Keyshia Cole, Essence Music Festival 2012: Singer Mixes Old and New in Gleeful Performance

Keyshia Cole isn't the woman she was a few short years ago -- it's a fact made evident by her gleeful appearance at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on Friday night (July 6).

The Oakland native started her set off with the angst-filled melodies she's known for -- "I Remember" and "Trust" -- but she exuded a sense of peace, moving swiftly and carefully between her new and older material. She effortlessly hit every high note and confidently strutted onstage in a black satin pantsuit and towering platform heels.

The Interscope artist also performed "Enough of No Love," the lead single from her upcoming Woman to Woman LP, for the first time.

"Do you guys like it? I hope so, 'cause the album's coming out soon," she quipped, "And I'ma need y'all to get that."

Cole only briefly touched on her unconventional family issues in a video montage, saying, "Y'all know my personal life has taken some hits." Then, a picture of her husband, Daniel "Boobie" Gibson and their young son flashed onscreen, and Keyshia shrugged off past dramas, reemerging in all white as she moved into her 2008 smash "Heaven Sent."

Before leaving the stage, the songstress was sure to end on an upbeat note. "I'm going back to some stuff y'all know," she joked, "'Cause I thought I saw somebody yawning in the front row."

She led into a couple of her earlier hits including "Let It Go." As the track played out, the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" was mixed in, and Keyshia never looked happier, rapping to every other bar, dancing and smiling brightly as her set came to a close.

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