Jazmine Sullivan releases her debut album 'Fearless' this week via J Records. Having written most of her own material as well as Christina Milian's 'Say I' and Beyonce's 'Resentment', the 21-year-old powerhouse vocalist is set to embark on a musical adventure of her own with this latest ecclectic project of hers. And an adventure this project certainly turned out to be. With her diversified range of musical styles, strong soulful vocals and no-nonsense/vulnerable lyrical concepts, Jazmine really has a lot of rollercoaster experiences to sing about.....The album introduces with the waltz-inspired and furiously-driven 'Bust Your Windows', in which Jazmine conveys a scorned woman wronged. As a means of revenge, she wrecks havoc on her man's car windows. Many women will favour this track and it certainly inspires those who have not been strong enough to not take shit from any man or to let them know they're not to be messed with. Out of all the songs that have leaked in previous weeks, this was one of my favourite tracks and still is. I am really glad this is confirmed as the second single. The video for it should be pretty interesting. With lead single, the Missy-produced 'Need U Bad', many had heralded Jazmine as the next Lauryn Hill simply because of the reggae sound. That's kind of narrow thinking to me because in the US it appears that folks see 'dark skinned female singer' and the 'reggae genre' and then add them up and get Lauryn Hill. Let's not forget that our 'Estelle' was getting the Lauryn Hill comparisons as well when she first hit the scene. But when Jazmine eventually puts out 'Bust Your Windows', folks will soon see she's a different type of artist.
The heavily Hip Hop hybrid 'My Foolish Heart' samples the beat from GZA's (Wu-Tang Clan) 'Liquid Swords' and through that she sings about hurt and pain, which is well conflicted in the vocals. After Bust Your Windows, the other stand out track for me lies in 'Lions, Tigers & Bears' which wavers between Jazmine's incredible vocal prowess and an orchestral instrumentation. As nice as it is, 'After The Hurricane' is your typical Stargate ballad in which she metaphorically refers to her rocky relationship as such. 'One Night Stand' is pretty upbeat-driven and has an old-skool vibe as well as using live instrumentation whereas the antagonizing 'Call Me Guilty' takes on another form of revenge as Jazmine vows to kill the man who physically abuses her. Domestic violence is never acceptable. On most accounts it's usually the man who is guilty of the offense. Whether the man or woman is doing it is just as equally unacceptable but I'm all for a woman fighting back whenever a man wrongly hits her so this kind of track is definetely one I found myself in support of. I would like a man to hit me though. He'd be holding a packet of frozen peas down 'there' for a good week or two (or worse).
The old skool powerballad 'In Love With Another Man' is backed by a piano melody and is one of the tracks that showcases the singer's vocal range at full capacity. The track is very emotional and serves with brutal honesty as Jazmine tells her lover she's in love with another man and through the whimsical production of bonus track 'Switch' she further tells him she'd rather be with his best friend. Jazmine certainly isn't pulling any punches here and who can blame her? Having covered many of the musical genres on this album, I guess it wasn't a completed composition without the upbeat dancey track which lies in 'Big Dream'; a very catchy number. In conclusion, Fearless, without a doubt sets Jazmine apart from her peers. Whilst in some parts, it had to grow on me, the tough-don't-mess-with-me attitude is quite the attraction and she uses her voice well to convey her pain and anger as well as her sensitive area's to draw in the listener. With her impressive vocal delivery and rollercoaster lyrics, you'd have a hard time believing this is coming from a singer who is just 21-years-old. The album is all substance which is something that's been lacking this year so a debut like this one is to be appreciated.
Rating: 3.8/5
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