Call her Amy Winehouse without the drugs or Duffy without the drama. Rising soul and R&B star Jazmine Sullivan calls herself fearless.

Sullivan's first two singles, the smoldering reggae joint Need U Bad and the '60 throwback Bust Your Windows have already earned the 21-year-old comparisons to Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige and Winehouse. Although her debut album, Fearless, features production from Salaam Remi (Amy Winehouse, Nas), Stargate (Ne-Yo, Rihanna) and Missy Elliott, Sullivan's name doesn't just grace the cover. She wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album and is listed as its executive producer.

Raised on the music of Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway and Aretha Franklin, Sullivan began performing at age five. She made her TV debut on "Showtime at The Apollo" when she was only 11 years old. While attending Philadelphia's High School for the Creative and Performing Arts -- the same school that produced acts like Boyz II Men and The Roots - Sullivan signed to Jive Records. She was eventually dropped. After years of trying to secure a major label deal, Sullivan met Missy Elliott, who had been a fan of Sullivan since her days at Jive Records. Determined to get her signed, Elliott teamed up with Timbaland to help Sullivan record the songs that would lead to her current deal at J Records.

When asked what she hopes listeners will take away from Fearless, Sullivan replies: "It’s about empowering young women... if you push me around, I’m gonna push you right back!"

• After a four-year hiatus, St. Louis rapper Nelly delivers his fifth album, Brass Knuckles. The Village Voice says he's playing second fiddle to his guests, "many of whom, uncomfortably enough, have eclipsed their host in the public consciousness (Fergie, Rick Ross)." The Boston Globe thinks he waited too long: "Four years is a long time to be gone. The market he had essentially cornered since 2000 was in middle school the last time he released a record."
• Girl-power pop combo Pussycat Dolls deliver their sophomore effort, Doll Domination, a "collection of electro-pop songs that are the opposite of sex: belligerent come-ons and odes to singledom stripped of pleasure, adventure or anything resembling fun," according to the Los Angeles Times. "After the inexplicable 'failure' of Nicole's solo album … it was smart to spotlight the, uh, talents of the other pussycats this go 'round," observes Slant Magazine.
• Atlanta's T.I. drops Paper Trail, an album in which he "mostly dispenses with the Tupac-wannabe gangsta-confessor pretensions to deliver catchy, tight, bombastic pop-rap," according to Rolling Stone. T.I. finds the "perfect balance of comedy and tragedy, swagger and humble attitude, pop music and hardcore hip-hop," and "[lives] up to the nickname 'Jay-Z of the South' in a big way," gushes webzine Rap Reviews.
• New York rap-rockers Gym Class Heroes return with their fourth album, The Quilt, a "misguided effort to be taken seriously as a hip-hop band," according to Entertainment Weekly. "It's the kind of benign mall music that's likely to be played ad nauseam at trendy chains like Wet Seal and Forever 21 while tweens shop for colored denim and leggings." Spin magazine agrees: "These dudes … are the Black Eyed Peas of the Warped tour set."
• R&B newcomer Jazmine Sullivan flexes her songwriting skills on her debut, Fearless, an album "just two songs shy of being a benchmark classic in the annals of music history," proclaims Soul Tracks. "Sullivan may be just 21, but the singer-songwriter proves herself a veteran in the game of love," declares Billboard.com. Sullivan's vocals are "perfection," raves Vibe magazine.