Also, the first review of Jazmine’s third studio album is in! Slant gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. This is by far one of best album reviews to date! Andrew Chan — the reviewer — definitely understood Jazmine and her relevance to music. Really, that’s all one can hope for. Chan states:

As R&B’s newest wave of starlets continues to fetishize wispy vocals atop icy grooves, it’s hard to imagine how a singer as fiery as Jazmine Sullivan will regain footing after her unexpected half-decade hiatus. Emerging in the late aughts with a pair of hits that positioned her alternately as an earthy Lauryn Hill acolyte (“Need U Bad”) and a crowbar-toting avenger (“Bust Your Windows”), Sullivan proved adept at infusing an impressive array of styles with emotional rigor and youthful exuberance. At her core, though, she’s always been a descendant [sic] of the deep-soul tradition, a breed of artist that has all but vanished from the charts.

Marketability is not the only challenge awaiting an old-fashioned singer’s singer. Many of the most virtuosic voices in contemporary soul are at the mercy of their own lackluster material, and Sullivan would likely be sharing their fate if not for her ever-sharpening skills as a songwriter. Part of what makes her new album, Reality Show, so remarkable is how often it dares to foreground her pen over her pipes. Beyond the opening hip-hop stomper, “Dumb,” the album’s first third unfolds as a string of stories told from the perspective of disparate personas, each imbued with ambiguity, wit, and flashes of narrative detail.

In “Mascara,” a dolled-up heroine rides in on a stark, skittering beat, extoling the sex appeal and superficial values that have kept her “in the hills” and “out the hood.” Part haughty brag, part thinly veiled cry for help, the song risks glibness in its send-up of the gold-digger ethos, but Sullivan brings such playful self-awareness to the lyrics that it becomes impossible to ignore the raw insecurity beneath the satire. The track’s minimalism is something of a breakthrough for Sullivan: With limited recourse to her upper register and trademark melisma, she’s forced to be especially resourceful, finding pockets of tension in her burnished alto range.

In contrast, “Brand New,” which weaves through the frantic mind of a “down-ass chick” ditched by her just-signed musician boyfriend, is riddled with variations that feel almost cinematic. Prefaced by the call of a jazz trumpet, Sullivan jump-cuts furiously between slurred verses, hypersyllabic refrains, bursts of brittle harmony, and a sly interpolation of “Drunk In Love.” Where “Mascara” showcased a newfound restraint, “Brand New” demonstrates how much fun she can have at her most manic, with hairpin turns so exhilarating it takes a few listens for the protagonist’s disenchantment to fully register.

Most great singers use their voices as vehicles for emotional catharsis or technical mastery, but Sullivan has become just as interested in her own tragicomic form of ventriloquism. By manipulating her sound to give life to different personalities and attitudes, she’s paving a path for herself beyond the confessional modes of classic soul that have long been her comfort zone. Just hear her relish the grimy drawl on “#HoodLove,” the seductive pillow talk on “Veins,” and the hilarious Shirley Bassey-like intonations on “Stupid Girl” and you may be convinced R&B has found its Nicki Minaj.

Click the link above to read the rest of the review. I also saw that British soul singing sensation Sam Smith tweeted about wanting to work with Jaz.

They definitely need to make this happen and I would love to be present for those sessions!!! If you haven’t noticed, Jazmine is one of your favorite artists’ (e.g. Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, etc.) favorite singers. Can’t wait for the rest of the reviews to start rolling in!