I Ain't Thru

Album: Calling All Hearts (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This track is about a woman who, despite facing adversity, isn't finished. It was released as the first single by R&B singer Keyshia Cole from her fourth studio album Calling All Hearts. The song features serial collaborator Nicki Minaj and was released on October 15, 2010.
  • Cole told MTV News that Minaj's contribution to the track came together at the last minute. "I had recorded it as one of the first songs on the album, but I never really finished it," Cole explained. "And then I called her and I was like, 'We should do a song together.' And when she came through I played it. I said, 'I did something a long time ago and I don't know if you might like it, but my manager thinks this is dope.' And I played it and she liked it."
  • Cole told MTV News that Minaj and her clicked pretty instantly when they hit the studio together. "It was dope [in the studio]. She's very, very professional. She sat in the corner and wrote her part and then actually she wrote two raps to the song," the singer confided. "She actually did one verse and was like, 'Keyshia, I think I can do so much better.' And I was like, 'Absolutely not - it's dope and leave it the way it is.' And then I saw her again and she was like, 'Please, just let me do my thing,' and I was like, 'absolutely,' 'cause I understand where she comes from."
  • The video was shot in late October in New York City and was directed by Benny Boom.
  • The song failed to chart and Cole admitted in an interview with Associated Press that releasing the track as the first single was a wrong choice, which was totally down to her. "The label didn't really want to drop the record because they knew that people wanted a more intense, soulful record from me about love and I really should have followed (their) direction," she said. The singer added that despite its commercial failure she has no regrets, saying "I wanted that to be a statement record. It's like saying, 'I'm doing me, you know. I don't have no regrets for nothing that I'm doing."

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