After selling out Toronto's Danforth Music Hall in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Jazmine Sullivan switched venues over to Drake's brand-spanking-new History — a significantly larger venue that reflected the anticipation for Sullivan's long-awaited Toronto performance following months of delays. The singer cancelled a Vancouver date outright earlier this year, and she cancelled additional shows soon after due to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
It was with some relief, then, that she made it out on Sunday night and thanked her dedicated Toronto fans for rocking with her for over 10 years and coming out in -6 °C weather.
The moments leading to Jazmine's awaited stage entrance felt like the tingling sensation before receiving a warm embrace from your favourite person after years of distance. Like seeing a loved one after a few years of isolation, Sullivan's presence felt like nothing short of love and light. Performing an album dedicated to Black sisterhood, fans waited in anticipation to reach out and hug their beloved friend right back, belting out the lyrics to Heaux Tales opener "Bodies," a song that encapsulates a woman's complicated relationship with herself. Sullivan reminded herself of her worth — in a tug-of-war, call-and-response approach — while encouraging the crowd to do the same.
As a joyous sea of camera lights illuminated the room from wall to wall, Sullivan asked if she could take the crowd "way back" on a trip down memory lane. She did it without dropping the momentum by playing her second-ever single, "Bust Your Windows."
Later, the Philly native led viewers in a dance number, performing "Holding You Down (Goin' in Circles)" and a reggae mix of her debut single "Need U Bad." Since the beginning of her career in 2008, Sullivan has been singing heartfelt songs about love and relationships, while her listeners have built a bridge of shared vulnerability. Before singing "Girl Like Me," Sullivan honed in on this sense of openness with a candid, chilling sermon: "Fuck that man who does not love you for you and who you are. The right person who is supposed to be in your life is going to love you for who you are." Fans caught the holy ghost, and the only responses were head nods, finger snaps, amens and mmhmms.
In between moments of raw emotion and hard truths, the Heaux Tales crooner was all smiles, speaking about romantic relationships like she's come out on the other side of what can be the treacherous battlefields in matters of the heart, emerging victorious. Sporting a champagne pink jumper paired with a matching trench coat (and later a cropped puffer jacket), Sullivan swayed her hips and paraded around the stage, moving her body and the crowd through the spiritual experience of her pen. Her vocals were a testament to her upbringing in the Black church, and her three vocalists weren't merely background singers but fully enmeshed in the show, engaging the crowd and eventually singing covers to Summer Walker's "Insane" and SZA's "I Hate U."
Where there is the righteous, there is the ratchet, as goes the metaphysics of the universe — the yin and yang, if you will. To remind the crowd of her love, and to share love and kindness, she dedicated "Lost One" to anyone who is grieving a loss or is fighting a silent battle — a feeling many are all too familiar with throughout the pandemic.
Shortly after, Sullivan asked the very vital question if there were any "freaks in the building" as she snickered and began her beloved ballad "Sit on It," as well as "BPW" off of Heaux Tales, Mo' Tales: The Deluxe. She kindly reminded fans that the latter song isn't hyperbolic, since her pussy really is that good ("BPW" being short for "Best Pussy in the World").
Sullivan bid the crowd adieu with her R&B radio hit "Pick Up Your Feelings," and left Toronto to pick our jaws up off the floor with every riff and run. Let the church say, "Amen!"
It was with some relief, then, that she made it out on Sunday night and thanked her dedicated Toronto fans for rocking with her for over 10 years and coming out in -6 °C weather.
The moments leading to Jazmine's awaited stage entrance felt like the tingling sensation before receiving a warm embrace from your favourite person after years of distance. Like seeing a loved one after a few years of isolation, Sullivan's presence felt like nothing short of love and light. Performing an album dedicated to Black sisterhood, fans waited in anticipation to reach out and hug their beloved friend right back, belting out the lyrics to Heaux Tales opener "Bodies," a song that encapsulates a woman's complicated relationship with herself. Sullivan reminded herself of her worth — in a tug-of-war, call-and-response approach — while encouraging the crowd to do the same.
As a joyous sea of camera lights illuminated the room from wall to wall, Sullivan asked if she could take the crowd "way back" on a trip down memory lane. She did it without dropping the momentum by playing her second-ever single, "Bust Your Windows."
Later, the Philly native led viewers in a dance number, performing "Holding You Down (Goin' in Circles)" and a reggae mix of her debut single "Need U Bad." Since the beginning of her career in 2008, Sullivan has been singing heartfelt songs about love and relationships, while her listeners have built a bridge of shared vulnerability. Before singing "Girl Like Me," Sullivan honed in on this sense of openness with a candid, chilling sermon: "Fuck that man who does not love you for you and who you are. The right person who is supposed to be in your life is going to love you for who you are." Fans caught the holy ghost, and the only responses were head nods, finger snaps, amens and mmhmms.
In between moments of raw emotion and hard truths, the Heaux Tales crooner was all smiles, speaking about romantic relationships like she's come out on the other side of what can be the treacherous battlefields in matters of the heart, emerging victorious. Sporting a champagne pink jumper paired with a matching trench coat (and later a cropped puffer jacket), Sullivan swayed her hips and paraded around the stage, moving her body and the crowd through the spiritual experience of her pen. Her vocals were a testament to her upbringing in the Black church, and her three vocalists weren't merely background singers but fully enmeshed in the show, engaging the crowd and eventually singing covers to Summer Walker's "Insane" and SZA's "I Hate U."
Where there is the righteous, there is the ratchet, as goes the metaphysics of the universe — the yin and yang, if you will. To remind the crowd of her love, and to share love and kindness, she dedicated "Lost One" to anyone who is grieving a loss or is fighting a silent battle — a feeling many are all too familiar with throughout the pandemic.
Shortly after, Sullivan asked the very vital question if there were any "freaks in the building" as she snickered and began her beloved ballad "Sit on It," as well as "BPW" off of Heaux Tales, Mo' Tales: The Deluxe. She kindly reminded fans that the latter song isn't hyperbolic, since her pussy really is that good ("BPW" being short for "Best Pussy in the World").
Sullivan bid the crowd adieu with her R&B radio hit "Pick Up Your Feelings," and left Toronto to pick our jaws up off the floor with every riff and run. Let the church say, "Amen!"