Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine Jacobson was born in and brought up at home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pam her mother, who is Jazmine's mom, is a former backing singer with Philadelphia International Records. Her father offered her a job as the curator of the Historic Strawberry Mansion. She and her family later moved into the landmark. In 2005, she graduated from the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts with an alumna of the vocal music department. Sullivan sang as a contralto in the children's choir and then just a few years later, she was a singer in the adults ' choir. Sullivan wasn't exposed to secular music until he was a teenager. "I began singing in solos in churches, and one of my friends was urging me to sign up to gospel records when I was 11. but I wasn't prepared to do that," she says. "Then McDonald's offered a competition for kids from cities. It gave me an opportunity to perform What God Allows on It's Showtime Apollo. The audience was extremely supportive." She sang along with Stevie Wonder at his grandson's birthday party at thirteen. Sullivan aged 15, was first signed to Jive Records. She recorded an entire album. But the album never came out. Sullivan was ultimately dropped from the label. Missy Elliott was the producer on a couple of songs on the album she released as her first. The most notable of these was "Backstabbers" was a viral track produced by Timbaland which was composed by Elliott.