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Jazmine Sullivan: Heaux Tales, Mo’ Tales and Beyond

Fearlessly authentic and unapologetically her own, the Philadelphia-born singer-songwriter delivers a deluxe version of her Grammy-nominated album.

Fearlessly authentic and unapologetically her own, Philadelphia-born singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan has amassed a hefty track record since her breakout in 2008. Having shared her natural-born talents from a very young age, Jazmine was recognised early into her career by trailblazing icon Missy Elliot, who took Sullivan on as her protegé in her teenage years. Missy co-produced and featured on Jazmine Sullivan’s explosive debut ‘Need U Bad’, setting the upcoming R&B artist to be a dynamic force to be reckoned with ever since.

After taking a hiatus to further perfect her craft, Jazmine Sullivan released her Grammy-nominated, chart-topping album Heaux Tales in January of last year. In the year since the 14-track project dropped it has received international acclaim and is still making an impact well after its release with publications including The New York Times, FADER, Rolling Stone and NPR placing the album high on their ‘Best of the Year’ lists for 2021. Through Heaux Tales, Jazmine Sullivan narrates navigating love, sex and relationships as a Black woman, making sure to include nuanced spoken-word interludes from various other women like Ari Lennox. With the triumphant success of Heaux Tales, Jazmine has had a strong year, adding multiple new achievements to her list of accomplishments and further cementing herself as one of the best voices in R&B.

With Heaux Tales marking Jazmine Sullivan’s second #1 album on the R&B charts and her highest debut on the Billboard Top 200 chart, the American singer-songwriter has been cleaning up the award nominations. With three current Grammy nominations for Best R&B album, Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for ‘Pick Up Your Feelings’, Sullivan now has fifteen Grammy nominations under her belt. She is also nominated for four 2022 NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Album, as well as winning BET’s 2021 Album of the Year. Adding in her 2021 Soul Train Music Awards, Jazmine Sullivan’s list of achievements is impressive, long-lasting and yet completely and utterly expected.

But the world of Heaux Tales isn’t over yet, with Jazmine blessing us with a deluxe version titled Mo’ Tales, which sees the addition of new songs and intimate interludes recounting hard lessons in love from more successful Black women such as Issa Rae. With 10 extra tracks for her rapidly growing fanbase to consume, Jazmine Sullivan gives us more of her signature honesty and vulnerability through her soulful and illuminating music.

Opening the deluxe version is ‘Issa’s Tale’, the pioneering creator of the hit HBO series opens up about a disappointing sexual experience of a man wasting her time, ending the raw interlude with an amusing twist; “I’m so glad I was cheating on him”. The album then transitions to the first deluxe song ‘Tragic’ where Sullivan reaffirms Issa’s tale by singing on “reclaiming her time”. With more interludes dotted between the songs, different women touch on vulnerability and self-empowerment as a Black woman and we also get a surprise male perspective with ‘A Breaux Tale’, as a self-aware man talks about getting his heart broken. On ‘Hurt Me So Good’, Sullivan belts out stunning vocals singing about finding the strength to leave a relationship, whereas ‘Roster’ follows up from the male perspective, responding with “don’t catch feelings”. The ending of Heaux Tales, Mo’ Tales wraps up on a self-confident note, heavy on the self-worth with ‘Selfish’ and reminds listeners that women reign supreme on ‘BPW’: “great pussy is the best flex”. With stirring, gospel-inspired R&B ballads, Jazmine Sullivan ends the Heaux Tales saga with a strong feeling of overcoming, elevating an already impactful project to the next level.

Jazmine Sullivan kicked off her long-awaited ‘The Heaux Tales Tour’ on February 15th, and will be performing across 25 cities in North America with Tiana Major9 as her opening act.

Follow Jazmine Sullivan here for more and stream the deluxe album Heaux Tales, Mo’ Tales here.

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