Vulture recently reviewed Jazmine Sullivan’s latest album, Love Me Back, and praised it for “songs [that] work … like crate-diggers, picking bits from throughout history and tying them together: dusty classics, cozy throwback hip-hop beats, stagy soul numbers, even an homage to Vanity 6 and Prince†and a voice that is “warm, well-textured, and big — authentically, naturally big.†Which is why it’s fairly disheartening to read that, at all of 23, Sullivan is considering leaving the business for an indefinite period of time. She posted the following message on Twitter, and then quickly deleted the tweets. The BoomBox grabbed them before she did:
i’m making an official announcement that i am taking a break from music … i’m trying to figure out who i am … w/out a mike, paper or pen. i promised myself when it wasn’t fun anymore i wouldn’t do it. and here i am. i love u all and appreciate u soooooo much … u have no idea how much u’ve inspired me and fed my ego. but the truth is that i have to believe in me whether you all do or not. and thats what i’m lookin for. that belief in myself. me. I. i love us. thanks for being here for me and riding with me on this journey. let us continue.
As the BoomBox points out, Sullivan has a role in the upcoming George Lucas–produced Tuskegee Airmen drama Red Tails, so this may be her way of saying she’ll be making more of a transition to acting. Unless Red Tails is exactly as good as The Empire Strikes Back, that’d be a bum out.
Jazmine Sullivan Announces Departure From Music Career [BoomBox]