Heaux Tales and Other Stories

(For clarity heaux/h-e-a-u-x is pronounced hoe)

Once upon a time,

In a land far, far away,

We were introduced to a collection of Heaux Tales,

And our lives were forever changed.

The latest project to come from Jazmine Sullivan, Heaux Tales is comprised of beautiful, heartstring-pulling and vagine stimulating songs and spoken interludes, with a title that when said fast enough, kind of sounds like hotels. 

Given that these were the neutral and safe locations for escapades and enjoyment in 2020, this seems intentional. 

This project isn’t about shame. The very nature of the way h-e-a-u-x is spelt is a signifier that we are in fact opening our ears to a project that hinges on each person owning their story and reclaiming their truth. None of which are foreign. It could be the scenario itself or the feeling being spoken or sung about, we can all relate to this project in one way or another.

Whether it’s crying over losing the one because you yourself are lost, or wanting to give someone everything because of how well they put it down, or acknowledging that in fact it is purely the money and what it provides that gets you going, there are many sides to being a heaux. And you’re entitled to them all.

On the project, there’s even a sermon being delivered in the interlude titled ‘Donna’s Tale’. Our speaker becomes a literal preacher of the message that we have in fact all exchanged sex for something at one point, and is accompanied by organ music and responses from her congregation, to cement the teaching and its’ validity.

Take it from Jazmine: heaux-ing is a journey. And as we follow the experiences of the people in the project, we gain an understanding of the fact that it’s multi-layered. There isn’t just one way to heaux, and within these, there are just as many ways to enjoy as there are to get hurt.

As someone who intended to live my best h-e-a-u-x life in 2020 - and would spell it out for each of my friends for emphasis - this project came at exactly the right time. I couldn’t heaux the way I intended to heaux (for obvious reasons) but that’s what Heaux Tales speaks on. Everyone can and should choose to heaux in their own way. 

And like fairy tales and fables which aim to teach us something, the important thing is to learn from these adventures. About you, what you like and what you value.

Listen to the album below