Keyshia Cole Explains The Way It Is On “I Ain’t Thru”

Idolator Staff | October 16, 2010 10:04 am

Want to deliver a femme-forward hit to remind the world you’re still here and not going anywhere any time soon? You could do a lot worse than enlisting leggy spitfire Nicki Minaj to guest on the tune. After a lengthy quiet spell, Keyshia Cole is back with the sleek “I Ain’t Thru”. Funny, even though it’s her birthday, we’re the ones getting the gift. Listen after the jump.

Even after three studio albums and a BET reality show, Boobie’s Baby Mama has maintained a relatively low profile compared to many of her spotlight-hogging contemproraries. Thus it was a shrewd move to recruit the Barbie Girl Mattel would definitely not approve of to spice up “I Ain’t Thru,” the first single from her upcoming fourth album (due in December).

As usual, Minaj is the scene-stealer here with her attention-grabbing rhymes — and even a shout-out to everyone’s favorite childhood pastime “Duck Duck Goose.” But Keyshia isn’t playing games here: the soulful singer tweets that she “wrote this song for everybody trying to do your thing. Do it and do it well. Never mind the haters. “I ain’t thru””. And from the opening organ notes, it’s obvious that the talent who gave us raw classics like “I Changed My Mind” is still with us.

Keyshia uses the lyrics to claim her moment, but with fairly generic lyrics (“Give me my elbow room, / It’s time for me to come through”) and a generic beat. Her vocals might’ve been a little tougher on her other recent work, Faith Evans’ new “Can’t Stay Away”.

But the pairing of long-standing (but still relatively obscure) R&B vet Cole with out-of-nowhere superstar Minaj is an inspired match, giving the track a nice blend of expertise and showmanship that covers all bases.

Will this song bring Keyshia back to the masses?