# Tweet (singer)
**Tweet** is the stage name of Charlene Keys (born 1971 in [Rochester, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/rochester-new-york)), an American R&B and neo-soul singer-songwriter best known for her 2002 debut album *Southern Hummingbird* and its Timbaland-produced single "Oops (Oh My)," which topped the Billboard R&B chart and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tweet-p133349/biography) • [2](https://rochestermusic.org/inductees/class-of-2023/tweet-charlene-keys/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971, Rochester, New York; legal name Charlene Keys[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tweet-p133349/biography) |
| Breakthrough | "Oops (Oh My)" (2002), No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100[2](https://rochestermusic.org/inductees/class-of-2023/tweet-charlene-keys/) |
| Debut album | *Southern Hummingbird* (2002), opened at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) • [4](https://chicagoconcertreviews.com/2024/02/05/tweet-city-winery/) |
| Albums | *Southern Hummingbird* (2002), *It's Me Again* (2005), *Charlene* (2016)[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tweet-p133349/biography) |
| Recognition | Soul Train Awards "Best New Artist" nominee (2003); *Charlene* named to Rolling Stone's Best R&B Albums of 2016[2](https://rochestermusic.org/inductees/class-of-2023/tweet-charlene-keys/) |
| Key collaborators | Missy Elliott and Timbaland, her partners since the 1990s Swing Mob collective[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) |
| Recent work | Single "Toot Toot" (2025), ahead of the album *Memoirs of a Southern Hummingbird*[5](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/10/28/singer-songwriter-tweet-discusses-new-single-upcoming-album/) |
## Early life and the Swing Mob
Tweet grew up in Rochester as Charlene Keys and began singing in church, in choirs and in a gospel group; she attended a performing arts school and graduated from Rochester's School of the Arts.[2](https://rochestermusic.org/inductees/class-of-2023/tweet-charlene-keys/) • [6](https://youknowigotsoul.com/youknowigotsoul-interview-with-tweet) Her nickname predates her career; as she has put it, she has been called Tweet for as long as she can remember.[7](https://www.bandmine.com/tweetsouthernhummingbird)
In 1994, Jodeci's DeVante Swing brought his Da Bassment collective of artists to Rochester to record, and Tweet auditioned for his girl group Sugah, which needed a replacement member, and won the place.[6](https://youknowigotsoul.com/youknowigotsoul-interview-with-tweet) The collective, known as Swing Mob, was a training ground that also produced [Missy Elliott](https://www.edgepedia.org/missy-elliott), Timbaland, Ginuwine, Playa and [Static Major](https://www.edgepedia.org/static-major); Tweet describes the setup, with a shared studio at Dajhelon Studios and apartments for the artists, as like "having Motown, but updated."[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) • [6](https://youknowigotsoul.com/youknowigotsoul-interview-with-tweet) Sugah never released an album.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html)
## Breakthrough: Southern Hummingbird
A close friendship with Missy Elliott led to Keys contributing backing vocals to Elliott's 2001 album *Miss E... So Addictive*, including the single "Take Away" with Ginuwine, and to a record deal with Elektra under Elliott's tutelage.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tweet-p133349/biography) In interviews, Tweet has said Elliott pushed her into a solo career at a moment when she was depressed and having suicidal thoughts, calling her "my guardian angel."[8](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2023-07-14/315675/missy-elliott-opens-up-about-rb-songstress-tweet-on-twitter)
Her debut single, "Oops (Oh My)," a Timbaland-produced song about self-love, topped the R&B chart and became a Top 10 pop hit in 2002.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) The album *Southern Hummingbird*, which she oversaw with Elliott and [Timbaland](https://www.edgepedia.org/timbaland), bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and sold gold.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) • [4](https://chicagoconcertreviews.com/2024/02/05/tweet-city-winery/) Critics noted her understated, non-melismatic delivery; a contemporary review in *The Japan Times* described her sensuality as resting on the suggestion that she "means to turn herself on and not us," and praised the album's songs of self-sufficiency such as "Smoking Cigarettes" and "Drunk."[9](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2002/05/08/music/tweet-southern-hummingbird/) Follow-up singles included "Call Me," which was featured in a Verizon ad campaign.[2](https://rochestermusic.org/inductees/class-of-2023/tweet-charlene-keys/) In 2003 she was nominated for Best New Artist at the Soul Train Awards.[2](https://rochestermusic.org/inductees/class-of-2023/tweet-charlene-keys/)
She was also an in-demand collaborator, contributing backing vocals on albums by [Whitney Houston](https://www.edgepedia.org/whitney-houston), Madonna, Meshell Ndegeocello, Monica and [Mark Ronson](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-ronson), and earlier for [Ja Rule](https://www.edgepedia.org/ja-rule) and Timbaland & Magoo.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) • [4](https://chicagoconcertreviews.com/2024/02/05/tweet-city-winery/)
## Hiatus
Her label merged with [Atlantic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-records), and the 2005 follow-up *It's Me Again* leaned on hip-hop beats rather than the rootsy soul that had established her; Tweet later said "I compromised too much."[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) The album reached No. 2 on the R&B chart like its predecessor, but lacked staying power; its lead single, the Kwame-produced "Turn da Lights Off" featuring Elliott, peaked at No. 47 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tweet-p133349/biography) • [10](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2005/BB-2005-03-25.pdf)
After the album underperformed, Keys spiraled into depression and stepped away from the spotlight. She has described hitting "rock bottom," drinking daily and smoking three packs of cigarettes, before a spiritual recommitment, triggered while watching the singer Tonéx perform "Make Me Over" on a BET gospel broadcast in 2006, set her on a different path.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) • [11](https://www.thefader.com/2016/02/29/tweet-charlene-album-comeback) She moved to Florida to be near her parents and kept writing and playing shows outside the mainstream.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) Label attempts stalled: she signed with Jheryl Busby's Umbrella Records in 2007, but the executive died a year later while they worked on her album, and a five-track EP, *Simply Tweet*, appeared quietly on DuBose Music Group in 2013.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html)
## Comeback: Charlene
A meeting with Entertainment One in 2014 reenergized her, and she returned to the studio to record *Charlene*, her first album in over a decade, released in 2016.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) The album returned to the gospel-inflected, acoustic-driven soul of her debut, with contributions from Craig Brockman, Charlie Bereal, Timbaland and Elliott, whose feature "Somebody Else Will" was its only guest appearance.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html) • [12](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2016/02/tweet-charlene-new-album-missy-elliott-somebody-else-will/) Tweet said her aim was "to put the soul back into music," drawing on the gospel quartet groups, the Clark Sisters, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and [Donny Hathaway](https://www.edgepedia.org/donny-hathaway) she grew up with.[11](https://www.thefader.com/2016/02/29/tweet-charlene-album-comeback) *Rolling Stone* named *Charlene* to its list of the Best R&B Albums of 2016, and the album supported a nationwide tour.[2](https://rochestermusic.org/inductees/class-of-2023/tweet-charlene-keys/) • [13](https://youknowigotsoul.com/tweet-interview-creating-charlene-album-reintroduction-touring-sugah) Reviewers noted that it positioned her as a distinct voice rather than a carrier of Aaliyah's legacy, to which her light voice had often been compared.[14](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2016/04/r-and-b-report-tweet-k-michelle-jacquees-charles-bradley-a-race-of-angels-starchild-and-the-new-romantic/) A *Guardian* survey of 2016's best R&B counted Tweet among the artists who chose independent labels or self-releasing over major-label support.[15](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/aug/22/best-randb-blond-king-abra-frank-ocean)
## Later work and influence
Tweet has continued to perform; a 2024 City Winery residency review described her voice as "as potent as when it was initially introduced" and noted her gospel-like delivery across songs from "Call Me" to "Magic."[4](https://chicagoconcertreviews.com/2024/02/05/tweet-city-winery/) In October 2025 she announced the single "Toot Toot" and a new album, *Memoirs of a Southern Hummingbird*, slated for release the following year.[5](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/10/28/singer-songwriter-tweet-discusses-new-single-upcoming-album/)
Her vocal style has been widely cited as an influence. Missy Elliott has credited her with creating a distinct sound: "She birthed a vocal sound that should NOT go unnoticed... It was a gospel raw yet sultry feel! And her PEN GAME," adding that Tweet taught herself guitar and held it on her lap to see the strings.[8](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2023-07-14/315675/missy-elliott-opens-up-about-rb-songstress-tweet-on-twitter) AllMusic places her as a stylistic descendant of sweet-voiced soul singers such as [Deniece Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/deniece-williams) and [Minnie Riperton](https://www.edgepedia.org/minnie-riperton), working in contemporary R&B, adult contemporary R&B and neo-soul.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tweet-p133349/biography) Her name has also become a running complication in the social-media era; she told *The FADER* that the clash with Twitter made it hard for fans and business contacts to find her online.[11](https://www.thefader.com/2016/02/29/tweet-charlene-album-comeback)
## References
1. [Tweet Biography, AllMusic (Jason Birchmeier)](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tweet-p133349/biography)
2. [Tweet (Charlene Keys), Rochester Music Hall of Fame, Class of 2023](https://rochestermusic.org/inductees/class-of-2023/tweet-charlene-keys/)
3. [Q&A: R&B singer Tweet explains why it took her a decade to release a new album, Los Angeles Times (Gerrick D. Kennedy, 2016)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tweet-explains-hiatus-20160224-story.html)
4. ["Southern Hummingbird" Tweet delivers with gospel-like fervor during City Winery's first of four, Chicago Concert Reviews (2024)](https://chicagoconcertreviews.com/2024/02/05/tweet-city-winery/)
5. [Singer-songwriter Tweet discusses new single, upcoming album, Atlanta News First (2025)](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/10/28/singer-songwriter-tweet-discusses-new-single-upcoming-album/)
6. [Tweet Interview: Southern Hummingbird, Missy Elliott, DeVante Swing, Da Bassment, YouKnowIGotSoul (2010)](https://youknowigotsoul.com/youknowigotsoul-interview-with-tweet)
7. [Tweet, Bandmine music profile](https://www.bandmine.com/tweetsouthernhummingbird)
8. [Missy Elliott opens up about R&B songstress Tweet on Twitter, Revolt (2023)](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2023-07-14/315675/missy-elliott-opens-up-about-rb-songstress-tweet-on-twitter)
9. [Tweet: 'Southern Hummingbird', The Japan Times (Philip Brasor, 2002)](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2002/05/08/music/tweet-southern-hummingbird/)
10. [Music R&B/Hip-Hop, Billboard (March 25, 2005 issue)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2005/BB-2005-03-25.pdf)
11. [Tweet Explains Her Time Away From The Spotlight, The FADER (Lakin Starling, 2016)](https://www.thefader.com/2016/02/29/tweet-charlene-album-comeback)
12. [Tweet Just Dropped a Single With Missy Elliott, 'Somebody Else Will', SPIN (2016)](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2016/02/tweet-charlene-new-album-missy-elliott-somebody-else-will/)
13. [Tweet Interview: Creating "Charlene" Album, Reintroduction, Touring, Sugah, YouKnowIGotSoul (2016)](https://youknowigotsoul.com/tweet-interview-creating-charlene-album-reintroduction-touring-sugah)
14. [SPIN R&B Report: Tweet Flutters Back Into View, SPIN (2016)](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2016/04/r-and-b-report-tweet-k-michelle-jacquees-charles-bradley-a-race-of-angels-starchild-and-the-new-romantic/)
15. [The best R&B of 2016 has nothing to do with Frank Ocean, The Guardian (Alex Macpherson, 2016)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/aug/22/best-randb-blond-king-abra-frank-ocean)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Pop and R&B singer-songwriters › R&B singers, 1990s and 2000s › R&B singers of the 2000s › Surnames M to Y*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license