Jazmine Sullivan Triumphantly Returns with New Music: Heaux Tales Review

RCA Records 2021

Last Friday, Jazmine Sullivan triumphantly returned to the public eye with the release of her new and fourth musical project Heaux Tales. This was a long awaited project from Jazmine Sullivan due to the release of the lead single, “Lost One”, last August and announcing that she was finally releasing new material after an almost 6 year hiatus. As the New York Times put it, Jazmine Sullivan “ponders love and materialism” through her amazing lyricism, production, and storytelling through Heaux Tales.

The structure of the EP is one that intrigued me the second the tracklist was released the day before the EP was set to be released. The album is divided into six sections, with an intro track at the top of the album. The album sets out to put the perspective of Antoinette, Ari, Donna, Rashida, Precious, and Amanda’s tales (these are real women for clarification) into a musical format through one or two tracks, a concept that recalls back to the interludes on Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). Personally, I am one who loves when an album has a concept and puts effort into the storytelling, rather than it being just a playlist of songs an artist wants to release. Many artists these days don’t seem to pay enough attention to the ordering of their songs on their projects anymore. The structure alone of Heaux Tales was enough to catch my attention and start setting up expectations for the music that was to come.

The album starts off with the intro track “Bodies”, a minimalistic song that speaks about waking up after a long night of drinking and making questionable decisions about who she was sleeping with. The production on this track is mainly driven by a couple chords on a quiet synth, some snapping to keep rhythm, and Jazmine’s trademark harmonies and runs to support the main vocal lines. Jazmine automatically has me hooked and the song sets the tone for the album. This was going to be an album truly about being a “heaux” (the French-ified spelling for hoe) and the perspective of women in a world that marginalizes them at every turn. 

Antoinette’s Tale

The next section is “Antoinette’s Tale” that set out to tell listeners how women need to remember that they can and should reclaim their sexuality. Men must recognize women are sexual beings just as much as men. I really enjoyed this short interlude since it does not hold back. There is a sense of honesty that comes from just this one interlude that really fleshes out the storytelling.

“Pick Up Your Feelings” is a track dedicated to moving on from a past lover and doing better in her life without them. Although this song topic is a bit overdone, Jazmine makes one forget that in an artful way by minimizing her ex’s feelings to mere physical baggage that they should pick up like the rest of their stuff. The highlight of this track once again lies in Jazmine Sullivan’s runs in the chorus and almost sing-rap delivery of the verse’s detailing of talking about how she’s doing better. In a way, this was the more official start to the album, and a strong one to start. 

Ari’s Tale

Following the first section, we have the “Ari’s Tale” section of the album narrated by Ari Lennox, who’s musical voice is also featured on this album. This interlude talks about willing to risk it all for the dick, to put it bluntly. I was laughing the entire time, but also was intrigued how Jazmine was already showing the different, and sometimes conflicting, sides of what it means to be a woman dealing with men.

“Put It Down” was not the best track compared to the rest of the album, having a very generic production and an overall simple vocal delivery by Jazmine. She did make things interesting with her use of Autotune towards the end, which I haven’t heard on Jazmine until now. It was not a terrible song, but one that did feel like an interruption to the flow of the album so far. 

The next track, “On It” is a sultry duet between Ari and Jazmine challenging their respective lovers to “tell me why you deserve it/Come on and prove/Why I should move”. This is a highlight on the album because the simple guitar-driven production really accentuates the sexual nature of Ari’s point in her “tale”. Their voices combined is heavenly and oozing with the sexual effect they are going after for their audiences. There were many times the track was paused so I can laugh a little bit with how good they are delivering these sexually charged lyrics while demonstrating their vocal abilities.

Donna’s Tale

The third section is introduced with “Donna’s Tale”, which points out how all women, no matter their sexual history, have to use sex, or hoeing/tricking as Donna puts it, to get what they want.

“Pricetags”, featuring Anderson .Paak, then drives this tale’s narrative further by detailing how Jazmine will only put out for a man if he has some money to keep her interested. The chorus is hypnotizing and entertaining with Jazmine repetitively singing “Yeah, hunnids, hunnids in my hand/Want it, want it spend them bands/Yeah, I'ma take all I can get/That money keeps that pussy wet”. The production has a simple beat but the guitar in the background highlights every beat and adds to the feel of luxuriousness that Jazmine seeks to attain. Anderson .Paak’s verse adds additional humor to the song by rapping from a man’s perspective, however this is ruined with his colorist lines, “But that baby came out black as Samuel in Pulp Fiction (Woah)/I'm light skin and (Woah), my grandaddy Indian/You fuckin' with my lineage and dividends (Come on)”. It is really jarring to hear a line like that on a Black woman’s album and one that is particularly dedicated to mostly Black woman. This track would be one of my top tracks, but the colorist verse from .Paak really does not do any good for the album.

Rashida’s Tale

Now comes the most heartbreaking part of the album through “Rashida’s Tale”, which details how Rashida had a partner, sadly cheated on them, and the pain Rashida had to go through admitting her infidelity and accepting the pain she herself had caused. 

This is followed by the lead single, “Lost One”, which is arguably one of the underrated best songs of 2020. The track is very simplistic with only a few guitar chords and harmonies and nothing else. This track is hauntingly beautiful because of the echo Jazmine has on the chorus when she begs her ex lover, “Just don't have too much fun without me/Don't have too much, don't have too much fun/Please don't forget about me/Try not to love no one”. It was at this point that Jazmine had me pausing the album because this section made me cry without realizing it. Although “Lost One” was released over the summer, the introduction and context that “Rashida’s Tale” provides makes it all the more heartbreaking, yet something one always comes back to. Honestly, Jazmine did a phenomenal job touching me through my personal heartbreaks through this song and I am sure it would do the same for anyone who’s experienced heartbreak.

Precious’s Tale

“Precious’ Tale” kicks off the next section with the words “To be honest/Money makes me cum”, which gave me the laughter I needed after the last section. This section goes back to the ideas introduced in “Donna’s Tale”, in which men have to provide something if they really want women to have sex to them. It’s through this messaging, Jazmine brings forth this idea of materialism and control by showing that women have the power to harness control at any time.

However, the track that follows, “The Other Side” is a much more hopeful track that describes wanting a better life with riches. Despite the hopeful sound, there are a couple quips here and there that pull you back into the sad reality that comes with coming climbing to the top. Although not my personal favorite, this is a really good example of Jazmine being able to put two different types of production and vibes for a topic that is repeated throughout the album. She shows off her ability to tell stories from multiple perspectives through this section and the “Donna’s Tale” section.

Amanda’s Tale

We conclude the album with “Amanda’s Tale”, in which Amanda talks about the paradox many women face through owning their sexual expression. Amanda enjoys that she found her worth through sex, but is also saddened that she had to go through those lengths to really love herself and be confident. Although  

“Girl Like Me” featuring H.E.R., is the perfect conclusion to an album written for women. Although this is an acoustic guitar driven track, H.E.R. and Jazmine bring powerful vocals that  voice their sadness at having to abide by men’s standards in order to be determined as worthwhile. It is to be noted that although sometimes the song comes off as demeaning to women who do sex themselves up, that is not the point nor the intention of those lyrics. The song is meant to be a jab at the men who have built up and upheld this system of misogyny that decides that women are only worthwhile if they over-sexualize themselves. I was a big fan of this track because the blend of sadness and anger is brought forth through the combination of their vocals. Their lyricism can be easily misunderstood but it’s the vulnerability that the women display that makes one understand why the lyrics are what they are. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, Jazmine Sullivan’s Heaux Tales is an album for all types of women. I love the idea of detailing tales from “heauxs” because at the end of the day these are just regular women that the patriarchy labels as “hoes” for wanting the same things men want. Jazmine’s voice is a powerhouse throughout the album and demonstrates a technique unmatched by many current artists. The stylistic choices she makes are the reason why this album is so good, and there is a song on here for all listeners. Although a bit too early to call, this album definitely feels like it is going to be on some end of the year lists for 2021.