AS a kid in Philadelphia, Jazmine Sullivan says, “I always dreamed of being nominated, going to the Grammys and
winning.”
Two out of three ain’t bad for this singer, who was nominated in five Grammy categories and got to party with music’s elite at the event – but went home empty-handed.
Speaking to The Post from Miami, on a concert tour date with Ne-Yo, the pretty 21-year-old didn’t boo-hoo or display a trace of disappointment at getting snubbed.
“I’m not upset about it,” says the R&B chanteuse, who will be at Radio City Music Hall on Friday.
“My career is just starting, I have one album [the chart-topping “Fearless”] and a full career ahead of me . . . I hope. I think I made a good start.”
A good start, indeed – the number of nominations she garnered was a testimonial to the fact that people are sitting up and taking notice.
“My album just came out in September, so the nominations said I’m being watched and recognized for my work.”
It’s the kind of praise that bolsters confidence that was shaken a few years ago when, at age 16, she was signed to Jive Records – and then dropped after two years.
“I was banking everything on my record coming out, and it never did,” she says.
“Now I think it was a blessing in disguise.
Because I was dropped, I had time to grow as a person, grow as a writer and grow as a performer. That’s why I think everything went so well with this record. I needed that extra time to grow up.”
And there’s nothing wrong with learning how to cope with a hard-knock life, insisting that while life might be full of letdowns, you can’t allow that to beat you down.
“I learned it on my own, but my parents always supported me and helped me stand whenever I fell.”
Sullivan also credits the big guy, believing that God has control over her future.
“Even when doors get slammed in my face, I believe I have a calling,” she says.
“I have a gift to share, that’s how I can lose a record deal and not win a Grammy and keep going.”
Those are lessons she learned
in the gospel music she sang as a girl.
“When you sing gospel, you learn early it’s not about your gift as a singer, it’s about how much conviction you sing the song with; you have to believe what you’re singing. I do. And that’s why I think people relate to my songs.”