Yasmeen Sulieman
Yasmeen Sulieman (born 19 May 1982) is an American singer and Broadway actress. She was a member of Hi-5 after replacing original member Karla Mosley, however, due to reasons unknown, the TV series was cancelled before they could produce episodes with Sulieman, despite this, she appeared in the never-before-seen segments on the American DVDs Making Music and Wonderful Wishes.
Biography
Early life and career
Yasmeen Sulieman was born in Oakland, California, where she grew up until the time she was 7, at which time her parents relocated the family to Oahu, Hawaii. Although Sulieman had been singing since she was young, it was her close cousin who helped her pursue her passion for music. Her father, Dr. Jameel Sulieman, who played drums for several bands while in college, had her join several choirs, graduating to community and musical theatre at the age of 11. She won the statewide talent show, known as "Brown Bags," in high school, performing an emotive rendition of Celine Dion's "Love Is on the Way," leading to an independent single release in 1999.
Following the break from her independent single, Sulieman quickly signed with Magic Johnson's label, Magic Johnson Music/MCA Records. She started working on her first album with producers/songwriters like Diane Warren, Derek Bramble, Novel, and Jazze Pha, a two-year process. The first single off the album, "Blue Jeans," produced by Jazze Pha, came out in April 2002. It received positive feedback, reaching No. 53 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. She also had a remix of the song, featuring Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah, come out, receiving airplay on the radio. Along with the release of the single, Sulieman sang "The Star Spangled Banner" at a WNBA Los Angeles Sparks basketball game, receiving cheers from the audience.
Her debut album, When Will It Be Me, was released in September 2002 in Japan. The album was not released in the United States due to record label issues.
In early 2005, Sulieman was featured on an in-show music competition segment of the UPN TV show Half & Half called "The Half & Half FastTrak" as one of five finalists selected by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Sulieman was not selected to win, and she was cast in the role of Chiffon in the touring musical Little Shop of Horrors later in 2005.
Hi-5 (2006-2008)
In August 2006, when Karla Mosley announced that she was leaving the children’s television program Hi-5, which aired on the Discovery Kids channel, Sulieman took her place. Sulieman would go on to be a member of the group until the band finally broke up in August 2008 after performing their last show in Puerto Rico.
After Hi-5
In 2009, she signed with Strictly Rhythm/Defected Records and has released a few dance songs with various DJs. She has released three singles on the record label: Ready Or Not, Gone, and Rise. In 2012, she partnered with Erik Machado, also known as Alias Rhythm, to form a duo named Rose Rouge and released an EP titled "Steady."
In 2014, she was a part of the cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on Broadway, playing a role in the ensemble. She also appeared on a cast album, which was released on May 13, 2014, and won a Grammy award in the following year.
She released a new single, "Caught Up," on February 17, 2017, with Sonny Fodera.[1]