"The music industry had been seeing her and hearing her writings before any fans ever knew who Keri Hilson was. She was born and raised outside of Atlanta, Georgia and loved music and performing from a young age. She took piano lessons as a child but her interests soon switched to singing. She gained stage experience as a youth by appearing in school plays and also started winning a variety of area talent shows. She started writing music when she was 12 years old. Visiting a studio planted the passion firmly in young Hilson's mind to be a music star.She was soon singing background vocals and writing songs in her teens. Artists who took advantage of her vocals or songwriting included Usher, Ciara, Ludacris and Kelly Rowland. She tried her hand at girl groups, but none panned out. She graduated high school in the midst of her budding career and decided to attend Atlanta's Emory University. She started working with a new producer, Polow da Don, who introduced her to the legendary producer Timbaland. He instantly recognized her talent and signed her to his label, Mosley Music, in 2006. She continued songwriting while there, creating hits like ""Wait a Minute"" for the Pussycat Dolls, ""Like a Boy"" for Ciara and ""Ice Box"" for Omarion.Hilson was now poised to make her mark on the music industry as a solo artist as well as her songwriting, background and producing contributions. She teamed up with both Timbaland and Polow da Don to work on her first album. She also started writing songs for herself instead of for other artists. She released the single ""Energy"" to give fans a taste of what her album would contain. She followed it with the release of her debut album, In a Perfect World..., at the end of 2008."