Heaux Tales

Lyrically and structurally strong. Terrible vocal production.

I’m at a 4.5 that I'll bump up to a 5.

“The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” famously has a series of interludes of a teacher speaking to a group of children about what exactly love is; how we conceptualize it, how we show it, and the difference between falling in love & actually feeling love. “Heaux Tales” has a series of interludes that feel like what would happen if those kids grew up to talk about how they view love now, centered in the Black feminine perspective. I’ll be the first person to tell you that I, a white-passing half-Asian man, cannot possibly be able to relate to these tracks at a deeper level, nor could I claim to speak for its target audience. That said, I’m noticing a lot of people focusing on the lyrics & the emphasis on modern sexuality & getting the entirely wrong message from this. They are boldly & proudly themselves, and if that means they’re gonna call themselves hoes (or “heauxs”), then so be it. This album, to me, feels like an announcement to the world that they’re here & they want to be heard, imperfections & all, whether they’re proud of that label or not.

I think the framing that helps the album the most is in the interludes acting as natural segues from topic to topic; they introduce each upcoming track well. Occasionally, it gets a little ‘crass’ (at least by the standards of old white men), but it’s a very raw look at sexuality. It’s just how it is; you could disagree with the idea that a woman using her allure to get their man to give them what they want is equivalent to being a hoe, but that’s their take. There’s a good variety to the takes too; there’s something objectively hilarious about “that dick spoke life into me” followed by 2 tracks that are hornier than a Duke Ellington track, but there’s also something tragically frustrating about another story where someone cheats on her fiance with their best friend for reasons they can’t comprehend. I think the last story, of feeling less & less empowered by their only defining trait being the actual act of sex, is honestly pretty sad too. There’s a full breadth of modern femininity at hand here, and I think being so open about it is only a positive for this album.

I can’t help but think the vast majority of 1s & 2s were not paying an inch of attention to this album’s modus operandi, or just dismissed it too flippantly to give it a genuine chance after hearing the dreaded “sex” word for the first time. To me, there's a hypocrisy with the ‘70s rockstars that have ever sung about having sex with underage girls on a track & while there's criticism for the nasty women on here for calling themselves hoes & speaking confidently about their own bodies & perspectives.

Of course, there are those who can recognize what this album is trying to do & agree with it, but hate the actual production work at hand here. I think that’s at least fair, given that this isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel. It feels like a mix between what Rihanna was doing on ANTI with trap, what Frank Ocean was doing on Blond with trippy synths & filters, & what SZA, H.E.R. & others would continue to refine going into 2023 and beyond as drums & basslines got punchier & punchier. To my ears, it still feels pretty fresh, but it’s also only 5 years old.

The X-factor that ties all of that together is in Jazmine Sullivan’s vocals, and I simply love everything about them. Her range is dynamic as hell (even if she usually sits in a deeper register), her harmonies are smooth as hell to the ears, and she just manages to breathe a lot of life into the lyrics. I look specifically at the last half of “Girl Like Me”, which really won me over – I think there’s a righteous anger in being forced to be someone other than yourself, or to have to put on a mask just to feel secure in an insecure way, & there’s a conscious rage & push in her voice that really sells the frustration behind it all. The other big highlights are on “Lost One” (I mean, seriously, the harmonies) & “The Other Side” (there’s just a big sense of ambition in her voice that makes you root for her), but she’s consistently great throughout the album. I’d be remiss to not point out Anderson .Paak’s excellent guest verse on “Price Tags” & H.E.R.’s feature on “Girl Like Me”. They both nail it.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed this one, and while I do get some of the criticism towards a disdain for this musical style, or the fact that it might’ve felt too soon at the time to put this on the list, I just wasn’t bothered by either. I think it’s a really strong 32 minutes (albeit kinda short), I’m glad it’s here, and I think it deserves a bump up to a 5.

Her voice is quite nice, but unfortunatly the lyrics match the cover, and the cover is something very far from what i would like to listen to

I wasn't a fan of this but not in the manner of the rabid haters

Sexually expressive, confessional R&B. Definitely not bad and an interesting listen from a psychosocial point of view, but not really remarkable musically compared to other examples from the genre.

Jazmine's got a great voice and I'd have to award some points for having her heart in the right place with the concepts here... And that's really the only positive thing I have to say about this.

Today's listen is Heaux Tales by Jazmine Sullivan. You would think I would remember a 2021 release, especially one good enough to make a list like this, but I had no idea who Jazmine Sullivan was and had never heard of this album before today.

On reflection, I think I was probably better off not knowing about it. There are some nice moments, particularly “Lost One,” and I can understand why the album was socially relevant and resonated with people at the time. Its themes of relationships, sexuality and female empowerment are clear, and there are moments where the humour works well.

Unfortunately, it just isn't my genre of music. A lot of it felt quite naff to me, and I found the album a real struggle to get through. I can appreciate what Sullivan is trying to do without particularly enjoying listening to it.

Favourite track: “Lost One” – easily the highlight for me.

Least favourite track: Rather than a particular song, the spoken interludes. I found them really irritating and didn't feel they added anything to the album. Removing them would make the record shorter and, for me, much more enjoyable. I could definitely have done without the “tales” in Heaux Tales.

Album artwork: Fairly standard. Nothing particularly memorable.

Pretty interesting. Incredibly, incredibly embarrassing to listen to during school hours, because the entire thing is about sex, but anyway it’s a pretty nice album. I see why people have some hesitation toward it, it’s certainly not a masterpiece or tour de force, and I don’t love the way Sullivan interprets the different stories throughout the EP, and I don’t love that the authors put an EP on the list anyway. But as a work itself it’s fine.

I enjoy “Pick Up Your Feelings” for what it is. Production, singing, pretty good. Writing is fine, though not up to par, a problem across this whole work. That being said, the longing in the EP feels very beautiful and genuine. “The Other Side” as just okay as some of the lines are, feels very real in its yearning.

It takes obvious influence from Frank Ocean, and various other rnb artists. That’s nice, but it kind of hinders the work a bit. Whatever though. It’s alright.
6.2/10
DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: SURE
REASON: Impact and relevance

I found this ok. It had to my taste way too many non-song tracks. The songs are decent and I like the concept too, but I don't find this very satisfying.

Not my usual go-to music but I enjoyed it. The production is cool and varied, and it's the first album to feature sexual slam poetry so why not.

One of the worst gimmicks on any album is the usage of preachy skits. 6 of the 14 tracks on this one are just that. Kills the vibe and makes repeat listens like nails on a chalkboard. Too bad, some of the tracks had a solid groove going.

What… and i emphasize… tha fuq.

Perfectly serviceable R&B sung by woman with a decent set of pipes.

Whether this late 60 year old male got the most out of it is doubtful, but if I was a 16 or 17 year old girl looking for some opinions I think it would hit a lot deeper.

Calling 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 an EP feels almost misleading. At around half an hour, it has the structure and flow of a proper album rather than something that feels slight or transitional.

The music sits firmly in modern R&B, but with enough neo-soul warmth to keep it from sounding too slick. Sullivan’s voice carries the record, while the spoken interludes add personality and help connect the songs.

Short, cohesive, and very well put together. Whatever the label says, this feels like a full album to me.

This is a really enjoyable modern RnB album about women's sexuality. It is blunt, it is sensual, and it is honestly kind of empowering. It reads as a very intentional inversion of the male gaze that is often at the center of RnB. I think the spoken word interludes are a double edged sword, but ultimately load bearing on Heaux Tales. They kind of serve as framing elements for the concepts here, centering the lyrical concepts here on the experiences of real women, and it makes the impact of Heaux Tales feel way more human than it would have otherwise. However, Heaux Tales is already a *short* album, at 32 minutes. And while it does keep things breezy, it also means that this many interludes kind of starts cutting into the runtime, even if they are important to the concept. Basically, part of me thinks that I would like some more content here, but at the same time, there would be the risk of making the album feel bloated. Although, despite these qualms, what *is* here is really good, so I don't want to complain too much.

The music is good. The interludes are annoying. Why did that have to become a trend. Does anybody enjoy those?

I didn't care about listening to The Notorious B.I.G. talking about having sex, and I don't care for Jazmine Sullivan talking about having sex. Another one for the big list of post-2005 misses.

I'm so glad it picked up after the first track, because I thought I was going to be in for quite a brutal ride there. Once it picks up and she actually starts singing it becomes a more soulful time and way more listenable. The music for the most part is actually not bad, and pretty good in places even - However, let's be clear, the lyrics and content in this are absolutely fucking awful. The write-up makes it sound like she she's exploring all these vast important themes, but the whole thing is as shallow as a puddle.

2.5 rounded down.

Oh my god. Lighten up y’all. This album is great! So many people, specifically on this site, are writing it off completely for god-knows-what. It probably scares them. This is no raunchier than the classic Led Zeppelin songs, not any more blunt than cuts from Frank by Amy Winehouse. But this can’t be here? A black-led concept album talking explicitly about the agency (or lack thereof) that women have over their own bodies? Shut up.

It’s not perfect, I wish the beats weren’t so minimal. They could have stronger instrumentation. But the vocal performances from everyone are just fantastic. Her singing is great, her chemistry with Lennox and her voice is perfect, I even love Anderson .Paak’s rap verse despite the fact that he is clearly trying to make the song about himself.

Heaux Tales doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it doesn’t compromise its vision in the slightest. As of right now, it’s the most recent addition to the 1001 Album list. The recent additions always get the same treatment. The only difference between this and Microshift is that Microshift actually deserves the criticism. This doesn’t need any more hate from racist, sexist people.

Solid production, but most modern R&B just doesn’t do it for me. This album didn’t do it for me.