Sometimes letting go of anger is easier said than done. We all want to be these highly functioning beings that embrace positivity, rebuke negativity, and live our lives to the best of our ability, but sometimes that's just not possible. You get your feelings hurt, you experience disappointment one too many times, and any attempt at maintaining a sunny disposition is pretty much destroyed. As much as we try to change, other people might be our biggest obstacle.
When Jazmine Sullivan came onto the scene in 2008 as the "angry girl", I hoped that she wouldn't pigeonhole herself, as her voice (both lyrical and otherwise) were distinct enough to really make an impact on the stillborn mainstream r&b scene. Her intensity and passion were certainly high points to her artistry that I never want her to lose, but lightening up a bit this early in her career will only allow her the chance to have more freedom in her artistry.
I got my wish on 2010's Love Me Back; Sullivan manages to make the same heart wrenching material that occupied her debut, but she tries on new musical identities and manages to sound comfortable in almost every one of them. Excuse Me is her first real attempt at a big love ballad and this lush, whimsical stunner makes the case for Sullivan expanding her repertoire. While one would think that Sullivan's husky, weathered voice wouldn't be as capable of reaching positive emotion, Excuse shows otherwise. She uses the type of passion that she has in her voice and sounds so pure here, so full of love that she's instantly believable. The throwback production is a huge help, as this sounds like a really good slice of 70s soul, making this prime mixtape material. Famous could have been hideous. A singer singing about being famous has the potential to be extremely self-serving and condescending, but Sullivan's marching, haunting take on fame is wonderful. She absolutely wails on this song, but it's not showoff-y or anything; you hear the pain, the struggle, the gutwrenching journey that Sullivan has had in each chilling note. It's extremely reminiscent of Fearless, but you hear the other side of, say, something like Dream Big, which was optimistic and uptempo. Jazmine Sullivan doesn't sing about cars, clothes, and jewelry here; she sings about simply wanting to matter and wanting to help people who are just like her know that it's okay. I'm of two minds on the sparse, slightly gritty Redemption. While I adore the fact that Sullivan has taken a chance on this half-rapped character study, it's just not that repeatable and not as melodically strong as some of the other music on the album. I'm usually a fan of concept songs, but Sullivan's flow isn't that exciting (it feels like amateur spoken word) and the melody just goes nowhere; however, the quieter verses and booming hook are nicely juxtaposed and lyrically it's pretty powerful. I can't be too critical of the song because at least she's tried to say something and alter the typical contemporary r&b album; I would rather use a random album track to try a little something new that to present yet another bland ballad or soulless uptempo, y'know?
U Get on My Nerves just doesn't sound like a Jazmine Sullivan. She explores a lot of styles on this album, which is a plus, but Nerves sounds like it was written for someone with a different type of voice. Everything's a little too polished and perfect, which is something that Sullivan and her voice aren't; from the slightly cutesy reference to Bust Your Windows to the strange background noises, it's not as mature and self-aware as her debut was and most of Love Me Back is. Ne-Yo sounds fine on a song that could have been slightly tweaked to make it a solo song with no problems, but there's no chemistry and no real believability to the story. At first, I thought Stuttering was a little gimmicky; I mean, it doesn't really say anything and what words it does have are a little choppy and repetitive. But further listens showed me the error of my ways. While it's true that the song is mostly an excuse to allow Sullivan to riff for three minutes, it's well produced, a bed of snaps and understated piano that contrasts nicely with Sullivan's vocals. Oddly romantic, Stuttering is a solid bit of album filler, though it would have been better served to be a touch less produced. If you're not going to say anything in your song, you may as well get to hear such a powerful instrument in all its glory. While all of her peers are chasing RedOne and David Guetta around to pen them the next bland Eurotrash club anthem, Sullivan opts for a cleaner, decidedly retro slant on dance music with Don't Make Me Wait, a built-for-rollerskating uptempo that brims with smooth confidence and explores Sullivan's vixen-ish side. Effervescent and wonderfully youthful, Wait is fly and knows it, sashaying across the dance floor to the thick bassline with a lovely amount of flair for someone perceived as so stoic. If you had asked me when her debut came out what I thought of Jazmine Sullivan doing dance music, I would have had several not-safe-for-epinions words to describe my feelings, but you know what? If it's this natural a fit and allows Sullivan to have some fun, why not?
I'll be the first to say that I think Fearless is a superior album to Love Me Back. While Sullivan is a consistently dynamite vocalist who puts every ounce into every note, the material doesn't always hold up and you're left with songs that are either too small or too flat to have that much of an impact. She has, however, managed to make a more accessible record that has the potential to break her into the mainstream as more than "that girl who sings the song about breaking windows". What Love Me Back is, though, is a record that tries on many hats; Sullivan is a roller skating disco diva, a socially conscious roleplayer, a frustrated woman working on her anger, a scared young girl who just wants to be loved, an old school balladeer, etc. Jazmine Sullivan is an interesting artist and this puts her so far ahead of her contemporaries that it's almost ludicrous, making this record an essential for an r&b fan with their fingernails still clung onto the edge of mainstream music. It's an interesting snapshot of an artist feeling around a little more and trying to see what really fits, a sort of early transitional record in a career that could be extremely strong for years to come.
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