Though many think the pandemic is over, COVID-19 isn’t done with us yet as Jazmine Sullivan becomes the latest celebrity to catch the disease. Jazmine Sullivan Cancels LA Show Following COVID-19 Diagnosis Jazmine Sullivan has been on a roll since the release of her album Heaux Tales and more recently, its deluxe version. She has […]
Jazmine Sullivan’s Heaux Tales Tour got started last week, but it’s gotten off to a bumpy start. While the first show in Vancouver was cancelled because of local COVID safety measures, Sullivan played at Portland and Seattle stops, before laboring through a show in Oakland on Tuesday when she began to feel not so great. She cancelled last night’s show in Sacramento despite testing negative for COVID, because she was “feeling extremely under the weather,” saying on Twitter that she didn’t want to “give a subpar performance.”
Credit to Sullivan, who felt symptoms and started playing it safely from there. Because today, the “Pick Up Your Feelings” singer tweeted that she has indeed tested positive for COVID and is canceling tour dates for at least the next week. “I’m truly sad to have to cancel more shows but health and safety come first for myself, my team, and all of you,” she said.
Tour update. This is really disappointing but we will figure it out. pic.twitter.com/bp1a0aLetx
— Jazmine Sullivan (@jsullivanmusic) February 25, 2022
This means that tomorrow’s show in LA, plus next week’s shows in Phoenix and Denver are likely canceled and perhaps more from there while she recovers. Sullivan said that ticket holders would be contacted via email about rescheduling. You can read her statement in full below and we wish her a speedy recovery.
You can read her statement in full below:
“Hi Everyone,
My Doctor confirmed that I’m positive with COVID. I am taking every precaution to isolate myself. I’m truly sad to have to cancel more shows but health and safety come first for myself, my team, and all of you.
LA’s show tomorrow will unfortunately be cancelled and we are likely cancelling show for the next week based on my condition and the condition of my crew. We will let you know when the tour will resume once we have made that decision.
As soon as we have in regards to tickets and rescheduling, ticket holders will be notified via email.
Thank you so much for understanding and support and I’ll be seeing you very soon.
Jaz <3”
After two years, The Roots Picnic is finally returning to its in-person live format in 2022 — and that’s not all. The festival has been extended an extra day and will take place June 4-5 at The Mann at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. The eclectic festival lineup will be led by Mary J Blige, fresh off her Super Bowl halftime show performance and backed by The Roots; Summer Walker, whose 2021 album Still Over It topped the charts last year; and Nigerian singer Wizkid, who is undoubtedly this summer’s king of festivals.
Further down the flyer, the resurgent Jazmine Sullivan, jazz revivalist Kamasi Washington, and a pair of jam sessions — one led by J Period, with Black Thought, Benny The Butcher, and Rick Ross, the other featuring Keyshia Cole, SWV, and Musiq Soulchild — fill out the top-line acts. Other big draws include sax-rapper Masego, urban gospel OG Kirk Franklin, Chicago drill pioneer G Herbo, the quirky Tierra Whack, tough-guy rapper Freddie Gibbs, country star Mickey Guyton (who also sang the National Anthem at this year’s Super Bowl), Yebba, and Chief Keef.
There will also be a live podcast stage with Rory & Mal, Questlove Supreme, Jemele Hill, and more. Ticket presale began today at 10 am EST, while general sale starts Friday, February 18 at 10 am. You can get more information here.
Jazmine Sullivan has more tales to tell. The R&B singer announced a deluxe edition of last year’s “Heaux Tales.” That means more songs of love, lust, pain, and a lover’s revenge. “Heaux Tales, Mo’ Tales: The Deluxe” will drop on February 11 and features a new song called “Tragic” and a guest appearance from U.S. […]
It’s a New Year and the ladies are kicking off the year with a bang. Latto has dropped a new freestyle to a Kodak Black song, Muni Long dropped a new song and Cyn Santana from Love & Hip-Hop fame is looking to finally make her mark as a rap artist. Latto Drops “Super Gremlin […]
Upon posing on the daring album cover for Heaux Tales -– with a statuesque Jazmine Sullivan in her translucent biker shorts glory -– the Philly-bred singer-songwriter put longtime fans on notice that they were in for a new era. On Heaux Tales, Sullivan’s first effort in six years that comes in 5th in the 2021 Uproxx Music Critics Poll, she unlocks personal terrain through unflinching narratives of insecurities, sexual conquests, and materialism. Leading a fellowship of close friends who share spoken vignettes of their most esteemed and regrettable experiences as women, Heaux Tales finds Sullivan becoming a new vanguard of feminism in music, giving voice to Black women who are still in search of themselves.
On previous albums Fearless, Love Me Back, and Reality Show, Sullivan had all the makings of a rising soul icon, with ambitious songwriting, genre-bending production, and belty vocals. In comparison to Heaux Tales, her content was bereft of intimate portraits that she sought for Black women listeners, an intention that she aimed to reach during her post-Reality Show hiatus. Taking a breather from music to shake the aftereffects of leaving an abusive relationship, Sullivan returned with profound strength, seeking to interview her friends about their own trials in love and loss. With her sister circle willing to record their innermost thoughts and conversations as interludes on Heaux Tales, their words give an intrinsic, meditative texture to the EP.
In an Essence interview with Issa Rae, Sullivan spoke about the collaborative purpose behind Heaux Tales:
“For this project, it was important for me to share the stories of the women I love and hold dear to my heart. I feel like they are just as banging and dynamic as me. And I want to give space and opportunity to women, period. I feel like we get caught up in thinking there’s “only one” of us.”
Rapt with harrowing interludes that center one woman at a time — with gospel-tinged “Donna’s Tale” practically being a sermon on ‘tricking’ in relationships –- Heaux Tales is an R&B canon of solidarity. Mirroring spoken interludes in piercing, soul-baring song form, Sullivan honors the resilience of Black women, with respect for their most vulnerable musings. On album opener “Bodies,” she acts as a guilt-ridden conscience following a drunken night out and sobering morning where Sullivan doesn’t recognize who she’s woken up beside. While triggering, “Bodies” resonates with Black women who endure their own personal misogynoir about “pilin’ up bodies on bodies on bodies.”
Sullivan’s vocals act as a sinew for the expressive, conversational therapy of Heaux Tales, where listeners are invited to relate to honest monologues without shame. Raised by a playwright mother and poet grandmother, Sullivan closely followed her matriarch’s teachings, scripting emblematic ballads that trace each tale. Instead of Sullivan titling her friends’ ruminations as interludes, she lauds them as ‘tales,’ preserving their messages and putting them center stage.
In the introductory interlude, “Antoinette’s Tale,” Sullivan’s friend and podcaster Antoinette Henry tackles the patriarchy by revering women’s ownership over their sexuality. The interlude shifts into lead-single “Pick Up Your Feelings” a searing call to men to let go of control and broken relationship ties. Like the beatnik production on “Pick Up Your Feelings,” during the Heaux Tales performance round-up earlier this year, Sullivan was occasionally seen donning ’60s-esque mod attire and hairstyles, which can be interpreted as an homage to the legacy of Black women in R&B and soul.
Segueing into “Ari’s Tale,” narrated by Shea Butter Baby delight Ari Lennox, the singer recalls being mesmerized under the sexual dominance of a former partner, praising various deities and hypnotically repeating “this is just my truth.” Before joining Lennox on the salacious, sex-amped anthem “On It,” Sullivan grapples with sexual infatuation over haunting a Key Wane production on “Put It Down.” While controversial for its message of sponsoring undeserving men, “Put It Down” rings true with women who’ve been disoriented in the throes of lust.
Following “Donna’s Tale,” where Sullivan’s godmother Donna Anderson reveals lessons in ‘tricking,’ Heaux Tales lands into its sole collaboration with a male artist. Featuring Anderson .Paak, one-half of Silk Sonic, “Price Tags” is a raspy, harmonic ode to women getting their money up by taking advantage of naïve men.
“Price Tags” is trailed by “Rashida’s Tale” where Sullivan’s friend Rashida Northington describes a moment of infidelity where she cheated on her former fiancée with a friend of the couple. Sullivan’s vocals softly cascade in the background of Northington’s account, arriving at “Lost Ones” where the singer reveals that “sometimes it’s too late to make amends.” On Heaux Tales, there’s no room for judgment, just women coming face-to-face with deep-rooted taboos. There’s power in acceptance.
In an interview with Pitchfork, Sullivan spoke about women taking accountability for their mistakes in order to give themselves grace:
“In order to move on and heal and enjoy the life that you’re still living, you have to forgive yourself. I was going through that process while making the project, and I want other women who I know are feeling the same way to know that it’s okay. Learn from your mistakes and move the eff on.”
Heaux Tales takes those mistakes and turns them into passages of healing. With Sullivan’s robust vocals being an anomaly in the current age of R&B. the album is an embodiment of #ProtectBlackWomen, venturing through unguarded stories that transform into empowering wisdom.
As Sullivan’s strongest effort yet, Heaux Tales instantly garnered widespread critical acclaim for its truth, the singer nabbing two 2021 Soul Train Awards for Album of the Year and Best R&B/Soul Female Artist. At the 2021 BET Awards, Sullivan won Album of the Year, and in the 63rd Grammy Awards in 2022, the vocalist will be up for Best R&B Album, Best R&B Performance, and Best R&B Song, the latter two nominations for “Pick Up Your Feelings.”
With minimalist soundscapes, Jazmine Sullivan’s evocative impact shines through. Leading a crusade of Black women through their plights, Heaux Tales is a stirring gaze into the unapologetic future of feminism.
More than two years after releasing his last body of work, Rick Ross returned this past weekend with his eleventh album Richer Than I Ever Been. It’s a rather short project, with just 12 songs and guest appearances from Wale, Future, Benny The Butcher, and more. To celebrate, Ross returns with a video for the album’s lead single, “Outlawz” with 21 Savage and Jazmine Sullivan. It finds Ross driving around town, with appearances from his two collaborators.
The video comes after Ross responded to rumors that he and Meek Mill, who is signed to his Maybach Music Group label, were not on good terms. “I feel like we’re both hustlers,” he said during an interview at the Grammy Museum. “That’s one thing about life, you either grow together or grow apart. As a boss, you make that decision, because whatever it is you want to do, Ricky Rozay wants to see you do it. There’s a lot of people that didn’t last or was still down with me the way Meek is — so I want to see the homie shine regardless.”
You can watch the video for “Outlawz” in the video above.
Richer Than I Ever Been is out now via Maybach Music Group/Epic Records. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
This year marks the first time in more than a year where things were somewhat “normal” in the music industry. Concerts and festivals made a return which allowed artists to release projects they held off on dropping due to the quarantine. For what it’s worth, however, R&B found plenty of success in 2020 and it did again in 2021. From Jazmine Sullivan’s excellent Heaux Tales project that kicked off the year to Silk Sonic’s An Evening With Silk Sonic that brought us towards the end of 2021, this year is just another case of the phenomenal diversity that lives in the genre.
So let’s get into it. Here are the fifteen best R&B albums from 2021 in alphabetical order.
Foushee is one of the many 2021 acts that received a healthy boost thanks to landing a viral moment on TikTok. Her breakout single “Deep End” achieved success on the app and led to a flood of interest in her artistry. With the later release of her debut project, Time Machine, Foushee defined the pocket that her music lives in. The New Jersey native thrived by creating unlikely pairings through her work. A thumping bass was accompanied by funk-inspired R&B and her transgressions through heartbreak, growth, and more, are sung with the grace of a young indie singer. Foushee works best when a neverending horizon serves as her only confinement. – Wongo Okon
It’s odd to think of Back Of My Mind as H.E.R.’s debut album. After all, it’s so fully formed, sashaying easily between sweeping power ballads (“We Made It“) to mournful reflection (“Damage“) to warm weather bops (“Slide“). H.E.R.’s pen is like a surgeon’s tool, cutting to the bone of such subjects as heartbreak, self-realization, and the stirrings of new love. Her instrumentation is even more impressive. Perhaps it’s owed to the decade-plus of behind-the-scenes work she’s done as she strove toward this moment. After the year she’s had, though, she won’t be in the back of anyone’s mind ever again, because she’s earned her spot at the forefront of the pop-culture consciousness. – Aaron Williams
Jazmine Sullivan returned to the music world after an almost six-year absence with her Heaux Tales EP. Through 11 songs with help from Ari Lennox, Anderson .Paak, and HER, Jazmine sings about the experiences through love and intimacy that she and other women go through. There are moments of passion and moments of regrets, but the vulnerability to tell it all and stay true to herself, along with help from other female voices, helped to make Heaux Tales a flawless project. – W.O.
Joyce Wrice’s debut album Overgrown was an early bright spot for 2021 R&B. Her free spirit thrived on this project through fourteen songs that flaunted her maturity and sheer distaste for indecisiveness. Wrice falls in love quickly when it’s right (“Think About You”) and packs her bags just as fast when it’s not for her (“Must Be Nice”). At 29 years old, there is a bit of wisdom that Wrice showcases on her debut, as for her, love is something that adds to her life, rather than making it complete. Whether it be sonically, contextually, or both, Overgrown finds a way to stay fun and light-hearted without drowning listeners in the highs and lows of romance at a given moment. – W.O.
If you want an example of an artist constantly striving to go against the grain, you don’t have to look any further than Kyle Dion. The singer’s third album Sassy broke his own rules as well as those set before him by the industry. Dion is best described as a rockstar with funk-inspired confidence and the light touch of a traditional R&B star who can neatly gift wrap it all for the unsuspecting listener. Pull at the ribbon that is Sassy and you get an excellent blend of funk, rock, and soul captures Dion on his euphoric journey to have fun and live life to the absolute best he can. – W.O.
Remember the Leon Bridges who enacted Sam Cooke-esque soul music on 2015’s breakthrough Coming Home? He has positively given way to a more traditionally-minded R&B singer, enacting a polished lovelorn sound. With the exception of album closer “Blue Mesas,” Gold-Diggers Sound feels like a bold re-invention for Bridges and he has Lizzo producers Ricky Reed and Nate Mercereau expertly leading the way. On “Born Again” featuring Robert Glasper on keys, Bridges leans into a PJ Morton-style piano ballad, but it’s Bridges’ gentle rasp that carves out space for him as a singular force on the album. This is the type of stellar studio R&B that will keep Bridges on the Grammy radar well-beyond his recent 2022 nomination. – Adrian Spinelli
Life tends to deliver the unexpected at unexpected times and it’s this randomness that Mac Ayres used as the foundation of his Magic 8Ball project. Ayres takes life as it comes and he accounts for all the moments he stands unprepared for. For what it’s worth, Magic 8Ball was created in the quarantine year of 2020, a period filled with uncertainty for the future. However, the honesty and straightforward approach to these varying aspects are what draw you into Magic 8Ball. Add Ayres’ lush vocals and the project’s bright and groovy production, and you have a body of work guaranteed to be enjoyed at every listen. – W.O.
Hope is something the entire world needed as they exited 2020 to enter 2021. For Nao, she found that through the sunflowers that bloomed at her feet last year. This natural occurrence became the inspiration for her third album And Then Life Was Beautiful. On it, she offers a gesture of hope strong enough to inspire the hopeless. As a whole, And Then Life Was Beautiful is made in the space of emerging from turmoil to see that all will be okay one day. Through 13 records, Nao flawlessly unveils and recounts the moments in her life that brought hope to a beautiful tomorrow, even when it wasn’t promised. – W.O.
Neo-soul is still alive in R&B and one of the places you can find it thriving is on Phabo’s debut Soulquaraius. The Soulection singer shined like gold on his first full-length project thanks to sixteen songs that are covered in nostalgic gold while also flaunting his impressive pen. “How’s My Driving?” emulates one’s ability to operate a vehicle and to that of satisfying a yearning love interest while “The Homie” arrives as a first-person account of a man slowly becoming aware of his partner’s uncommitted ways. Phabo’s Soulquarius is filled with the finesse and charisma of a man who knows exactly what he’s doing and where he’s going on his road towards neo-soul prosperity. – W.O.
Pink Sweats is a living example of why simplicity is often key. A light acoustic sound carries the Philly singer on his official debut album Pink Planet as the gentleness behind his voice and the project’s production match that of the love he fantasizes about on Pink Planet. It also helps to create a more intimate setting that excellent allows the heart’s true and raw desires to be translated fully. Pink Sweats smiles ear-to-ear at the arrival of love in its best form on “Magic” and “So Sweet” while also praying for its longevity on “At My Worst” and “Lows.” However, don’t think the Philly singer is nothing more than a rotating love story. He also ups the ante with a double dose of his infectious spirit on “Give It To Me” and “Icy.” Altogether, Pink Planet best represents Pink Sweats complete artistry and the unique vision he has for R&B. – W.O.
Shelley, fka Big Baby DRAM, returned this year with a new name for his permanent role as a certified love doctor. Throughout his career, Shelley crafted records in the name of pure love like “Caretaker,” “Best Hugs,” and more, but they weren’t the foundation of his artistry. All of that changed with his second album Shelley FKA DRAM. This time around, the Virginia singer arrives with anecdotes of love that treat every attempt at companionship like it’s the first one — fearless and unknowing of the possible dangers of giving your heart away to a trusted partner. Through songs like “All Pride Aside” and “Remedies,” Shelley presents a love with your guard down on Shelley FKA DRAM and it’s a magical thing to see unfold. – W.O.
From the very moment that Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak made their newly-formed Silk Sonic duo official with the release of “Leave The Door Open” earlier this year, their promised debut album was one of the most sought-for releases in 2021. Would the duo live up to the hype? Would the album perhaps be unbalanced? A multitude of questions arrived at Bruno and .Paak’s doorstep, all of which were answered with the brilliant An Evening With Silk Sonic. The duo met all expectations and did it through an excellent display of showmanship. There’s no telling how long Silk Sonic will last, but their current presence is something to be thankful for. – W.O.
While many excel in relaying their experiences with love, Snoh Aalegra does a beautiful job of showing her wavering feelings in romance through her music. Her third album Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies is another example of that. Its 14 tracks present a woman who chooses to focus and highlight the best moments in love, even if they last shorter than expected. This task is accomplished beautifully thanks to help from Tyler The Creator, James Fauntleroy, Pharrell Williams, The Neptunes, and more. – W.O.
Summer Walker achieved some groundbreaking feats with her 2021 sophomore album Still Over It. First of all, she got “Ciara’s Prayer” from thee Ciara Harris-Wilson. Lord knows how long the ladies have been asking Cici herself for the prayer and Ms. Walker was able to get that and was generous enough to share it with her listeners. Second of all, Still Over It is the highest-charting album from a female R&B artist since Beyoncé’s 2016 Lemonade and is likely to continue towards an upward trend. Regardless, Summer Walker uses Still Over It to air out her grievances a la Usher’s Confessions, except she’s naming names and calling out her baby daddy-ex London On Da Track, his mother, and the other women in his life. She does this over perfectly curated production by the same man she’s going in on. London and Summer made magic on Over It, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. On the other hand, Pharrell and Summer on “Dat Right There” sounds like a win for the future of music. Most of all, Summer’s adept songwriting skills, inimitable vocals, and ability to dig into the souls of her listeners through song puts her on another level, to the point that whatever shenanigans she’s on The Shade Room for makes the music worth it. – Cherise Johnson
If you needed proof that independence is what’s best for Tinashe, her fifth album 333 is undeniable proof of that. The album is arguably one of, if not the strongest showcase of her versatility as she bends the R&B genre in a number of ways, something she’s proven capable of doing time and time again. 333 is also a testament towards trusting the process, and if you know what it took Tinashe to get here, you’ll have an added dose of appreciation towards her current position. – W.O.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
More than two years after releasing his last album, 2019’s Port Of Miami 2, Rick Ross is getting ready to drop another. The Florida rapper’s next record, Richer Than I Ever Been, is locked in for a December 10 release date. So far he’s released two singles, “Outlawz” with 21 Savage and Jazmine Sullivan, as well as “Little Havana,” with The-Dream and former drug kingpin Augusto Guillermo “Willy” Falcon. Now, with just six days left until the new album arrives, Rick Ross unveils the tracklist.
Ross opts to keep things relatively short this time around, with a mere 10 songs. In addition to features from 21 Savage, Jazmine Sullivan, The-Dream, and Willy Falcon, the album also includes appearances from Benny The Butcher, Wale, Future, Yungeen Ace, Major Nine, and Blxst.
“Really, I feel this is the best album I’ve ever done,” Ross said about the album back in September. “I make progress every day. I feel like some of the stuff I’m saying on this album is really going to separate it from others.”
You can view the full tracklist for Richer Than I Ever Been below.
1. “Little Havana” Feat. Willie Falcon & The-Dream
2. “The Pulitzer”
3. “Rapper Estates” Feat. Benny The Butcher
4. “Marathon”
5. “Warm Words In A Cold World” Feat. Wale & Future
6. “Wiggle” Feat. Dreamdoll
7. “Can’t Be Broke” Feat. Yungeen Ace & Major Nine
8. “Made It Out Alive” Feat. Blxst
9. “Outlawz” Feat. Jazmine Sullivan & 21 Savage
10. “Imperial High”
Richer Than I Ever Been is out 12/10 via Maybach Music Group/Epic Records.
Wale is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
