The Return of the Real

I had the pleasure of experiencing Jazmine Sullivan perform live last week and awesome cannot even begin to describe the 21 year old Philly native’s voice. Jazmine has been around since about ‘03 working diligently behind the scenes even penning the lyrics for Christina Milian’s empower anthem “Say I”. A frequent performer on Philly’s Black Lily stage, and an already seasoned veteran in the music industry (having what was to be her intitial release with Jive shelved), Jazmine’s debut album Fearless is way past overdue. Her voice (who many confused with Lauryn Hill’s on her debut single Need You Bad), gorged with soul but amplified with clarity and raspiness is a distinct musical vehicle guaranteed to take you on a storytelling journey through time and emotions effortlessly. With heart-wrenching vocals and harmonies accompanied by simple piano chords on stand-out songs like In Love With Another Man, Jazmine tells her seemingly perfect beau she is in love with another who may not even treat her as well as he does. Songs like Call Me Guilty find Jazmine in a bit of a mess after a domestic dispute with her lover. “I’ma kill him, I’ma do it”, Jazmine says over the phone to a mother pleading with her to come home.

When asked about the title of her album, Jazmine says she is 21 now and she’s not afraid. Not afraid to try something different. And her music is just that, different from what we’ve become accustomed to more recently, studio enhanced vocals and lip synched performances. Fearless, will hit stores September 16^th and with songs like Lions, Tigers & Bears, Bust Your Windows, and One Night Stand Jazmine is sure to secure the ladies vote. But with such an infectious voice, even the fellas won’t be able to deny this candidate for a true Princess of Rhythm and Blues. Ashanti, you may be seated.

And as an added bonus, here is Jazmine singing Andre 3000’s Prototype. We ALL loved this song!

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