Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine was raised and born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother Pam was a back-up singer with Philadelphia International Records. When she was 5 years of age, her dad landed a position as a curator at City's Historic Strawberry Mansion in the Strawberry Mansion section, and her family moved into the landmark historical building. In 2005 she was a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts in the class of singer-music major. Sullivan was first singing in the kids' chorus in the contralto position, later she joined the adult chorus a couple of years afterwards. Sullivan was not exposed to secular music at first. "I began singing in solos in the church, and someone asked me to commit to gospel records when I was 11. But I was not prepared for that," she says. "Then McDonald's offered a competition for kids from cities. The competition gave me the chance to sing Accept God's Will on Showtime Apollo. The audience was extremely enthusiastic." Stevie Wonder sang her part during his 13th birthday celebration. Sullivan was signed initially to Jive Records at the age 15. The label recorded her an entire album, but the album was never released. Sullivan was eventually removed from the record label. Her work had been in good connection and Missy Elliott. Elliott produced numerous tracks for her, including "Backstabbers" and "Backstabbers," which was produced by Timbaland.