Jazmine Sullivan came up with a genius idea on the heels of the release of her latest music project, Heaux Tales. The R&B powerhouse singer took to Twitter to post a compelling wish involving entertainment industry triple threat Issa Rae.
“what I would love is if me and @issarae did a heauxtales short film and I’d add a few extra songs,” Sullivan said. “But I could be dreaming. NVM me…I’m crazy.”
It didn’t take long before the two-time Golden Globe nominee responded, saying “Jazmine. Say the f**k less.”
It’s a match made in heaven for fans of Sullivan and Rae, who both have used their platforms to address topics and scenarios pertaining to the Black woman. This won’t be the first time that the two stars have crossed paths. In 2017, Rae featured a song from Sullivan with the same name as her HBO show Insecure, which also featured Bryson Tiller on the single. Sullivan also appeared on Rae’s Insecure LIVE series where she performed and told stories behind her music to a live audience.
Taking a hiatus for nearly six years, Sullivan started 2021 dropping her fourth career project, Heaux Tales, with features from Ari Lennox, Anderson .Paak, and H.E.R. The 14-track project is already receiving praise from blogs, fans, and music aficionados for its mesmerizing storytelling that brutally delves into the world of sexually liberated women.
Listen to Jazmine Sullivan’s Heaux Tales:
Reminiscent of R. Kelly’s impacting “Trapped In The Closet” saga and Beyonce’s vulnerably honest, female empowering studio album Beyoncé, Sullivan spills the tea on the current narrative women in modern society are promoting in music, social media and across entertainment.
Leading the album with the single “Pick Up Your Feelings,” Sullivan definitely has a message for both the woman and man. From highlighting the eagerness of women to do what it takes to get the bag to reprimanding men for pressuring good women to convert to “hoes” just to get attention, Sullivan didn’t come to coddle sensitive feelings.
One standout track called “Girl Like Me” featuring H.E.R. warns the male species that their constant dismissiveness of good women in exchange for the “hoe” is making women opt to join the hoe revolution. It’s a good debate because the truth is that “hoes are winning.” Strippers are getting record deals and reality show spots, escorts are getting their first choice picks at athletes, entertainers and even politicians. You’d have to be blind to not see the shift to a sexually exploitive culture.
Not judging, but some women just don’t want to put themselves out there like that. Yet, with the criticism of Ayesha Curry’s comments on women dressing conservatively and the praise of Cardi B’s raunchy single “WAP,” the message is clear — join the bandwagon or be unnoticed. Still, there are some women who represent the other side of the game and they feel that they don’t have to degrade themselves for validation or money. Some women find that offensive, but it’s hypocritical to marginalize and reprimand sexually conservative women just to fit the overarching agenda of others when “hoes” are asking people to not do the same thing to them.
Heaux Tales is cautionary, while simultaneously entertaining — biblical, while ironically, yet, another validation of “heaux” behavior. A true testament of Sullivan’s incredible gift to channel the struggle of the modern woman, just like the first person that unnecessarily exposed the weave revolution on YouTube through tutorials, Heaux Tales almost reveals too many secrets that women have harvested for so long — giving men who are smart enough to tap in to the album too much insight into “The Game.”
But, maybe “The Game” needs to be exposed, and who’s to say that the songs on the album can’t be applied to men. Not only are some of them promiscuous, but nowadays, the gold digging men are rampant and there’s so many examples of their vulnerability being sprawled all over social media and emo rap songs. At the end of the day, Sullivan deserves a pat on the back and a full bank account for the latest entry into the R&B book of life.
What do you think about the album?
