Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine is a Philadelphia native was born and raised there. Her mother Pam is a former backup singer for Philadelphia International Records. Her father gave her a job as the curator of the Historic Strawberry Mansion. She together with her family later relocated to the historical place of historical significance. In 2005 she graduated from the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts in the class of an alumna of the vocal music department. Sullivan began singing in the school's chorus as a contralto later she joined the adult choir only a couple of years after that. Sullivan received little exposure to secular music. She recalls that she was 11 when someone requested her to sing in a solo in church. But, she wasn't enough yet to be ready. "Then when McDonald's offered a competition to kids in major cities I was invited to perform 'Accept What God Gives' on Showtime on the Apollo and the audience were very supportive". In the year 13 she sang along to Stevie Wonder for his grandson's birthday. Sullivan, at age 15 began her career with Jive Records. In Jive Records, she made an entire album, but the album never came out. Sullivan was eventually dropped by the label. She maintained a working relationship with Missy Elliott and produced many of the tracks on her debut album, like the huge hit track "Backstabbers" - produced by Timbaland and written by Elliott.