Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine was raised and born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother Pam was a back-up singer with Philadelphia International Records. In the year she turned 5 of age, her dad landed a position as a curator of Philadelphia's Historic Strawberry Mansion in the Strawberry Mansion section, and her family moved into the mansion's historical site. She was a graduate in 2005 from the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts where she was an instructor of vocal music. Sullivan began singing in the contralto section of the kids' choir, and then a few years later in the adult group. Sullivan was never familiar with secular music until first. "When I was eleven years old, someone asked me to sign up for one of the gospel records. I was not going to sign up for that," she says. "Then McDonald's offered a competition for children in major cities. After that, I was given the chance to perform What God Wills on Showtime Apollo. My audience was very welcoming." She performed with Stevie Wonder at his grandson's birthday at the age of 13. Sullivan, at age 15 began her career with Jive Records. Sullivan was initially signed by Jive Records around the age of 15. She recorded an entire album but this album was never released. Sullivan was later dropped from the label. Missy Elliott was the producer for a few tracks in the album she released her debut. One of them was "Backstabbers" composed by Timbaland that Elliott created, was a hit.