From its tongue-in-cheek title to its eye-opening spoken-word testimonies, Heaux Tales is a daring while simultaneously entertaining record that stakes a claim to its own pasture with Jazmine’s perfectionist streak balanced against occasionally raw, intimate use of sonics.
Heaux Tales is a provocative return for Sullivan that showcases her incredible knack for storytelling.
Sullivan is often overlooked as the R&B master she is, but her latest project displays the vocal range of legends before her, demonstrating her ability to capture the qualms of life and love relevant to the realities of dating in the age of the internet.
Though brief, with a runtime of just over 30-minutes, the EP shows Sullivan crafting a complete constellation of love and loss.
Ending such a lengthy wait for new material was never going to be easy, but Jazmine Sullivan makes her Everest-like task look deceptively simple. A woman speaking her truth in poetic, soulful fashion, ‘Heaux Tales’ could be her defining chapter.
The conceptual EP Heaux Tales seems to be a point of personal and artistic metamorphosis for Jazmine Sullivan.
For a lesser artist, doing songs this explicit would seem like a thin gimmick for attention, but Jazmine Sullivan is far above that weight class. What has to be reckoned with is that, heaux or no, Sullivan is a preeminent standard bearer in modern R&B.
Given the brevity and makeup -- just over half an hour, with only 27 minutes of music -- Heaux Tales doesn't have the heft of Fearless, Love Me Back, or Reality Show, but few contemporary R&B LPs twice its length are as substantive.
The harmonies and rhythms were too great for me to have anything bad to say about this album. Jazmine's voice is the sword cutting all the right edges, putting perspective into our minds. The interludes were setting the tone beautifully, I just love hearing women talking about reality. As far as the production, I still got nothing to complain, there's a little bit of R&B luxury for everyone.
PRE-REVIRW NOTE: special is incoming. :p 💜
Jazmine Sullivan is a new name to me, and i was really surprised to see that she makes music since 2008, my original thoughts being that she might be another new R&B / neo-soul artist that started popping off recently.
In contrast with the overall background surprise, the project is definetly not offering much of a surprise to me. I like it, but not to an extent of listening to it that much.
The seemingly long EP features female empowerment ... read more
This was the R&B album of the year tied with John legend I think? So that means it must be great right?
It is great, awesome even. It took me time to realise its Hoe Tales and not Hoax Tales but thats beside the point.
I love the idea of the interludes being real stories.
Since the first time I listened to it in 2021 my thoughts on this album changed somewhat.
And when I tell you that I am sad that I forgot about one of the greatest albums ive ever heard i mean it
1 | Bodies (Intro) 2:01 | 75 |
2 | Antoinette's Tale 0:37 | 67 |
3 | Pick Up Your Feelings 3:49 | 86 |
4 | Ari's Tale 0:49 with Ari Lennox | 66 |
5 | Put It Down 3:21 | 76 |
6 | On It 3:24 with Ari Lennox | 77 |
7 | Donna's Tale 1:10 | 65 |
8 | Price Tags 4:23 feat. Anderson .Paak | 75 |
9 | Rashida's Tale 1:00 | 64 |
10 | Lost One 2:58 | 75 |
11 | Precious' Tale 0:43 | 65 |
12 | The Other Side 3:37 | 78 |
13 | Amanda's Tale 0:37 | 66 |
14 | Girl Like Me 3:44 feat. H.E.R. | 74 |
#1 | / | Entertainment Weekly |
#1 | / | Los Angeles Times |
#1 | / | NPR Music |
#1 | / | Pitchfork |
#1 | / | Vulture |
#1 | / | WIRED |
#2 | / | A.V. Club |
#2 | / | BrooklynVegan |
#2 | / | The Line of Best Fit |
#2 | / | The Ringer |
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