AceShowbiz -

Now that "I Ain't Thru" failed to chart, Keyshia Cole admits that releasing the Nicki Minaj-assisted track as the first single is indeed a wrong choice. When choosing the song, she defied her label and now she realizes she should have followed their advice.

"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," Keisha told Associated Press in a recent interview.

Nevertheless, she insisted she doesn't regret it, 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." Chairman of Geffen Records Ron Fair also backs her up, "There's no way to predict how people will respond to things. It's something that Keyshia really wanted to say."

In a smart move, Keyshia and her people quickly released another song "Long Way Down" to cover the underperforming single, and she is so far satisfied with fans' response. "People are gravitating more toward [the song]," she stated. "I just think that people expect me to be, you know, an artist that sings about just love. But I'm always growing as an artist and I have to feed my artistry."