"Don't I Deserve to be Privileged?" - A Thread for Jazmine Sullivan

Long overdue; the "Reality Show" album will easily be one of my favorites of the year.

the not-so-secret fact that Reality Show is a concept album should allow for more rockist venues to write this up rapturously but i guess it didn't happen that often?
Blood Orange's rapturous review here notwithstanding: http://saintheron.com/featured/blood-oranges-devonte-hynes-reviews-jazmine-sullivans-reality-show-album/

Shit I still haven't heard the new one, will need to remedy that

If we're posting links: http://www.spin.com/reviews/jazmine-sullivan-reality-show/

along with everything i've said in the r&b thread this feels like a uniquely topical album as well - so much arty internet music gets the "music for the time we live in" tag, but this really does capture so much of how social media/reality tv/our panoptic age can feel like a minefield to navigate at the same time as a drama to watch, how it creates these archetypes and so on...

and there are so many layers to this, in the songwriting and the delivery and everything

Great great album.

i'm seeing her tonight :D

i thought she was awesome live; report back!

Missed her recent DC area gig and she's already coming back shortly. $40 tho.

she was excellent! amazingly she said toward the beginning that she'd been having issues with her vocals... not that you would have known it otherwise because her singing was really terrific. the set felt very cohesive (beautiful band arrangements too) and went for a little over an hour. part of me wanted it to go longer because it felt like it had just flown by. there were many ~moments~ (her beautiful adlibs in "forever don't last" come to mind immediately) but what really took my breath away was her "in love with another man" encore which legit had me shedding tears.

"In love with another man" suddenly popped up in the shuffle on the ipod I use at the gym. Very old-school school soulful musical feel to that one.

rapgenius making themselves useful for once, jazmine did some video interview and talked about some of the songs and they transcribed it

"mascara"

I was looking at [videos girls uploaded on Instagram], and I was looking at each of their pages, and [they all] looked like a carbon copy of [each] other, and I was like, ‘Wow, their lives look so similar’. [… From] the way they pose, to their bodies— the way their bodies looked— to their lifestyle, [they] all looked like [each] other. I felt like that is something I should document. If only to look back, I feel like this album would be like a time capsule where we could look back and see how we were affected by society, or how how society was at a certain time.

"brand new"

I watch a lot of reality TV, Love & Hip-Hop being one of [the] shows that I watch, and I think that that scenario was probably taken from just watching that and watching women struggle with men who kind of get to a certain status or whatever and don’t really consider them anymore. And not only just on reality shows, just period: I see a lot of rappers [… and it] doesn’t look like he’s seeing a lot of the women he started out with. So I thought that was a story that needed to be told.

"masterpiece"

I think I’ve always dealt with self-image issues, as well as a lot of people— especially women and young girls, and especially young Black girls. It’s me finally being able to accept and even love all the things about me and finding them beautiful.

excellent album but am i the only one who thinks Love Me Back is easily her best?

love me back is amazing but i'm still in my first flush of enthusiasm for reality show, still hearing new things and being blown away every time i listen, so at this point it's hard to compare them (plus, they're so different)

Jazmine ❤️

I wasn't crazy about some of her earliest performances. The leap in songwriting and the interest in concision put Reality Show over for me. She brims with the confidence of an artist who knows what she wants to sound like.

Reality Show really is a fantastic album but Fearless is still my favourite. I know I'm in the minority here but I thought Love Me Back was slightly disappointing. Nothing on there I love as much as Lions, Tigers & Bears, Dream Big or In Love With Another Man.

omg i love this album

i am always singing either mascara or stupid girl in my head lately. it can be inconvenient.

ditto but also "brand new" which sounds SO MUCH like a Missy production to me.

i love the way many of the songs on the album twist and turn lyrically from where they begin. i'm still surprised when "silver lining" turns into a song about sticking people up.

"brand new" is great. both it and "mascara" make excellent use of that point where her voice breaks and sounds painfully beautiful.

i feel like she would sing entire songs in that register on love me back, and even though it sounded amazing, i would worry that she was going to break her vocal cords or something.

"#hoodlove" uses her vocal break well, too.

furthermore,

BOYS HAVE TOYS TOOOOOOO
WE KNOW THEY DO
THEY CALL US STUPID GIRLS
THEY CALL US STUUUUUUUUUUUUPID GIRLS

please stop

it's now stuck in my head

which one are you, Alfred?
cause i know who i am
and you have to choose
to use your head or be a stupid girl

i love the way many of the songs on the album twist and turn lyrically from where they begin. i'm still surprised when "silver lining" turns into a song about sticking people up.

― horseshoe, Wednesday, March 25, 2015 7:21 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"mascara" sounds like this to me, too; like it meanders, but purposefully

BOYS HAVE TOYS TOOOOOOO
WE KNOW THEY DO
THEY CALL US STUPID GIRLS
THEY CALL US STUUUUUUUUUUUUPID GIRLS

― horseshoe, Wednesday, March 25, 2015 7:23 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^otm

x-post- Reality Show really is a fantastic album but Fearless is still my favourite. I know I'm in the minority here but I thought Love Me Back was slightly disappointing. Nothing on there I love as much as Lions, Tigers & Bears, Dream Big or In Love With Another Man.

― Kitchen Person, Wednesday, March 25, 2015

With ya on Fearless

can someone explain to me how "stupid girls" is not a huge hit already ?

Programmers and A&R men are stupid.

xp feel the same way about stanley/brand new/mascara/#hoodlove and maybe veins and masterpiece too; album is all muscle

and forever don't last of course; so strong
saw her do that live with an unplugged guitar, she demolished it.

"brand new" is the next single i think; like "mascara" it's masterful songwriting and performance but its genius is subtle enough that it doesn't scream SMASH to me

"stupid girls" and "stanley" feel very wasted though - the former might get too many winehouse comparisons (it's not at all hampered by the similarity tho imo) but the latter feels like a song that could really get her over that hump (though i guess "don't make me wait" was a similar song from the last album)

i think "let it burn" might actually be the next single, as it is rising on the adult r&b (airplay) chart on billboard right now

"brand new" is my fave right now; it destroys me

this ain't fair
who was there?
who was lovin you?

Just show me some appreciation
Or maybe take a bitch to dinner!

"brand new" is my fave right now; it destroys me

― horseshoe, Saturday, April 4, 2015 12:44 PM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

goddamn i'm so embarrassed kills me

"Brand New" is a good choice. Maybe it can catch some Empire tail, as the storyline nearly matches up with Cookie's.

FINALLY listening to the new album

She's playing next Tuesday but I've got a 6 a.m. flight the next day. ARGH.

i happen to be working a show that she's in later this year and am currently working on a bowl for her with the words "DON'T I DESERVE TO GET THE VERY BEST?" etched into it.

Would have made a better thread title

l'esprit deej l'escalier

it definitely leaves a stronger first impression than the first two albums did

The last half of this record is so much fun!!!

The last track is really great

http://littledreadridingwood.tumblr.com/post/116974587951/charismablu-my-d1vineright

is there aaaaaaany in-depth writing on this album at all

"mascara" and "brand new" are worthy of longform essays EACH

hey man I wanted 800 words

there's always dev hynes's review lol

the show last night was so good and i wish i had double the space for it

she's so fucking solid live

btw
http://www.cityparksfoundation.org/event/summerstage-rca-summer-concert-celebration-featuring-jazmine-sullivan-jordan-bratton-more/

is there aaaaaaany in-depth writing on this album at all

"mascara" and "brand new" are worthy of longform essays EACH

― lex pretend, Tuesday, April 21, 2015 4:32 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol, I actually wrote a longform essay on Mascara back in January. It's in Norwegian though so good luck trying to read it.

http://www.dagbladet.no/2015/01/26/kultur/vers/musikk/37333714/

ha i had no idea you were norwegian. i might resort to google translate at some point

google translate makes my head hurt so no need. i only wanted to point out that SOMEONE had indeed written just that.

don't suppose you'd like to give a go at translating to english here?

Translating it all from scratch would take too long but if I can find the time I'll try to put some makeup on the google translate version.

don't we deserve to be priviligert?

i heard "brand new" on the radio yesterday :D there was a recording of her introducing it as the new single too

best song of the decade.

Literally every word and inflection is fucking perfect on this album, every detail blows me away

She is opening for Sam Smith at an outdoor Arena/theatre near DC tonight but sadly several media announcements for the show do not even mention her.

where's the video for brand new ?

She's currently pushing "Let It Burn".

http://www.vulture.com/2016/02/toughest-song-i-wrote-jazmine-sullivan-brand-new.html
http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2016/02/05/05-brand-new-kendrick-lamar.nocrop.w529.h746.jpg

I still want to keep growing as a songwriter for as long as I can. This isn't it for me. It doesn't feel like I've arrived just yet.

i love her

i feel like the second verse of "brand new" is even better than anything kendrick would have contributed, but i also want to hear this putative remix!

i also have no idea whether he'd go apologetic or battle-of-sexes confrontational, but either way, jazmine's original tells the woman's story fully, and the male response should def be a part 2 rather than built into that

i too would love hearing kendrick on a remix, but sadly i think she has been quietly pushed from mainstream r&b radio to adult r&b radio over the course of this album cycle, where i think such a thing wouldn't take. obv we have discussed the difficulties black women in r&b (and in general) face in the mainstream lately so it seems like the older audience who wants to hear "let it burn" (as they should -- great song!) is where the industry will keep her slotted for some time :\

i remember hearing "brand new" on the mainstream r&b/hip-hop station here a couple times, complete with a recording of jazmine introducing it, but sadly they stopped playing it before long and now the only place i hear her is on the adult station that has "let it burn" in strong rotation

at both of her 2016 NYC plays (including a free concert with a 5k+ showing and a fairly expensive $40 ticket that sold out about 2.5k), both shows provided an unofficial but consistent demographic: Jazmine's audience is certainly but not drastically older than the mainstream hip hop/R&B radio demographic (heavy on the 20/early 30 somethings), more women than men (maybe a 70/30 split), lots of queer signifiers among the male audience members and a fan base dominated by more than 90% people of color.

It's worth noting that her fans are not casual fans; the crowd was going crazy every time she directly addressed them, did a costume change or tried something new with a song. They were as enthusiastic about cuts from the first album as the new album. She's endowed with the "1000 True Fans" curse/blessing: she'll be able to make a comfortable living as an artist doing it more or less the way she wants to for the rest of her career but unless she kowtows to the market, she's unlikely to have a genre-crossing megahit anytime in the next decade.

yeah, that's what i've seen on the few times she's been to the uk, and it applies to a large proportion of my own personal fav artists. i'm not that mad about jazmine not smashing on the charts, i'm mad that she really doesn't get her critical due - or at least, critics seem to ultimately love her but editors don't commission them to write about her. reality show got hardly any critical ink in 2015 and then placed surprisingly high on p&j, and of course there's the grammy nom. but where is the coverage? ok, there's a bit, but she should be talked about alongside kendrick.

I just remembered I haven't listened to this album in three weeks.

There's an interview with Pitchfork up as well! Shame it's not a part of the "main" site though where I assume more people might see it. http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1016-jazmine-sullivan-on-songwritings-labor-of-love/

WTF at that crank yankers video for dumb

That was pretty much the audience breakdown when I saw her in Philly too though it seemed to be a bit younger slanted. I looooove that Pitchfork piece, and I just realized that mural is on my way to work and I have never seen it!!

also does an unedited version of "Reality Show" even exist?? every copy I've heard has a bunch of (but not all???) of the *choice words* backmasked. Is this a thing that ppl do?

it's um, up on spotify.

I haven't fully gone through the curses but my sense is that she mutes them or not for dramatic/character effect

oh i see what you're talking about wrt 'Brand New'
yeah, i think you're right lex; compare to '#hoodlove' where such niceties are quickly dropped.

same with "b___ don't kill my vibe" on Mascara

ha i wondered this for ages re: the editing

reminds me of being unable to find a completely unedited version of the miseducation of lauryn hill back in the day

i just filed a profile of jazmine; i hung out with her at her mom's place

whoa rad

Rad, please link when its up?

Awesome! Are the grammys the sole reason for all of this recent promo or is she just finally getting the spotlight she has long deserved?

i think it's the grammys

in that case hoping to see some more writeups of kehlani and the internet!

here you go :)

https://www.redbulletin.com/us/us/culture/jazmine-sullivan-is-rbs-new-queen

nice piece Maura!
i love this moment from the live version of "Forever Don't Last"; when she does this, it's so clear that she acts as a very real avatar for a meaningful portion of her audience that doesn't often hear their voice on the radio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeIg6BaEDbg#t=2m23s

bah, got the embed wrong, jump to 2.19

Definitely agree. I felt it when I saw her in Boston last year, too.

great piece maura :)

thank you lex :) talking to you on saturday helped crystallize a lot of its bits in my mind!

here's another good interview http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/interview-jazmine-sullivan

hilariously tacky https://twitter.com/seabethree/status/788527991768903681

She's getting lots of grief for it on twitter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-cNN_SPqL0

like this a lot

new single!!!! it's good!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnZb_a3oKwE

love this (and love that she’s back)

Yes

yes!

my god

I'm ready

I was wondering where Jazmine had gone only last week. This song is fantastic.

FINALLY

She notably reappeared in my Spotify daily mix playlists a few weeks back, but not with new material, hmmm.

friday lunchtime cries

revisited Love Me Back a few weeks ago apropos of our "best year for music in the 2010's" poll. def one of the reasons why i went with 2010

new song is beautiful

omg, "Pick Up Your Feelings" is fucking perfect
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkMRkQbVLVU

Lost One is lovely but sounds like an intro/outro imo.
Feelings otoh is a fucking banger.

wow

i love her so much

here's the live version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeP--wHHiy8

what if this ends up being her best album yet

so good

xps to the live version:
what a song, what a singer

there is one for “Lost One” too, from the same session:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObvvP1B1Wuw

one of my favourite songs of the year [9]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpHqKtWyqCY

so good

album title and release date: Heaux Tales / January 8th

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjoQDkwR34w

aoty

fuck yeah

fuck yeaux

So soon!

I think this is just an EP rather than an album (the word "project" is used in the press release which is a bit vague) but I'm happy she's getting something out whatever it may be

I've played "....Feelings" 80 times since last Thursday.

Reality Show was my favorite album of 2015.

it might've been mine too! i stood around backstage for like two hours waiting to get a picture with her. i never do that with artists!

somehow "lost one" has grown on me even more since "pick up your feelings" came out

that trailer is a little too Dove advert "everyone is beautiful" but at the same time I think if anyone can pull off the nuance and finesse required to make something more complicated and worthwhile it's Sullivan

excited for this.

heaux tales, beau tales, Holiday Inn!

yeah I actually don't want to celebrate any CEOs but I am still stoked for this

it's an album and it's out friday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TLty1mCrPA

news and track both wonderful

man six years exactly she released my album of that year

Reality Show has such an awesome opening one-two

that ass
make a man leave hoooome

v nice track

my npr-listening mom informed me this would be coming out soon lol :)

It's an EP:

Just a reminder that this is in fact an EP/PROJECT! Everyone calling it an album is giving me anxiety and high blood pressure.😩 Ok...Toodles. Back to the whypipo whypipoin and getting away w it🙄

— Jazmine Sullivan (@jsullivanmusic) January 7, 2021

anyway, it's fine I guess, the best songs on it are the previously released ones :|

weird i must’ve misinterpreted the number of songs

well, every other track is a spoken word interlude

that’ll do it

seems like it’s a Robyn Body Talk sitch where she’ll release multiple parts throughout the year and it’ll form an album when it’s all said and done

jazmine I'm sorry but I removed all the interludes without listening to them, it's nothing personal

you wanna listen to Heaux Tales without hearing about the heaux tales

I like hearing Ari Lennox on this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgrCYvVYSRE

tinydesk performance!

after three spins, Bodies /Pricetags / Girl Like Me join Pick Up Your Feelings / Lost One as particularly noteworthy. It's definitely an EP and I have high hopes more is coming. All the subtext is on the surface here, it's hella dark.

I think Pick Up Your Feelings is gonna be in my top ten for last year.

I was so excited to hear this when I woke up today and then I heard it

Basically there are a few great songs on this including what was previously released (per what Murgatroid said), will definitely be returning to some tracks

I was definitely expecting a bit more from this. The Other Side is absolutely gorgeous but it's the only song here that's on the same level as Pick Up Your Feelings.

as a "part one" with more to come, i'm totally satisfied.

perfectly good EP/project

I hope the follow-up is called Meaux Tales

heaux tales, beau tales, Holiday Inn!

https://www.vulture.com/article/profile-jazmine-sullivan-heaux-tales.html

And she’s been writing Heaux Tales, her first concept album.

also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYUp6q_D1lY

This is a good piece of work I likely will never listen to again

in other unlikely headline news:
https://www.vulture.com/2021/01/jazmine-sullivan-eric-church-national-anthem-super-bowl.html

this is a great record, no idea why someone wouldn't wanna listen to it again lmao

agreed; it rules

It's sound, solid.

in other unlikely headline news:
https://www.vulture.com/2021/01/jazmine-sullivan-eric-church-national-anthem-super-bowl.html🕸

who's eric church some country dude

I don't think even jazmine can save the Worst Song Ever

like jazmine, eric church is an alum of the ilm 77

he is a good artist despite the occasional self-consciousness of his rock rebel shtick

i finally (!) listened to heaux tales and it's honestly really good, confused by the not-even-lukewarm response here

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/feb/03/jazmine-sullivan-heaux-tales-ep-r-and-b-great-observer

the lex interviewing her. I can only imagine how happy he was to do this!

great piece

Yep, especially for regarding songwriting as something more than autobiographical plumbing

new single "Tragic" comes out tomorrow!

it sounds great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYB9RvbMhEo

aw yeah

love it, hopefully a full-length album is on the way

I like this one.

Sounds like a flip of xscape who can I run to

Or Jones girls I guess originally

last night at the BET Awards she did a performance of "On It" with Ari Lennox and while it wasn't as great as her Soul Train Awards performance it was still excellent to see them singing about women's sexual pleasure on their terms. I know we've had twenty years of Lil Kim and so on, so explicit and raunchy isn't a big deal, but I think to see stuff performed with no "gimmicks" etc is great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dr8LmhjiYU