Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Jazmine Sullivan grew up the middle sister between two brothers. When she was 5 years old, her father landed a position as a curator for the city's Historic Strawberry Mansion in the Strawberry Mansion section, and her family moved into the historical landmark. Meanwhile, Jazmine struggled to assimilate at school. She is a 2005 graduate of the Philadelphia high school for the Creative and Performing Arts where she was a vocal music major.[1]
Still, Sullivan managed to persevere and began singing in the children’s choir, then a few years later with the adults, along with her mother, a former backup singer for Philadelphia International Records. Jazmine’s exposure to secular music was initially limited, "I was doing solos in church and someone wanted me to sign to a gospel label when I was eleven but I wasn’t ready to do that," she recalls. “Then when McDonald’s had a competition for kids in major cities, I got a chance to perform ‘Accept What God Allows’ on It's Showtime at the Apollo and the audience responded really well.”[2] She sang with Stevie Wonder at his grandson's birthday at the age of 13. Sullivan was initially signed to Jive Records at the age 15, but the album was never released and Sullivan was dropped from the label. Instead of being defeated, Sullivan honed her songwriting abilities and wrote her debut album completely
Jazmine's debut album "Fearless" was released September 23, 2008. As an Executive Producer and sole songwriter on Fearless, Sullivan (along with her mother, Missy Elliott, Salaam Remi and Peter Edge) has orchestrated a debut opus full of lush musical arrangements by Elliott, Remi, Stargate, Carvin & Ivan Jack Splash, and Fisticuffs. The singer also sang background vocals for Kindred the Family Soul's debut album on the track "I Am".