mixtape maestro (2.0)

Even if Jazmine Sullivan‘s 2008 debut, the Gold-selling and Grammy-nominated Fearless, wasn’t littered with strong, neo-classic entries like The Best Lauryn Hill Song Not Recorded By Lauryn Hill first single “Need U Bad” or the melodramatic Broadway-soul ballads “Bust Your Windows” and “Lions, Tigers & Bears”, the newcomer was destined to be a standout anyway, her throaty and rasp-tinged alto offering a pleasant throwback to the similarly distinctive-toned R&B divas of yester-decade (Toni Braxton, Anita Baker, the aforementioned Hill) and an appreciated change of pace from the high-pitched, caterwauling sirens that surround her these days.

On new single “Holding You Down (Goin’ In Circles)”, the first taste of her upcoming sophomore collection Love Me Back, Sullivan further proves why she’s needed now, reminding one of the pleasures of ’90′s R&B as she strains her deep, husky pipes in the frustration of unrequited passion (“Its a shame that you don’t care enough to even give me half the love I give to you/ I live for you baby”) to an ever-evolving smorgasbord of that era’s best-of urban contemporary sounds (the latest nostalgia-fueled production from Missy Elliott).

Can (relatively) slow-burning hip hop-soul joints like these please start making a comeback into radio playlists? There’s only so much fist-pumping one can do in a day.

Hear the Fat Joe-aided remix of the track, as well as the Stonebridge Club edit of her Daft Punk-sampling “Dream Big” (hey, fist-pumpers can still be good…on occasion), below.

Love Me Back drops September 28th.

DL: Jazmine Sullivan featuring Fat Joe “Holding You Down (Goin’ In Circles) (Remix)” (alt)

BONUS DL: Jazmine Sullivan “Dream Big (Stonebridge Club Remix)” (alt)

With Jazmine Sullivan’s “Lions, Tigers and Bears” finally being pushed as an official single (giving more and more a chance to witness it’s magnificence), odds are tons of remixes and remakes of it will be hitting our ears soon. Joining the expected onslaught early is this pseudo-cover from Rock City, a hip hop/ R&B/ reggae duo signed to Akon’s label, who take “Lions” in a rather interesting direction.

Avoiding the predictable “let’s just gender-swap the lyrics” move, RC do away with the song’s love theme altogether, instead choosing to focus their lyrical aim on the real-life nightmares of their Saint Thomas ghettos origin and how growing up amidst the constant threat of violence has shaped them into the hardened young men they are today (Revised chorus: “I’m not scared of lions and tigers and bears/ Cause I came from the jungle too/ I’m not scared of gunshots, although that seems rare/ It’s a sound that I’m used to…”).

Nowhere near as stellar as the original, but a nicely done re-do nonetheless.

DL: “Lions, Tigers and Bears (Jazmine Sullivan ‘Freestyle’ Cover)” (alt)

It’s nice to see newcomer Jazmine Sullivan‘s name in the running for the Best New Artist Grammy prize, even if her chances of winning seem slim at best (her contenders include more widely-known figures Duffy, Adele and the Jonas Brothers). Still, if she at least gets a chance to bless the stage sometime during the ceremony, she’ll be smart to perform her debut album highlight “Lions, Tigers & Bears”, a magnificent gem of a record that’s sure to prove to the so-far uninitiated why she’s the talk of the modern R&B town.

Now “Bears” is one of those great urban finds that would do better without any hip hop interference at all, but to think it would go untouched in this era of everybody jumping on the hottest cut around would be foolish. So while it’s not exactly surprising to have Fabolous committing an introductory sixteen on this remix, it is a bit shocking to see how decent of a “collaboration” it is.

His casual flow delicately bobbing along to “LT&B”‘s operatic tip-toe, Fabolous admits to fully understanding Jazmine’s philophobic caution (“Niggas be lyin’ tigers and bears”), but he alleviates her “ice grills and jealous stares” with the comforting promise that she needn’t ever worry about the love they share (“No need to question love/ I can just tell it’s there/ ‘Cause when it’s meant to be/ You’ll know eventually”).

Far better than anything Ja Rule and Ashanti ever came up with in their “rap thug-meets-R&B PYT” heyday.

DL: “Lions, Tigers & Bears (Remix)” (alt)

As a bonus, snatch up the dancehall remix of Sullivan’s current hit “Bust Your Windows” produced by Tony Kelly and featuring Ce’Cile below:

DL: “Bust Your Windows (Tony Kelly Dancehall Remix)” (alt)

Jazmine Sullivan might have re-acquainted listeners with what “real” R&B/ soul music should sound like on her outstanding debut single, “Need U Bad”, yet a cautious embracing of her would be understandable. How many times have we been blown away by a R&B newcomer in recent years, only to end up disappointed because the album that followed didn’t live up to all that early “genre-rescuing” hype. Well get ready to become excited all over again because based on the sound of recent leaks making the blog rounds, Miss Sullivan is definitely looking to become the urban world’s new TRUTH!!

From it’s opening moments, the epic “Lions and Tigers” announces itself as a clear-cut classic. Atop some gorgeously plucked orchestration, Sullivan erupts like an emotion-filled volcano, relating her wariness of opening her heart to someone new.

When it comes to wildlife’s most vicious of creatures or having to perform in front of the Queen, Sullivan isn’t at all shook, but plant love in front of her and she instantly re-coils. “Am I the only who thinks it’s an impossible task?/ Why it don’t last?/ Is that too much to ask?/ Why do we love love, when love seems to hate us?” she powerfully belts away, the sour experiences of previous romances leaving her enormously terrified of ever going down that road again (“I can cross mountains/ Swim cross the seas/ But the most frightening thing is you and me”).

As the arrangement builds and builds to breathtakingly plush peaks, a break from her pessimism begins to peak through, the classic line of “It’s better to love than not to love at all” and the promise of new “sweet memories” pushing her into considering the welcoming of amour back into her life. But after that brief flirtation, she just as soon retracts to her original cowered position on the subject, the thought of leaving herself vulnerable to heartache once more seeming just too difficult a task to follow through on.

Like “Need U Bad” (but to the tenth power), Sullivan’s performance here is so raw, so internally exposing, that you’re moved to pause the song mid-way through just to give yourself a temporary break from all it’s emotional heft.

The next time you hear somebody say they don’t make R&B like they used to, put this on and show them that there’s still hope…and it’s name is Jazmine Sullivan.

DL: “Lions and Tigers” (YFH)