Jazmine Sullivan took some time off, but don’t call it a comeback.
, the 14-song EP that Sullivan released to rave reviews this past January, ending the six-year hiatus that followed her Grammy-nominated 2015 LP,The project is organized around a theme of romantic realism, expressed through spoken-word testimonials from the women in Sullivan’s life and bluntly honest songs about relationships and their downsides. On the country-tinged H.E.R.
“The Other Side” is her current favorite song on an EP that’s full of subtle explorations of the complex and contradictory feelings that can surround sexuality, and proud celebrations of the unspoken power women feel in regard to their bodies. “It was refreshing to write that story,” Sullivan says. “It’s very different from who I am, and my perspective. I feel like people were able to look at what they would consider a gold digger through a different lens after that.
Richly textured storytelling and uncompromising transparency have been hallmarks of Sullivan’s work for a long time, dating back to “Bust Your Windows” and “Need U Bad,” the pair of 2008 hits that established her as one of R&B’s most fearless and original voices. For more than a decade since then, she has prioritized bracing honesty, and she’s never been one to self-censor herself in her music. “When I’m making music and I’m in a studio, it really feels so personal,” she says.
That much attention from the world can have another, less welcome side at times. Sullivan says she’s been careful not to let herself get distracted by the pressure of being viewed as a kind of superhuman icon by some of her more ardent fans. “I personally pay attention to myself, and my own feelings, and my own well-being more than the demands of everyone else,” she says.
with some of my dope friends, old and new.” Next, Sullivan is getting back to work on her new full-length album at her home studio in Philadelphia. So far, she says, recording is going well, and she’s in the process of hooking up with producers who she’s loved and looked up to for some time.