Jazmine Sullivan

• Genre: Neo-Soul
• Hometown: Philadelphia

About

Besides a voice that could rival Mary J. Blige's in both power and passion and the support of none other than Missy Elliott, Jazmine Sullivan certainly has the pedigree to be a neo-soul princess. At age 11, the Philadelphia native won a local "It's Showtime at the Apollo" contest and went on to be a finalist in an Apollo Kids contest. By age 13, she was performing regularly at the Jazzfatnastees' Black Lily musical collective with the luminaries of the Philly neo-soul scene -- artists like Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Bilal and Floetry. That same year, Sullivan met and impressed Stevie Wonder so much that he invited her to perform at his "Toys for Tots" show. At age 15, she was signed to Jive Records and began working on her debut with Elliott, Timbaland and others. Finally, in 2008, having left Jive in 2005 after her debut never panned out, Sullivan released her debut album (featuring production by Elliott, Tricky Stewart and Wyclef Jean) on J Records.

- Rachel Devitt