Lyricist, guitarist, singer Tweet, as she was called growing up on Custer Street, in Rochester, New York, was born Charlene Keyes on January 21, 1971, in a home filled with music, where she learned to play drums and the guitar. Her parents are Tom Keys, a guitarist, and Shirley Keys, a missionary minister. Tweetโs siblings are Tom II, Cedric, and Lonnie, and sister, Sundra. Tweet was involved with the Pentecostal Church and its church activities throughout her youth. In 1988, she graduated from Rochester School for the Performing Arts, a progressive alternative public middle school and high school. Afterward, Tweet enrolled in Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York. By 1990, at the age of 19, she and Shawn Johnson were parents of daughter Tashawna Johnson. Her parents encouraged Tweet to keep the baby in Panama City, Florida while she developed her music career. Tweet joined the female vocal ensemble, Sugah, in 1994 and remained until it disbanded in 2000. It never produced an album.
In 2001, Tweet performed backup work for Missy Elliott on her album Miss E … So Addictive. In 2002, โOops (Oh My)โ was one of the songs from Tweetโs debut studio album Southern Hummingbird. The work was jointly composed by Missy Elliott and peaked at no. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs while reaching no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album reached no.3 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold more than 500,00 copies.
Vibe magazine voted Tweet as the โBest New Artist of the Yearโ in 2002. She performed at the 16th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in 2002 while a Soul Train Music Awards Nominee in 2003 for โBest R&B/soul or rap new artist. That same year, Tweet was awarded the key to the City for Rochester, New York. In 2004, she had a minor character role in the film Honey while working on the album Itโs Me Again, released in 2005.
Tweet signed with the DuBose Music Group in 2011, and the recording โSimply Tweetโ came out in 2013. In 2015, Tweetโs โWonโt Hurt Me โpeaked at no. 23 on Billboardโs Adult R&B Airplay chart and remained there for 9 weeks. The following year, 2016, her โNeva Shouda Left Ya,โ reached no. 23 on that chart and remained charted for 12 weeks. That year, Tweet appeared as a guest on the television talk show โThe Preachersโ hosted by Jamal Bryant, pastor of Baltimoreโs Empowerment Temple AME Church, who publicly referred to Tweet as his โLast Lady.โ The relationship, however, was short-lived.
Tweet released the album Charlene in 2020 which featured guest appearances from Missy Elliott who had proven so crucial in getting her into the music industry.
