzberg, Jun Ishizeki, Anthony Kilhoffer, Ann Mincieli
 Assistant engineers: J.D. Andrew, Jun Ishizeki
 Mixing: Ron Fair, Dave Pensado
 Mixing assistance: Ariel Chobaz
 A&R: Justin Siegel destiny
 Design: Jason Clark, Michelle Thomas
 Photography: Chapman Baehler
 Co-Songwriter: Tim "Timbaland" Mosley

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

Other websites
The Way It Is at Metacritic

2005 albums