R&B singer, songwriter and producer Jazmine Sullivan is releasing a deluxe edition of her Grammy-nominated album “Heaux Tales” on Feb 11.
“Heaux Tales, Mo Tales: The Deluxe” will feature a handful new songs along with a multitude of additional “tales,” spoken-word interludes exploring issues of body image, feminism, sexuality, and class, famously executed by Sullivan’s friends including vocalist Ari Lennox who appears on “Ari’s Tale” and “On It” on “Heaux Tales.”
Signs that a deluxe edition was coming started in December when Sullivan dropped two fresh song snippets on her Instagram account. For an artist who waited six years between her most recent album and her previous release, 2015’s “Reality Show,” any new music is cause for celebration.
While Sullivan’s label, RCA, would not reveal the exact number of new songs or stories that would appear on the new “Heaux Tales,” the label did confirm that Sullivan’s ballad from June 2021 — “Tragic,” featuring California congresswoman Maxine Waters — would be part of the new package.
“The conversation continues,” Sullivan tells PvNew of the deluxe edition. “I started ‘Heaux Tales’ with the idea of having open conversations as Black women, and you can’t put all of that into one project. There’s always more to talk about.”
Sullivan is less forthcoming about whether Instagram snippets such as ”Jazzy’s Tale” would wind up on the deluxe edition, and how additional tracks going forward would move the needle on the album’s initial narrative. When asked if she would continue to expand “Heaux Tales” as a living, breathing, ever-evolving work — a la Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo” — after February 11, she says, “I’m not sure — yet. I’d like to move it into another arena, like film, where you could see new conversations and stories.”
This jibes with something Sullivan tweeted a year ago when she teased the idea of teaming with “Insecure” star and producer Issa Rae about creating a short film based on “Heaux Tales.”
“What I would love is if me and @IssaRaedid a heauxtales short film and I’d add a few extra songs. But I could just be dreaming. Nvm me.. I’m crazy”
To which Issa Rae responded: “Jazmine. Say the F***k less.”
In 2020, Rae launched a film production company, Hoorae, set to release HBO Max projects such as the “Seen & Heard” docuseries, the “Rap Sh*t” comedy series, along with projects for Netflix (“Ghost in the Machine”), Universal (“Sinkhole”) and Spyglass (“Perfect Strangers”).
Rae also has a home for her record label, Raedio, at Atlantic Records.
Sullivan’s deluxe edition drops just days before the kickoff of her Heaux Tales Tour, set to start on Valentine’s Day in Vancouver. Its announcement follows news that the 64th Grammy Awards — where “Heaux Tales” is nominated for best R&B album, and “Pick Up Your Feelings” is up for best R&B song and best R&B performance — is moving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and will take place on Sunday, April 3.
