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Keyshia Cole is fed up with all the tears and the pain. The Northern California singer-songwriter is ready to bust loose.

Her latest album, appropriately titled A Different Me, veers away from the kind of angst-filled lyrics that dominated her first two offerings — lyrics that tapped into a rugged upbringing and turbulent romantic life.

In their place is a newfound sense of playfulness.

”It’s more up-tempo and lighter. It’s also sexier,” the R&B artist says in a phone interview. “I’m moving forward and growing. This time I wrote more about other people’s situations other than my own, and I’m realizing things aren’t always so bad.”

In just three years, Cole has two platinum records and a top-rated BET reality series adorning her resume. Now she is part of a concert tour that also features Lil Wayne and T-Pain, among others, that hit Miami earlier this month. She is a living testament, it seems, to the tattoo emblazoned on her neck that reads “Have Faith.”

”I just really believe that anything’s possible if you put your mind to it and stay focused and keep at it,” she says.

But it hasn’t been an easy journey. Born in Oakland, Calif., to a drug-addicted mother and adopted by a family friend at 2, Cole has needed every bit of her trademark scrappiness to make a name for herself.

‘It was never a question of `if,’ but ‘when,’ ” she says of her determination to escape the streets. “Though I love where I was raised and what I learned, I always wanted to get the hell out of there.”

The first single off the new album, Playa Cardz Right, features the late rapper Tupac Shakur. Having originally appeared on Shakur’s 2006 album, Pac’s Life, the song sports a new verse and arrangement.

Cole has been a huge fan of Shakur since he mentored her during her teen years.

”I remember him being really outspoken and really bright. He was definitely a guy who gave off a superstar vibe,” she recalls. ‘As far as advice goes, he once told me, `Acquire as much knowledge as you can, because, no matter what happens, people can’t take that away from you.’ ”

Cole has spent the last three months in Santa Monica, Calif., putting the final touches on the album and preparing for the tour. Those preparations include a rigorous workout regimen consisting of weightlifting, swimming and biking.

”You have to do right by your body,” she says.

It’s all helping to pave the way for a ‘’sexier” look Cole is presenting on her album cover, music videos and tour, where she’ll don plenty of old-style ”Hollywood-glam” outfits.

”I haven’t always felt sexy in my life and I’ve never wanted to base my career on physical appearance and being sexy,” she says. “I’ve worked hard to establish myself as a legitimate singer-songwriter. But now I’m here and hopefully it’s not a dead-end street.”

It certainly doesn’t appear to be. Stretching her entrepreneurial wings, she and manager Bill Halley are partners in the new Imani Entertainment label, which is slated to produce its first album next year. It will feature Cole’s best friend since childhood, Amina Harris. Also in the works is a big-screen film based on Cole’s life.

On television, Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is, now in its third season, continues to reign as the highest-rated series in BET history. But despite that success, Cole is poised to end the show that largely hinges on dysfunctional family drama.

”I originally did it so that people could see where I’ve come from, and show that there are ways you can overcome adversity,” she says. “But hopefully this is the last season. I’ve had enough.”

Beyond her showbiz ambitions, Cole has another dream — one that might surprise her fans. Someday she hopes to live in a log cabin, perhaps in Aspen, and operate a veterinary hospital and pet store.

BY CHUCK BARNEY