When 22-year-old Jazmine Sullivan surfaced with her debut single "Need You Bad" last year, she was presented as a brand new Missy Elliott protege who seemed to be attempting to traverse the cavernous chasm left by Lauryn Hill's absence from the game.
Her Grammy-nominated debut album Fearless wasn't a bad introduction at all, but for those with their ear to the ground it did seem like we weren't seeing the whole picture. After all, Sullivan had been buzzed about for years after she gigged with the Roots at the infamous Black Lily showcase at 12, sang for Stevie Wonder at 13 and snagged her first record deal at the age of 16.
Early bird fans of Sullivan were blessed with "Jump Off," an unreleased track from the Fearless sessions on the interwebs a few days back showcasing a gritty edge that only occasionally surfaced on her debut. Produced by Waajeed of PPP fame, "Jump Off" bears the all-enveloping sonic watermarks of PPP's own Abundance project, which dropped earlier this year. The cacophonic percussion and urgent horn stabs are inimitably pushed to the forefront of the mix proving a worthy foe to Sullivan's own scorned indignancy. So why didn't this make the album again?
Her Grammy-nominated debut album Fearless wasn't a bad introduction at all, but for those with their ear to the ground it did seem like we weren't seeing the whole picture. After all, Sullivan had been buzzed about for years after she gigged with the Roots at the infamous Black Lily showcase at 12, sang for Stevie Wonder at 13 and snagged her first record deal at the age of 16.
Early bird fans of Sullivan were blessed with "Jump Off," an unreleased track from the Fearless sessions on the interwebs a few days back showcasing a gritty edge that only occasionally surfaced on her debut. Produced by Waajeed of PPP fame, "Jump Off" bears the all-enveloping sonic watermarks of PPP's own Abundance project, which dropped earlier this year. The cacophonic percussion and urgent horn stabs are inimitably pushed to the forefront of the mix proving a worthy foe to Sullivan's own scorned indignancy. So why didn't this make the album again?