2008 Woodie Awards
'Apollo' alumna shoots for the stars, shines
Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Arts & Culture
Fearless
Jazmine Sullivan
Grade: A
Jazmine Sullivan isn't scared of much at 21 years old, and proves it with her self-penned debut album Fearless.
The album finds the soulful heroine overcoming conflicts with ferocious beasts, tumultuous and even abusive relationships and inner conflicts.
While most listeners would have imagined the 12-track record to be Sullivan's own version of the Grammy-winning masterpiece, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the only things the two songbirds really have in common is their appearances on Showtime at the Apollo during their 'tween' years and their buttery, husky voices that melt the hearts of listeners.
Oh sure, the album's first single, Need U Bad, featuring Missy Elliot, sounds a lot like Hill. The reggae-inspired track and accompanying lyrics sound a lot like a new age remake of Hill's Ex-Factor.
The stacked harmonies and Sullivan's delivery easily conjure up images of a dread-headed songbird from South Jersey whose return has fans reeling.
But, the rest of the album has the infusing quality of the acai berry: distinctively dark but deliciously full of soul.
Take for example, the flamenco-sounding second single, Bust Your Windows. The simple but audacious lyrics and gothic tone tells a story that reveals every man's worst nightmare: a woman scorned and ready for action.
"I bust the windows out ya car/You know I did it cuz I left my mark/Wrote my initials with the crowbar/And then I drove off into the dark," she sings. This track will certainly become the anthem that will get a lot of women in trouble, come winter.
It's songs like this, the pensive Lions, Tigers and Bears, Daft Punk-sampled Dream Big and brutally honest Fear that sets Sullivan apart from anything we've heard in a while.
The waltz-y Lions, Tigers and Bears stirs up the imaginative qualities of a dream sequence and could find itself a perfect fit in any Broadway musical.
Even thumping tracks like Live a Lie and One Night Stand tell vivid stories of the ups and downs (mostly downs) of relationships. Though listeners will bob their heads on their first listen, the real-life lyrics eventually find a way to speak with the listeners' souls.
The album's highlights, which qualify Sullivan as a soulful chanteuse to watch out for, come in the form of ballads;
notably After the Hurricane and In Love with Another Man.
The track After the Hurricane is somewhat reminiscent of Bad Boy first lady Faith Evans, but treks a path that will ease the pain of listeners, dealing with their own storms.
An unrealistic tale in Call Me Guilty and the far-too doo-wop tune Switch are the only dim spots on the album.
Call Me Guilty contemplates the thought of intentionally killing a lover whose constant abuse is a last-ditch effort to feign control instead of simply leaving. This point of view could have missed the track list.
On the whole, the album is a solid for an artist who has certainly paid her dues. Sullivan penned Christina Milian's Say I and co-wrote a duet with Kindred's Aja Graydon for I Am.
Since the artist has made her home at J Records, it is almost certain that she'll have a career we all hope to enjoy for years to come.
Although a film of gloom laces Fearless like morning dew, the album is honest, soulful and just real as hell.
Marshall A. Latimore•
Jazmine Sullivan
Grade: A
Jazmine Sullivan isn't scared of much at 21 years old, and proves it with her self-penned debut album Fearless.
The album finds the soulful heroine overcoming conflicts with ferocious beasts, tumultuous and even abusive relationships and inner conflicts.
While most listeners would have imagined the 12-track record to be Sullivan's own version of the Grammy-winning masterpiece, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the only things the two songbirds really have in common is their appearances on Showtime at the Apollo during their 'tween' years and their buttery, husky voices that melt the hearts of listeners.
Oh sure, the album's first single, Need U Bad, featuring Missy Elliot, sounds a lot like Hill. The reggae-inspired track and accompanying lyrics sound a lot like a new age remake of Hill's Ex-Factor.
The stacked harmonies and Sullivan's delivery easily conjure up images of a dread-headed songbird from South Jersey whose return has fans reeling.
But, the rest of the album has the infusing quality of the acai berry: distinctively dark but deliciously full of soul.
Take for example, the flamenco-sounding second single, Bust Your Windows. The simple but audacious lyrics and gothic tone tells a story that reveals every man's worst nightmare: a woman scorned and ready for action.
"I bust the windows out ya car/You know I did it cuz I left my mark/Wrote my initials with the crowbar/And then I drove off into the dark," she sings. This track will certainly become the anthem that will get a lot of women in trouble, come winter.
It's songs like this, the pensive Lions, Tigers and Bears, Daft Punk-sampled Dream Big and brutally honest Fear that sets Sullivan apart from anything we've heard in a while.
The waltz-y Lions, Tigers and Bears stirs up the imaginative qualities of a dream sequence and could find itself a perfect fit in any Broadway musical.
Even thumping tracks like Live a Lie and One Night Stand tell vivid stories of the ups and downs (mostly downs) of relationships. Though listeners will bob their heads on their first listen, the real-life lyrics eventually find a way to speak with the listeners' souls.
The album's highlights, which qualify Sullivan as a soulful chanteuse to watch out for, come in the form of ballads;
notably After the Hurricane and In Love with Another Man.
The track After the Hurricane is somewhat reminiscent of Bad Boy first lady Faith Evans, but treks a path that will ease the pain of listeners, dealing with their own storms.
An unrealistic tale in Call Me Guilty and the far-too doo-wop tune Switch are the only dim spots on the album.
Call Me Guilty contemplates the thought of intentionally killing a lover whose constant abuse is a last-ditch effort to feign control instead of simply leaving. This point of view could have missed the track list.
On the whole, the album is a solid for an artist who has certainly paid her dues. Sullivan penned Christina Milian's Say I and co-wrote a duet with Kindred's Aja Graydon for I Am.
Since the artist has made her home at J Records, it is almost certain that she'll have a career we all hope to enjoy for years to come.
Although a film of gloom laces Fearless like morning dew, the album is honest, soulful and just real as hell.
Marshall A. Latimore•
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