COURTESY OF MCA RECORDS
Yasmeen releases her debut album nationwide on Oct. 8.
Tough road Yasmeen Sulieman makes success look easy, though most people don't see the hard work that accompanies opportunity.
to success
Yasmeen joins the few national isle acts
By John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comYasmeen (her professional moniker) put in more than two years of hard work after getting signed to record for Magic Johnson Music/MCA. Her first single, "Blue Jeans," was released in May and her debut album, "When Will It Be Me," will be released nationwide Oct. 8.
"You have to work really hard and stay focused," she said. "I was very lucky to have been presented the opportunity. I happened to be out in L.A. at the right time and sang for the right person. It was all about timing."
Yasmeen had been in Los Angeles as part of the local contingent supporting Marcelo Pacleb's 24-VII dance team at the Urban Jam finals (younger brother Sterling Sulieman was a team member). Someone who'd heard that Yasmeen sang, but had never heard her, called on her to sing a number. Put on the spot, she did, and was heard by the right people. While it took about a year after that, a subsequent performance at an L.A. talent showcase got her a deal with Magic Johnson Music/MCA.
"My mother ... made sure that I took a tape with me to L.A. (even though I was going to a dance competition)," Yasmeen said of the initial performance that got things started for her.
Now, two years later, she's as polished as any of the many "diva-ettes" getting national play. "Blue Jeans" introduces her in a semi-predatory pose, enraptured by the way the object of her desire is "rocking them blue jeans, baby." The album's title track is one of several that presents her vulnerability as she searches for that special someone amid all the happy couples around her.
And although this is, overall, a well-crafted R&B/pop album, there's also a song here, "Being With You," that has a guitar-rock edge with a Britney/Christina orientation.
"I'm singing R&B/pop now, but I love musical theater and I love music," she said. "I enjoy it all."
NO ONE in L.A. knew or cared that Yasmeen arrived with an impressive list of local credits that included her 1998 win in I-94's "Brown Bags to Stardom" talent contest in the audio category.
It was reported at the time that Yasmeen had won "a national recording contract valued at $18,000," along with $500 cash and a one-year scholarship to Hawaii Pacific University. The so-called "contract" was actually an opportunity to do a one-song demo recording and an appearance on a future "Brown Bags to Stardom" compilation album. I-94 set the value of the demo recording at $18,000.
Yasmeen won the 18th edition of Brown Bags, her parents took a look at the demo record deal and decided to pass on it. Instead, Yasmeen made her debut as a featured vocalist on Tai Okumura's "Road to Fame" compilation less that two months after her triumph, and then signed with John Iervolino's Quiet Storm label.
Her CD single for Quiet Storm, "Love is on the Way"/"You Don't Have to Cry," released in March 1999, showed how far she had come as a singer in less than a year.
The single didn't exactly set Hawaii airwaves on fire, but it didn't matter because Yasmeen was already eyeing broader horizons. Toward the end of '99, she moved to Los Angeles, where she began working on the project that would become her first album.
Yasmeen with Jené
Where: Hawaiian Hut, Ala Moana Hotel, 410 Atkinson Drive
When: 8 p.m. tomorrow
Tickets: Guest-list only event; can be won during hourly on-air contests on I-94 and online at www.i-94.net
Call: 296-9494
Also: Also appearing with Jené for 104.3 XME at 2 p.m. Sept. 7 in the Ward Entertainment Complex
"It was definitely scary to move to L.A. by myself," she said. "It's so different here; you just don't have the beauty of home. The people - it's not as warm, it's just not the same."
While there's not much love in L.A. for young unknowns streaming in from all over the country, Yasmeen was willing to give national stardom a try. Now she's coming home for a few pre-release promotional appearances. So far, there's a guest list-only, meet-and-greet for I-94 tomorrow and a co-headlining performance with Motown recording artist Jené for 104.3 XME Sept. 7 at 2 p.m. in the Victoria Ward parking lot across from Dave & Busters. Other public appearances are being finalized.
After Hawaii, it's back to work. She expects to spend the fall doing a promotional tour for the album. A music video for "Blue Jeans" is also on the way.
Yasmeen joins the very short list of pop music acts from Hawaii who have been signed to a national record deal and then actually had something to show for it with a song or album. (For the record, the acts were The New Generation, Tenderoni, the Hi-Town DJs and Hoku.)
"Hawaii artists don't get enough credit," she said. "We have a lot of extremely talented people, and they just don't get counted in. (The mainland doesn't) realize that we have a music industry and a lot of very talented folks over here.
"Hopefully, I'll represent Hawaii well."
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