Heaux Tales

Not my kind of music.

Yet another fairly difficult album to score. I try to start at a baseline of 3, and if an album annoys me it starts to drop, and if it impresses me, it starts to raise. The first several songs of this album looked to be trending towards a really poor score. It seemed like a boring, recycled R&B/soul album with a strong - graphic - focus on sex from a woman's perspective.

Then I hit song 8 with Anderson .Paak, whom I quite enjoy, and something seemed to click. Then I hit the song Lost Ones, which is one of the simplest, most effective, heartbreaking breakup songs I've ever heard, and I was all in.

The album's structure took me a few songs to properly grasp, but once I got it, the genius of it really resonated with me. A real story by a real person, followed by a song that explores the preceding tale. I'll be honest - some of the tales annoyed me, but the writing of the songs, and the storytelling overall is incredible.

I think this is another example of why this project needs half stars, but the writing on this album alone means it deserves more than the standard "it's fine" rating of 3 stars.

Heaux Tales is definitely an odd one for me when it comes to my opinion on it. This is one of the most recent albums on the whole list as this album closed the 2021 edition of the book this whole list was based on. As for my opinion, there are things i do and don't like about this album. Musically, it handles things pretty alright with the production and instrumentals being decent at best and mediocre at worst. The lyrics though, i have some pretty conflicting feelings. At some points, they could feel pretty cool and deep but at other points, they could just be pointless swearfests. This album is one where my feelings are all over the place but i didn't hate my time with it.
Best Song: Put It Down
Worst Song: Ari's Tale

Moderne R&B van deze dame. Wij vinden het altijd fijn als een album niet te lang duurt. Met een half uur een groen vinkje op dit punt. Maar dit album leunt, zoals de hoes al uitstraalt, toch sterk op de hiphop-cultuur achter R&B. Het album staat dus ook vol skits. Dan blijft er ook wel weer weinig muziek over... Toch iets te weinig van het goede...

Maar goed. Wat vinden we van die twintig minuten muziek? Het is modern, maar vrij toegankelijk. Het biedt binnen de grenzen van het hokje best wel wat variatie. Er is muzikaal gewoon niet zoveel op aan te merken. En als je die zin schrijft, weet je eigenlijk al dat er ook niet zoveel plusjes te beschrijven zijn. Een harde vergeetbare 3.

Really well put together album. Can't personally relate to most of the content but I admire how coherent it is. The interstitials are compelling bad argumentation. Production is top-notch and the songs feel varied while still managing to stay in the same general tone and genre mix. I don't know that I'll ever spin it up again but I am gladly surprised by it in general.

I'm floored. This is an absolutely outstanding album.
What an amazing exploration of modern female sexuality, crafted with a unique interview style that flushes out each story in the subsequent track. And not just that, but every track is so smooth and hooky as hell. Bodies is amazing opening track (which will be stuck in my head for the foreseeable future), and Girl Like Me is the perfect closer. Honestly, I have no complaints and will likely buy this vinyl. 5/5

Trash values makes trash music.

No.

I don't like this style of music, I don't like songs interspersed with talking, and I didn't like this even one little bit.

Ok, look. I'm all for feminism and female empowerment. Women should be running the world and I fully believe that humanity would be so far ahead of where we are now if they were. But though I agree with the message of this album, I just can't get on with the delivery. This music isn't for me. It's not as bad as straight up hip hop but I just don't see the artistry in electronically created beats and the occasional real bass here and there. She does have a fantastic voice so I definitely give her credit for that. But this is still not something I would ever listen to again. At least it's super short. 2/5

Not really my thing. I didn’t care for the music, lyrical content, or vocal style. She did have a decent voice, it was just wasted on trashy content. 1/5

Really good. Would definitely listen again and interested in what else she has done!

Neaux thanks.

I’m ending 2024 with a 1-star album. 2025 be good to me.

I really liked this when it came out and put it on my list of favorite albums from 2021.

Ah yes, I forgot how great “lost one” is.

... there were a lot of songs about getting dick?

I'm all for female empowerment but lyrics such as "that money keeps that pussy wet" was a bit too much 🥴

I loved the beats, a very nice vibe going on. She had a nice voice too. Not a fan of the skits/talking whatever you want to call them

The Other Side was my favourite song, it had so much potential and then she'd lose me singing about getting her titties out and getting her booty done 🫠

Would have been a higher score tbh if the songs were instrumentals or had different lyrics. This album had a lot of potential to be poignant and beautiful - but then she'd ruin it by throwing in words that made it comical and unserious

3 ⭐️

Oh you have to be joking.

This is just bad in every single sense. Since this was added to the list after the initial release, I assume something else was removed to make room for whatever this is?

Explicit content is only really worth listening to if there’s some kind of talent involved aswell, and there’s absolutely none to be found on this album. I absolutely hate this style of music, and I absolutely hate the vibe based non-singing.

Jazmine Sullivan was once regarded as a significant talent in the soul and R&B genres. Her debut album, "Fearless," released in 2008, received positive reviews, and her follow-up, "Love Me Back," also performed decently. However, I feel that she never fully realized her potential, and this latest album does not break that pattern; it feels mediocre as well.

This album is full of songs that ride on flattened records. No surprise or originality anywhere, nowhere a song that makes me jump up. It is all too simple, too flat and unfortunately often sung too whiny for me.

Those "Tales" also take the momentum out of the album, an album that already has little of it. Once again. an album that does not fulfill that great promise.

Not meant for me, nor enjoyed by me.

En ollutkaan julkaisuvuoden jälkeen kamalasti kuunnellut tätä. Hyvä r'n'b-platta seksistä ja parisuhteista nykypäivässä.

Brilliant. Perfection. Progressive but human, incredible RnB.