Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine Sullivan was born on April 9, 1987 to Don and Pam Sullivan.[6][6] Her mother is a former backup singer for Philadelphia International Records.[7] When she was five years old, her father landed a position as a curator for the city's Historic Strawberry Mansion in the Strawberry Mansion section, and her family moved into the historical landmark.[8]

Sullivan is a 2005 graduate of the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts where she was a vocal music major.[9] Sullivan began singing as a contralto in the children's choir, and later in the adult choir. Sullivan's exposure to secular music was initially limited.[10]

Sullivan performing live at a concert in Columbia, South Carolina in 2008.

At fifteen, Sullivan signed to Jive Records. She recorded an album, which was never released, and she was eventually dropped from the label.[9] Sullivan provided vocals for Kindred the Family Soul's song, "I Am", as well as background vocals on the song "Party's Over", and the title track to their 2003 debut Surrender to Love,[11][12] and it was during this session she first met rapper Missy Elliott, who would go on to produce both the majority of her debut album, Fearless, and tracks on Love Me Back.[13] Sullivan wrote and recorded with producers Cool & Dre titled "Say I" was given to Dre's then-girlfriend Christina Milian for her third album, So Amazin'.[14] The song became the lead single, peaking at #13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, as well as #21 on the Hot 100.[15] Sullivan's breakthrough song, "Need U Bad", was released in May 2008.[16] The song, which featured additional vocals by Missy Elliott and Sandy "Pepa" Denton of Salt-n-Pepa, later debuted at number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent a total of 34 weeks atop of the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs altogether.[17]

Sullivan performing live in February 2009

Sullivan's debut album Fearless was released on September 23, 2008.[18] At the time, she wrote and composed many of its songs and served as the album's executive producer alongside Missy Elliott, Salaam Remi and Peter Edge.[19] The album received production from Elliott, Remi, Stargate, Carvin & Ivan, Jack Splash, and Fisticuffs.[20] Fearless debuted at number 1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums and at number 6 on the Billboard 200.[21][22] Sullivan followed her début single with the release of the second single from Fearless, "Bust Your Windows", which reached number 4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her most successful single on that chart to date.[23][24][25] "Bust Your Windows" appeared on the debut episode of the Fox hit television show Glee and was also nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Song.[26][27][28] In 2014, Stevie Wonder claimed he considered "Bust Your Windows" a classic song.[29] "Lions, Tigers & Bears" was released as the album's third single in December 2008. It scored her third consecutive top ten on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, reaching #10, and garnered some mainstream success by reaching number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100.[30] Sullivan later pursued success in the United Kingdom when she first released "Dream Big" as a single in the UK on February 2009.[31][32] The song was later released as the fourth and final single from the album in April 2009.[33] The album has a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, and has sold more than 510,000 copies in the United States.[34]

Sullivan was featured on a song entitled "Smoking Gun" with Jadakiss on his third studio album The Last Kiss.[35][36] She was also a supporting act for fellow American R&B singer Maxwell on his 2008 US tour and was the opening act for Ne-Yo's 2009 Year of the Gentleman Tour.[37][38] She additionally appeared on Ace Hood's second studio album, Ruthless, on the song "Champion".[39] She went on to headline a few dates with Ryan Leslie, before participating in the Essence Music Festival in June 2009.[40] That same year, Sullivan appeared in commercials for Cotton Incorporated.[41] Additionally, Sullivan made a guest appearance on Snoop Dogg's tenth studio album Malice n Wonderland on the song "Different Languages".[42]

Sullivan began working on her second album, Love Me Back, in 2009.[43] Producers contributing to the album included Missy Elliott,[44] Lamb, Ne-Yo, Anthony Bell, Los da Mystro, Ryan Leslie, and Salaam Remi,[45] who was also a major contributor to Fearless. Songs recorded for the album include "Love You Long Time", "Don't Make Me Wait" (a tribute to Prince), "Redemption", "Excuse Me", "Good Enough", and the reported sequel to "Bust Your Windows" titled "You Get On My Nerves", which was co-written by Ne-Yo.[44] The album was completed in June 2010 and released on November 30, 2010.[43][46] The album debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 and sold 57,000 copies in its first week.[47]

In an interview with National Public Radio, Sullivan explained that the album was about her personal experiences, stating:[48]

"It's very therapeutic for me at times to just sit down and write lyrics and music, As I look at all of the songs that I've written, I see now that some of them have been a little too personal. When I was younger, I was very quick to react. 'Bust Your Windows' shows that part of me, but now I feel like I'll think about my reaction and take my time, and react 10 seconds later, I live life and it gives me the material to write for the next album."

The album's lead single, "Holding You Down (Goin' in Circles)", was released on July 10, 2010.[49] The song debuted at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100.[50] The music video for the song premiered on August 30, 2010.[51] The song would later be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 2011. The album's second single, "10 Seconds", was released to radio airplay in late September, and debuted at number 15 the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[52] The song was later released for digital download on October 25, 2010.[53] An accompanying music video was later filmed and was released on November 12, 2010.[54]

In early December 2010, Billboard honoured Sullivan as the 'Rising Star' for 2010.[55] She later announced that she was working on her third studio album.[56]

In January 2011, Sullivan announced via Twitter that she was indefinitely leaving the music industry saying, "I promised myself when it wasn't fun anymore I wouldn't do it. And, here I am. I'm not saying I won't ever sing again in my life because I don't believe that. But in this moment… right now… [I] got some things to figure out".[57] On October 7, RCA Records announced it was disbanding J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. With the shutdown, Sullivan (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) were removed the label and later redirected to RCA.[58][59]

In 2014, she returned to music with the announcement of her new album, Reality Show. In an interview with Billboard, Sullivan described her return as inevitable, saying she "...can't escape [her] calling".[60] She based Reality Show on watching reality shows during her hiatus which inspired the namesake. The album consists of 14 songs, and features production from Key Wane and Salaam Remi.[60] The lead single "Dumb", featuring American rapper Meek Mill, was released on May 12, 2014.[61][62] The song debuted at number 45 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay.[63] The second single "Forever Don't Last" was released on September 16, 2014.[64] It debuted at number 10 on the Adult R&B Songs.[65]

On January 13, 2015, Jazmine Sullivan released Reality Show to widespread critical acclaim, with the album reaching #1 on the Billboard R&B Albums and #2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[66] Reality Show sold 30,000 copies in its first week. Slant Magazine commented, "Despite what the rasp in her voice might suggest, Sullivan clearly sees herself as something other than R&B's next great queen of pain. Her central themes—love and self-image—don't stray far from genre convention, but her musical versatility and keenly observed characters make her one of the most captivating artists in R&B today."[67] The album earned Sullivan three Grammy Award nominations for Best Traditional R&B Performance and Best R&B Album.[68]

In 2016, Sullivan was featured in the visual album "Endless" by Frank Ocean.[69][70] Sullivan lent her vocals to four songs from the album: "Alabama", "Wither", "Hublots", and "Rushes". Sullivan was the lead writer for these four songs on Mary J. Blige's album Strength of a Woman, and sang backup vocals on the first three of them: "Thick of It", "Set Me Free", "Glow Up", and "Thank You." ("Strength of a Woman" album liner notes).[71] She in partnership with fellow American singer Bryson Tiller released "Insecure" for the soundtrack for the second season of the HBO series of the same title.[72]

In 2019, Sullivan was featured on Pentatonix’s Christmas collection The Best of Pentatonix Christmas on the group’s cover of “Joyful, Joyful”.