a peek into mint julep's mixtape vol. 1

For those of you that don't know, I'm a huge music head. I will bump some random and obscure artists long before or after anyone has heard of them. In particular, I'm partial to jazzy soul vocalists who sing about love life and the Lord.

For exmaple, Kierra "KiKi" Sheard/Kim Burrell/Lisa McClendon/Tweet/Amil Larriuex/Faith Evans/Anthony David/Darien Brockington/Maxwell/Teedra Moses/Bilal/Karen Clark Sheard/J. Moss/Anthony Hamilton/Algebra/Donny Hathaway/Marvin Gaye/Earth Wind & Fire/Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes/The Clark Sisters are some of my favorites and that's only like a sliver of what I likes. I could go on and on...

and introducing Jazmine Sullivan!

Some folks are just now getting to know Ms. Sullivan but I first heard of about her in 2006. My little sister hipped me to her after she found her on youtube (gotta love it). At first, I looked at Babysista skeptically because I basically taught her everything she knows about soul music. Her music selections used to be limited to Master P and the Cash Money Clique before I opened her mind to the power of soulful sounds.

But once I took a listen, I had to hand it to Babysista. Jazmine Sullivan, to use an overused cliche, is da TRUTH! Straight vocals, no synthesized chasers. She first came to the spotlight as a youngster on the Apollo Kids Amateur Hour. She brought down the house with "Accept What God Allows." Check it out...

Of course, she went through all the failed deals and disappoints that any young artist has to overcome on their way to widespread exposure. But this time, I think she's really about to blow up since they are playin her single, "I Need You Bad," on the radio from New York to New Orleans.

And that isn't even her best work. Check out "I'm In Love With Another Man," "Round Midnight," "Resentment," "Make You Stay," and her versions of Andre 3000's "Prototype" and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." Fiyah! I'll leave ya'll with some video of her playin around in the studio. Loves it!