Yasmeen Sulieman

Yasmeen Sulieman is an American singer and Broadway actress born on May 19, 1982, in Oakland, California. She lived in Oakland until age seven, when her family relocated to Oahu, Hawaii. Her brother is actor Sterling Sulieman, and her father, Jameel Sulieman, a doctor, played drums in bands during his college years. Sulieman began singing at a young age and was further inspired to pursue music by a close cousin. At age eleven she joined local choirs before moving into community and musical theatre.

During high school, Sulieman won a statewide talent competition in Hawaii called "Brown Bags" with a performance of Celine Dion's "Love Is on the Way," which led to an independent single release in 1999. She subsequently signed with Magic Johnson Music/MCA Records, Magic Johnson's record label, and spent two years recording her debut album with producers and songwriters including Diane Warren, Derek Bramble, Novel, and Jazze Pha. The album's lead single, "Blue Jeans," produced by Jazze Pha, was released in April 2002 and peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. A remix of the single featuring Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah received radio airplay. Around the same period, Sulieman performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a WNBA Los Angeles Sparks basketball game. Her debut album, When Will It Be Me, was released in Japan in September 2002 but was not released in the United States due to record label issues.

In early 2005, Sulieman appeared as one of five finalists on "The Half & Half FastTrak," an in-show music competition on the UPN television series Half & Half, with finalists selected by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Later that year she earned the role of Chiffon in a touring production of Little Shop of Horrors, a show she would also perform on Broadway. In August 2006, she joined the cast of the Discovery Kids children's television series Hi-5, taking over the role vacated by Karla Cheatham Mosley.

In 2009, Sulieman signed with Strictly Rhythm/Defected Records and recorded dance singles with various DJs, releasing Ready Or Not, Gone, and Rise on the label. In 2012, she partnered with Erik Machado, also known as Alias Rhythm, as a duo called Rose Rouge, releasing an EP titled Steady. She released an additional single, "Caught Up," with Sonny Fodera in February 2017.

Sulieman's Broadway career spans from 2003 to 2023 and includes credits in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Shucked, Paradise Square, and Little Shop of Horrors. She joined the cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical in 2014 as part of the ensemble. She also appears on the production's cast recording, released on May 13, 2014, which won a Grammy Award the following year. Her musical influences include Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Luther Vandross, opera, alternative, rock, pop, reggae, and traditional Hawaiian music.