Jazmine Sullivan Talks Inspirations In Her New Audible Special

Jazmine Sullivan’s not scared of “Lions, Tigers & Bears” or talking about her journey as an artist for Audible’s Words + Music series.

Source: Erika Goldring / Getty

Jazmine Sullivan’s Audible Original The Art of Confessing, Volume 34 of the signature Words + Music franchise debuts on Audible today, Friday, February 3.

The Art of Confessing is an intimate diary entry from Sullivan, a Grammy-winning vocal powerhouse blessed with the unique gift of emotional storytelling. R&B is a space for Black women to create their own language around love, sexuality, and heartache. Within that space, Jazmine Sullivan has built a strong, powerful sisterhood through her music.

Written and conceived by Jazmine Sullivan with Clover Hope, this is a story about the power of accountability, sisterhood, and finding new perspectives on love. Performing live from Philadelphia’s renowned World Café, Jazmine lets us into her world with a selection of songs that speak to her growth as a woman, including “Lions, Tigers & Bears,” “Let It Burn,” “Girl Like Me,” and “Pick Up Your Feelings.” Ultimately, self-love has allowed Jazmine Sullivan to evolve and step into her power.

We’ve got an exclusive clip from the project where Jazmine opens up about the voices who helped shape her.

“I remember two voices sticking out that I heard on the radio when I was younger,” Jazmine recalls. “Mary J. Blige and Erykah Badu. They both had very unique tones. You could hear the pain in Mary J. Blige’s voice, a pain sadly that many women could relate to. And Erykah Badu was unique, sassy and confident. Now looking back I think I embody those things in my music. I feel like my voice carries the pain of a Black woman. I absolutely LOVE a woman who knows and loves who she is and takes up space in this world. It’s so beautiful to me. I think I’m evolving as a woman and it’s evident in my music.”

We love that Sullivan chose to specifically recognize two very different R&B Queens. It certainly makes sense that Badu and Blige would be the ones to inspire her considering the kind of music she’s made. Something about Jazmine Sullivan that just makes you feel the pain while also perfectly reflecting what’s going on culturally.

In the clip, Jazmine goes on to also credit the aritsts her parents played around the house, and the gospel singers she grew up listening to in the church:

“Many singers have played a part in my development as an artist,” Sullivan continues. “Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Prince, Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald were some of my parents favorites so it makes sense that I developed a more seasoned sound early in my life because that’s what I heard while I ran around the house. But of course coming from a gospel background, I grew up loving artists like The Clark Sisters, Karen Clark, Kim Burrell and Yolanda Adams. If Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin shaped what type of music I wanted to make and the gospel artists taught me how to sing.

So dope that she is able to pull out how these different artists all played a role in how she shaped her own sound.

Well don’t stop now — she’s dropping more gems in her Words + Music release. You can listen to the full Jazmine Sullivan: The Art Of Confessing on Audible HERE