Fearless : Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine Sullivan caught my ear for the first time when I heard the exceptional first single from FEARLESS, "Need U Bad". The voice for me resurrected Lauryn Hill, who is one of my very favorite singers. Jazmine possesses soul in every song that she sings on FEARLESS, whether it is contemporary R&B or full on neo-/retro- soul favoring say Amy Winehouse. Face it, Jazmine can blow! This exceptionally consistent debut album that will probably be underrated as far as commercial sales ultimately is one of my favorite urban releases of 2008. Jazmine has successfully blended a plethora of styles and maintained sultry alto vocals all in the mix. There isn't a "flat" or bad song on FEARLESS in my mind.

"Bust Your Windows" opens the album brilliantly given and old school vibe the Mark Ronson could've easily produced for an Amy Winehouse album. In fact, here I believe Sullivan somewhat tries to embody that Etta James, Winehouse sound with her "extravagant" vocals. She sounds killer here that for sure. On "Need U Bad", Missy, as much as I hate to say it, isn't necessary at all as far as appearing on the track (yes she helped to write that brilliant song). Jazmine sounds fantastic with the tropical inspired beat supporting her. With that aside though, the track still sounds as if it could've easily appeared on a 70s soul album. "My Foolish Heart" keeps the momentum going with its great production work and with Jazmine's phenomenal vocal performance. "Lions, Tigers & Bears" keeps up the pace putting production absent of drums behind Ms. Sullivan. The result is vintage soul.

"Call Me Guilty" is great also, while "One Night Stand" is absolutely one of the best of FEARLESS. "After The Hurricane" is one of the best R&B ballads I've heard for sometime, while "Dream Big" is vintage Missy Elliott songwriting genius. Sure, it's a big clunky compared to some of the tracks, but it is still "great". "Live A Lie" is also strong, mostly because it is one of those R&B tunes where it is "out there" as far as the music theory behind it (for all the music nerds like me). "Fear" floats on by, though it is the soulful "In Love With Another Man" that steals the who as perhaps the VERY best ballad of FEARLESS. "Switch!" ends the album on a soulful, 70s pop-inspired high note.

This is nearly the perfect debut. The production doesn't sound cheap, even if it does sound like say, an Usher album. This album lays very well and vocally, Sullivan is phenomenal. Fantastic home run for Sullivan!