Jazmine Sullivan puts to rest the rumours that she had retired with a new album, writes Munya Vomo
One of the most underrated R&B musicians of our time has to be Jazmine Sullivan. The singer has churned out some classic ballads yet has no Grammy to her name.
In fact, she has scored eight nominations to date, but it seems as if Lady Luck wasn’t on her side. Perhaps this injustice will be rectified with her upcoming album, Reality Show.
“I am feeling really good about the album, although I was nervous before it came out. I did a lot of it by myself so it was a bit of a risk. I am really happy that people know the lyrics to most of the songs and I see this at my concerts,” she said in her big voice.
Reality Show comes after her four- year break when it was rumoured that she had left the music scene altogether.
“I took a break, but people thought that I had retired from music. I didn’t mean for it to be four years long. I literally thought that it would be a few months. I don’t know, hey, life just sort of took over and before I knew it it was a few years later,” she said.
If you have listened to Sullivan’s music in the past you will know that hers is not bubblegum music but deep soul with meaningful lyrics.
“When I first started creating the album I wanted to talk about a lot of things. I love telling stories and whether it was my story or someone else’s, I wanted to tell it, but it had to be something that people could relate to. This meant that I had to have a central theme.
“With some songs, I could cast a character of a gangster girl who is in love with a man so much. I know how that can feel even though I am not a gangster,” she said.
Most of her music belongs to a bygone era. Most say the ’80s and the singer agreed that this is her style and it comes effortlessly to her.
“I have always had an old, soulful sound, even when I was young. I have a voice that complements that sound and you can almost tell how I am feeling in a particular song by what my voice sounds like,” she said.
There has been talk about her being a perfectionist and Sullivan admitted that this trait had her hold onto the Reality Show project for a bit longer.
“Oh, that’s a big problem. I can get really obsessed with final touches. It’s hard to stop, they have had to drag me out of the studio because I will never be happy with how my songs end up sounding because I’m a perfectionist,” she said.
Sullivan has been in such demand, she has even written songs for film projects, a direction she wants to pursue further.
“I have had my songs in the past featured on Tyler Perry movies. Making music scores is actually a dream of mine, I want to write songs for movies. I grew up on Disney films so I would like to get opportunities to make music that goes with that kind of content. Most of my songs tell stories anyway so I think it’s a perfect fit,” she said.
Reality Show was inspired by the amount of TV the singer consumed while she was off the radar.
“I watched a lot of Housewives of Atlanta and Tamar Braxton. It’s my guilty pleasure. I think I am fascinated by just how much private business people are willing to put out there. I’m like, if it was me, I wouldn’t be able to do it because I have watched it so many times to know that the producers put you in positions that aren’t so nice just so that they can get ratings,” she said.
• Reality Show is available at music stores.