Jazmine Sullivan: There’s a little injustice in how black soul artists are received.

Jazmine Sullivan

In 2008, Grammy nominated singer Jazmine Sullivan stepped on the scene with the banging single ‘Need You Bad’  featuring Missy Elliott. Three years later, Sullivan announced that she was resigning from the music industry for personal reasons. Last year, she returned with the acclaimed album, “Reality Show” that has snagged her several Grammy nominations. Recently, Sullivan chatted with the Associated Press discussing her musical comeback, Grammy nominations for her latest album, being compared to other artists and not getting the respect she deserves as a soul singer. Check out a few excerpts.

On being underrated because she’s a black soul artist, compared to non-black artists like Adele:

I guess I’m glad that people are recognizing me in some way, and kind of see there’s a little injustice in how black soul artists are received…But, at the same time, I try not to focus so much on the negativity.

On what she feels could be done, to reach a larger audience:

I think it’s just a matter of making myself known to more people. I think it’s about spreading Jazmine Sullivan’s brand, I guess, to more people.

On being nominated for a Grammy:

I work really hard on my music… they acknowledge the effort and hopefully I’ll take it home one day.

Jazmine Sullivan

On opening up about her break from music:

It was definitely hard to open up, and then to open up about something like physical and mental abuse… that was even harder… that was a lot of the fear, and kind of just being ashamed, and having to relive it, talking about it even.

On what she focuses on when it comes to her audience:

The tours were sold out and I just felt so much love… I don’t get too much into album sales and anything like that. What I do tend to do is, if I go to a show, and it’s sold out, and people are singing the lyrics to the songs, that’s the kind of stuff that makes what I do so great.

By –@authorsequaia