Keisha White

In the mid-noughties Keisha White stood among Terri Walker, Beverley Knight, and Jamelia as a leading presence in Britain’s reviving female R&B landscape. Born in 1987 and raised in Enfield, London, she developed an early love of music through her mother, a professional singer. At fourteen she delivered an a cappella version of Aretha Franklin’s “If You Lose a Good Thing” for Warner Records executives, who signed her immediately. Guest vocals on “The Harder They Come” from Paul Oakenfold’s Bunkka album and support dates with Mis-Teeq on their U.K. tour followed. Her debut single, “Watcha Gonna Do,” appeared in 2004. The follow-up, “Don’t Care Who Knows,” a duet with U.S. hip-hop star Cassidy, became her first solo U.K. Top 40 hit the next year. Further opening slots for UB40, Lemar, and Black Eyed Peas preceded the release of her debut album, Seventeen. Though it earned strong reviews, the record failed to chart, prompting White to spend the ensuing year revising and re-recording material. The outcome was Out of My Hands, which blended several tracks from Seventeen with new songs produced by the likes of Scott Storch. Joan Armatrading’s “The Weakness in Me” climbed to number 17—her highest-charting single—while “Don’t Mistake Me” became her strongest airplay success; the album itself reached number 55 in 2006. Closing single “I Choose Life” marked her sixth Top 75 entry, and she was nominated for Best U.K. Female at the 2006 MOBO Awards, where Corinne Bailey Rae took the prize. A recommendation from Alicia Keys secured White a role in Halle Berry’s film Catwoman, and she also recorded the theme song for the BBC children’s series Tracy Beaker.