SOUND PROJECTIONS

AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE

EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU

SPRING/SUMMER, 2015

VOLUME ONE NUMBER THREE

CHARLIE PARKER

Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:

DUKE ELLINGTON
April 25-May 1

ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO
May 2-May 8

ELLA FITZGERALD
May 9-15

DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER
May 16-May 22

MILES DAVIS
May 23-29

JILL SCOTT
May 30-June 5

REGINA CARTER
June 6-June 12

BETTY DAVIS
June 13-19

ERYKAH BADU
June 20-June 26

AL GREEN
June 27-July 3

CHUCK BERRY
July 4-July 10

SLY STONE
July 11-July 17

‘Round the Way Soul Sista
Popmatters

It started with a dress. A hot little thing. A spaghetti-strapped Armani number, with a skintight bodice and a long flowing skirt, in that shade of orange that black girls do the most justice. I bought it in La-La Land precisely because it reminded me of New York in the seventies, with its sexy sistas (girls with names like Pokie, Nay-Nay, Angela, and Robin) and those leotard and dance skirt sets they used to rock back in the day. This was back when I was a shorty with cherries for breast and absolutely no ass to speak of. I used to sit on our tenement stoop mesmerized by the way those flimsy little tops knew how to hug a titie in all the right places, or the way a proper Bronx Girl Switch (two parts Switch to one part Bop) could make the skirt move like waves. Wide-eyed, I watched regla project girls transform into Black Moseses capable of parting seas of otherwise idle negroes…And I couldn’t wait to be one.

—Joan Morgan-Murray, When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost

Perm in your hair or even a curly weave / With that New edition Bobby Brown button on your sleeve / I tell you come here / You say meet me half way / Cause brothers been popping that game all day / Around the way you’re like a neighborhood jewel / All the homeboys sweat you so you’re crazy cool.

—LL Cool J, “Round the Way Girl”

When I was a little Girl raised on North Philly Streets / I’d hear my people say “ghetto” was all they’d be / But my mommy would hold me, quietly give me peace / She’d look me in my eyes, and she’d say to me / If you want it to happen baby / Hold fast and believe / You can make it happen baby, you can be what you please / All you got to do is try/ then try once again / Then try a few more times/then try after then. As a teenager I dreamed to see the world / But how could I do this, me a poor black girl / And just when my will was lost / And all hope seemed set free / I remembered my mommy’s face and her telling me…

—Jill Scott, “Try”

The self-described king of “Hip-Hop” love songs, LL Cool J had embarked on a comeback of sorts with the release of his fourth recording Mama Said Knock You Out in 1990 (“Don’t call it a comeback!”...Whatever). One of the highlights of that recording and I admit there were many, was the jewel “Round the Way Girl.” The song was not only an articulation of LL’s desires to remain rooted in the Queens, New York communities that bred him but more profoundly an articulation of the affections that he held for the young women of those communities. LL was not just posturing; he eventually married a “round the way” girl after being linked publicly with many high profile women, including Quincy Jones’s daughter Kidada.

Years before those “Round the way girls” had been recast by some male hip-hop artists as “chicken headed, baby mama, skeezer, crack hos” LL gave praise (“lord have, mercy”) to the “ghetto girl next door;” she of Sunday morning bible school, now-or-laters, double-dutch, jellies, attitude for days and days and more days of games like “run, catch and kiss,” “manhunt” and “roundup,” the latter of which were all the same if you were feening for one of those “carmelhoneymochapecanmolassesapricotfudge” shorties. However much LL gave praise to those “brown-skinned” woman-girls from around the way, he could not speak to their dreams, desires and disappointments.

That moment would come a few years later, with the release of Mary J. Blige’s What’s the 411? It was the pain and pleasure of Mary’s voice that reminded us that before Aretha become Diva to the masses, she too used to also be a “round the way” girl on song’s like her version of Brenda Hollaway’s “Every Little Bit Hurts” or Clyde Otis’s “Take a Look.” We were reminded that many of these diva women, be they “Sista ‘Ree,” Patti, Chaka (“I’m not worthy”), Anita, Phyllis, Gladys, Whitney, Miki, Teena (not the more well known Tina) or even Janet (sorry, no last names…you’re supposed to know who these women are) were also once “‘round the way” Soul Sistas who all could tell stories about being one of those little black girls, to quote LL again, “standing at the bus stop, sucking on a lollipop.”

The tragedy is that black women are rarely allowed to tell the stories of those little black girls (unless of course they are best-selling novelists or the one black woman intellectual allowed to shine at a time) particularly within a recording industry that would rather them take their clothes instead of telling meaningful and endearing stories (are you listening Toni?). The legacy of those little black girls has been misrepresented and underpromoted within the music industry, as Dionne Farris, Sandra “Mack-Diva” St. Victor, Carleen Anderson, Amel Larreiux, and Angie Stone have become this amorphous blob named “alternative” R&B or as my man Colin Ross put it, “Organic Neo-Soul.” What is really being said is that if its not about men (“Salt ‘n Papa’s “Shoop”) or produced in the interests of male desire (“Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills” video—“yeah baby, you can hate on me, but damn, you still look good”), the “sista-girl” narratives of black women are not bankable and thus not promotable, Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill notwithstanding. Who is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds, Vol.1, the debut recording by Jill Scott challenges this reality with an artistry that is often beyond description.

A product of North Philadelphia, it is easy to compare Scott to Erykah Badu’s bluesy-soul “spirits in a material world” vibe. Those comparisons are made more real by the complex nature of their contributions to the Grammy winning Roots recording “You Got Me.” While Scott co-penned and provided the original vocal hook for the track, it was Badu’s vocals that appeared on The Roots’s commercial breakthrough (tho they still didn’t really sell no records) Things Fall Apart. As The Roots themselves have admitted, it was the presence of Badu on the track that provided them with the visibility that had eluded them in the past, though Things Fall Apart was easily their least artistically satisfying endeavor. It was in the context of their heightened visibility that they provided the context for Scott to do her thing as she has toured with the band the past two years. It was on The Roots Come Alive that audiences were first really introduced to Scott as her performance on the 15-minute plus live version of “You Got Me” is one of the highlights of the recording.

While comparisons to Badu are understandable, the fact of the matter is that Erykah Badu is no Jill Scott. There is no doubt Badu is a singular genius in her own right. Baduizm paved the way for the success of L-Boogie and the relative buzz associated with the likes of N’Dambi, the aforementioned Angie Stone and even male vocalist Chico Debarge. Whereas Badu’s music is largely filled with complex and often obscure Five-Percent Nation spirituality, Scott’s music is filled with those sister-girl-isms that get exchanged on porches and stoops along with hair grease, plastic combs, and barbecue pork rinds. It is in these spaces that brown girls get to share their stories with each other and Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 allows listeners to eavesdrop on those conversations. In this regard the recording is a clear attempt to counter the “champagne sipping, money faking” (De La, De La, De La is here) narratives found in recordings like “The Life and Times of Shawn Carter” trilogy, that are supposed to authenticate the experience of the urban black male. For Scott, “keeping it real” is acknowledging things like the fact that a former lover kept her “Wide open, wide loose, like bowels after collard greens” as she states on the project’s lead single “Love Rain.”

It is literally during the first line of the recording’s second track, “Do You Remember,” that it is clear that Jill Scott is on some other “shit” as she summons the spirits of Billie, Sarah, Dinah, Esther (Phillips), Linda (Jones) all at once as she twist, teases, and pierces the phrase “oh Honey, W…h…y you got to be so mean.” It is her phrasing (“like Billie on a Sunday, any Sunday but the next”) that clearly distinguishes her from the pack of would be divas and “divettes” (Yes, men can be divas too). No doubt Scott has listened to more than a few recordings from Billie, Etta (Jones not James), Nancy (Wilson) and Jimmy Scott (no relation), whose phrasing on his version of “Day by Day” should be required reading for the first year class at “Soul University.”

Jill Scott’s brilliant phrasing is also apparent on. On “Show Me” Scott sounds more Regina Belle, (who turns phrases to honey in her own right) than Belle herself has sounded in more than a decade. “I Think It’s Better” which clocks in at only 1:42, but may be one of the most profound moments on the recording. “Getting in the Way” finds Scott issuing a slow-drawl-old-school challenge to the ex-friend of her current boo. Frustrated with the ex-friends’ desires to either get back with her former boo or to at least bring enough drama into his new situation, Scott reluctantly considers violence. Her line “Queens shouldn’t swing (if you know what I mean) But I’m ‘bout ta take my earrings off/Get me some Vaseline” is priceless, particularly for those folks with vivid memories of brown-girl fist fights (“I think I saw a tittie”). The track that sets up “Getting in the Way” is a spoken word piece called “Exclusively.” Produced by Jeff Towns (yes he of Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince), whose production company A Touch of Jazz produced virtually all of the project, the track tells the story of a sista hitting the bodega after some “sweaty and sex funky” lovin’ and meeting a cashier girl who somehow knew her man’s sex scent. As she relates, “The new girl at the counter was…cute / Not as fine as me / Was this women’s intuition? Some kind of insecurity? / Naw cuz my man is happy at home loving me exclusively.”

Both “Getting in the Way” and “Exclusively” highlight what home-girl cultural critic Nicole Johnson calls the “tight spaces” that black women are forced to negotiate as they compete for the meager resources available to black women and their self esteems. Unwittingly, they are also forced to compete with the distorted hyper-sexual images of themselves prevalent in film, television, music videos and damn near every “urban” periodical in the world.

“Exclusively” is also one of the tracks that highlight Scott’s talents as a vocalist and spoken-word poet. There are four spoken word performances on the recording including the lead single “Love Rain” (“I felt like cayenne pepper / Red hot spicy / I felt Dizzy and Sonya, heaven and Miles between my thighs”) and the brilliant “Watching Me” which addresses the heightened surveillance of black bodies, particularly in urban spaces. On the track Scott spews “Trackin’ where I go Findin’ out all my bin ness Sa cure a ty / Video cameras locked on me / In every dressing room on every floor in every store / Damn can I get that democracy and equality and privacy /Y ou busy watchin’ me watchin’ me.”

While Who is Jill Scott? is chock full of references to the likes Mumia Abu-Jamal and Sonia Sanchez, “Watching Me” is the recording’s most overt political statement. Scott’s critique of racial profiling and the condition of “SWB” (shopping while Black) particularly resonates after the recent death of Fredrick Finley at the hands of a black security guard outside of a Lord & Taylor store in suburban Detroit, Michigan. Finley was choked to death after a confrontation with security officers who had attempted to detain his daughter, who was under suspicion for shoplifting a $4.00 plastic bracelet. The ironies of acts of racial profiling can be found in Scott’s assertion “That you’re blind baybe / You neglect to see the drugs comin’ into my community / Weapons comin’ into my community / Dirty cops in my community and you keep sayin’ that I’m free…”

Jill Scott’s “Philly” heritage is also evident throughout the recording. With the exception of the Motown recording company, Philadelphia International Records (PIR), which was founded over 30 years ago by the duo of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, remains the most recognizable corporate icon of black popular music. The recording label which at various times housed legendary performers like Teddy Pendergass, Billy Paul, The O’Jays, The Jones Girls, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes and the late (tragically) and under-appreciated “Diva-of-all-Divas” Phyllis Hyman, helped craft a signature sound, with the help of Thom Bell who was responsible for the sound of The Spinners. In many ways the “Philly” sound was more distinguishable than the “Motown Sound.” Who Is Jill Scott? is reminiscent of the early recordings of The Intruders, one of the first acts that Gamble and Huff produced in the late 1960s (“Cowboy’s to Girls”), whose music helped conflate the seemingly incongruent energies of Philly’s Doo Wop past and the slickly produced and glossy sound that defined much of ‘70s Soul. In this regard, Scott’s recording melds her natural Hip-Hop sensibilities with a real love and respect for the old-school (I’m talking about a school that ranges from Billie Holiday to Valerie Simpson), without pandering to “keeping in real” dictums and “Jamming Oldies” style nostalgia. This balance is best represented to the recording’s two best tracks “A Long Walk” and “The Way.”

“A Long Walk” is a precious slice of life that documents those early moments of a new relationship, where the possibilities seem as endless as waking up on a Sunday morning is Spring. It is also the song where Scott more or less opens the audience to the full range of her emotions and interests. The song opens with a keyboard introduction that conjures memories of the opening bars of the Kool and the Gang classic “Summer Madness.” But it is the song’s rollicking bridge, where she breathlessly sings “Or maybe we can see a movie or maybe we can see a play on Saturday or maybe we can roll a tree and feel the breeze and listen to a symphony or maybe chill and just be or maybe / Maybe we can take a cruise and listen to The Roots or maybe eat some passion fruit or maybe eat some passion fruit or maybe cry the blues or maybe we can be silent…,” that captures the full brilliance of Scott’s recording. Scott literally struggles to squeeze every ounce of these desires into the finite space of the song’s bridge a process that itself becomes a metaphor for the overwhelming possibilities of the new moment that the recording itself represents. The anticipation that undergirds that relationship is found throughout “The Way,” where she sings of the joy associated with the impending visit of her “boo.” Her phrasing of the line “Made me some breakfast: toast, two scrambled eggs, grits,’ may be the best moment on what is a spectacular debut recording. Her timing in that sequence, particularly her enunciation of the word “grits” is worth the price of the recording alone. In short, throughout her debut, Jill Scott is very “Jordan-esque,” as she consistently makes the seemingly simplistic, spectacular.

In a recent panel discussion about “Hip-Hop” literature, famed black music critic Nelson George disingenuously suggested that Who is Jill Scott? was emblematic of the recording industries commitment to “alternative” black music. The recording is one of the first to be released by the Hidden Beach label (Brenda Russell’s is the other release), which was founded by former Motown executive Steve McKeever, with seed money from Michael and Juanita Jordan. SONY/Epic is the label’s distributor. While that relationship allows Hidden Beach to give their artists much more autonomy, it doesn’t mean that such a goal is shared by its distributor, particularly if it doesn’t easily correlate to record sales. As Hidden Beach’s publicity folks admitted to me a few weeks ago, even major chains in New York City only received 4 or 5 copies of the recording in the original shipment. This is compared to the “same ole, same ole” in Hip-Hop and R&B that regularly ships at least 500,000 copies.

Unfortunately, Who is Jill Scott? is destined to be among the list of brilliant, groundbreaking, and under-promoted recordings that litter the bins at used CD stores (I have literally picked up the debut projects of The Jazzyfatnastees and Calvin Richardson in such bins). The Roots, Me’shell Ndegeocello, The Family Stand and Rachelle Ferrell are all examples of artists with sustained careers that have chose “artistry” over accessibility and visibility. One is not likely to peep a Jill Scott video on BET and it is unlikely to be a “buzz clip” on MTV, though admittedly MTV felt love for Dionne Farris and Macy Gray, long before BET or black radio took an interest. I can remember the first time I head Esther Phillips sing her version of the Marvin Gaye penned “Baby I’m for Real” and wondering out loud, why I had never heard of her or her version of the song. No doubt some kid is likely to come across Who is Jill Scott? a few years from now and wonder the same thing. This is a shame, because Scott’s combination of “sista-girl” stories and artistic brilliance is likely to be one of the finest debuts that we will witness in some time.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jill-scotts-light-sun-reviews-203744

Jill Scott's 'The Light of the Sun' Reviews: What Critics Are Saying
by Sophie Schillaci
6/21/2011
Hollywood Reporter

It’s been nearly four years since R&B singer Jill Scott graced us with a new album. Her fourth studio venture is finally here, and is garnering generally positive feedback from critics.

“The Light of the Sun” was released on Tuesday (June 21), rolling off the momentum of her noteworthy lead single featuring Anthony Hamilton, “So In Love.” The 15-track album also includes collaborations with Doug E. Fresh, Eve and Paul Wall, as well as that signature spoken-word we come to expect from Ms. Scott.

Jon Pareles of the New York Times observes that many of the tracks resulted from studio jam sessions, creating an improvisational feel in both rhythms and vocals. He also notes that similarly to her previous albums, the context as a whole feels proudly feminine with the track “Womanifesto” setting the tone.

Entertainment Weekly’s Mikael Wood grades Scott’s latest effort a B+, praising her strong return to music after an acting hiatus. “‘The Light of the Sun’ has a distinctly early-aughties vibe, recalling an era when tempos were slower and voices less Auto-Tuney. It’s a welcome flashback,” Wood writes.

The chanteuse appeared in Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? and Why Did I Get Married Too? in addition to starring in the Lifetime Movie, Sins of the Mother. She’s accumulated a few notable television credits over the years, as well.

Bestowing 3.5 out of 5 stars on the album, Jaymie Baxley of Slant Magazine describes Scott’s sound as “positively lackluster and dated on the album’s overwrought opener ‘Blessed.’” He later acknowledges approval of the third track “Shame” and the “terrific” “All Cried Out Redux.”

Sputnik Music’s Griff Fuller Jr. showers Scott with praise, grading the collection a 4.5 out of 5. He applauds her “confident” tone, describing the singer as “older” and “sexier,” arguing that the new album may be her best since the debut “Who is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1.”

“She has always been a shining example of creativity in urban music, and will remain to be the light in a music industry that grows darker and darker in quality and substance,” he writes.

the-light-of-the-sun-mw0002150336

Review by Thom Jurek [-]

Jill Scott has been through many changes since 2007's The Real Thing: Words & Sounds, Vol. 3: a divorce, a brief but intense love affair that produced a child, acting roles in Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? and Hounddog, her starring role in HBO's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and signing with Warner Bros. The Light of the Sun is a record of the rocky road to empowerment. Scott and Lee Hutson, Jr. are the album's executive producers; they also collaborate in songwriting and arrangements on numerous selections. Opener "Blessed," produced by Dre & Vidal, kicks it off in slippery, hip-hop soul style; a harp, strings, and a fluttering dubwise bassline underscore the shuffling rhythm. Scott expresses spoken and sung gratitude for and about her new baby, career, life, and support system. Poetry and song are woven with elegance in a nocturnal groove. The hit pre-release single "So in Love," produced by Kelvin Wooten, is a modern Philly soul fan's dream, with its lithe, fingerpopping bassline, shimmering drums, and seeming bliss arising between Scott and Anthony Hamilton, who turn in a grand duet performance. "Shame" (featuring Eve & the A Group), is grand, old-school funk with killer backing vocals that range from P-Funk-esque vocal choruses to doo wop with sampled classic ska as Scott raps defiantly with Eve. One of the sleepers on the set is the stunning "La Boom Vent Suite," a sultry number produced by Scott and Hutson. It's a militant, funky soul, kiss-off tune, that declares: "I've been waiting for so long/but somebody else has been sniffing at my dress." "Hear My Call" is literally a prayer for healing; with its elegantly arranged strings, it's as heartfelt and humble as desperate need can be. There is one misstep here: "So Gone (What My Mind Says)" didn't require Paul Wall's tired, generic, boastful rapping to work. That said, the rhythm collision with human beatbox Doug E. Fresh on "All Cried Out Redux," complete with ragtime piano sample, is a novelty number that works. After the album's first third, it's all Scott, and (mostly) all sublime. The sparsely produced "Quick" (produced by Wayne Campbell) records the heartbreak in the brief relationship that produced her son. "Making You Wait" is another self-determination anthem that addresses romance, with spacious Rhodes and synth strings weaving beats together. Scott lays down the spoken word "Womanifesto" that recalls the poetry of her early career, just before the steamy, sexual "Rolling Hills" touches on jazz, blues, and late-'70s soul with effortless ease to close it. On The Light of the Sun, Scott sounds more in control than ever; her spoken and sung phrasing (now a trademark), songwriting, and production instincts are all solid. This is 21st century Philly soul at its best.

https://www.facebook.com/whoisjillscott

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6553902/jill-scott-summer-tour-fools-gold

Exclusive: Jill Scott Announces Summer Tour

Articles
Columns
The Juice

By Gail Mitchell, Los Angeles | May 04, 2015

Tour kicks off July 13; Grammy winner also premieres lead single "Fools Gold."

Jill Scott will hit the road this summer on a 25-date headline tour commencing July 13. Kicking off in Pittsburgh, the tour will play in a combination of theaters and amphitheaters across the country before wrapping up August 28 in Phoenix.

Jill Scott: New Album Is 'Closer Than It's Ever Been'

The news follows Monday’s (May 4) world premiere of the three-time Grammy winner’s new single “Fools Gold,” via iHeartRadio's urban stations. Available now on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon, the track is the lead single from Scott’s upcoming fifth studio album. Produced and co-written by Andre Harris, formerly of the production duo Dre and Vidal, the single is the follow-up to Scott’s earlier buzz track “You Don’t Know.” That song will also appear on Scott’s new album, whose title and release date are yet to be announced. The singer’s last album, 2011’s The Light of the Sun, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

In a statement announcing the tour, Maverick management partner and Scott’s longtime business partner Shawn Gee stated, “Fans have patiently waited four years for new music. When they hear Jill perform live this summer … it’ll be worth the wait.”

Tickets for Scott’s 2015 summer tour go on sale to the public on May 15.

Tour Dates:

7/13/15 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Heinz Hall
7/15/15 – Newark, NJ @ NJ Performing Arts Center, Prudential Hall
7/16/15 – Wallingford, CT @ Toyota Presents the Oakdale Theatre
7/18/15 – Baltimore, MD @ Pier Six Pavilion
7/19/15 – Bethlehem, PA @ Sands Bethlehem Event Center
7/22/15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
7/25/15 – Cincinnati, OH @ Paul Brown Stadium (Cincinnati Music Festival)
7/26/15 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata Spa & Resort - Event Center
7/29/15 – Vienna, VA @ Wolf Trap for the Performing Arts/The Barns
7/30/15 – Durham, NC @ Durham Performing Arts Center
8/1/15 – Birmingham, AL @ BJCC Concert Hall
8/2/15 – Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park Amphitheatre
8/4/15 – Memphis, TN @ Orpheum Theatre
8/5/15 – Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater
8/8/15 – Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
8/9/15 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Mahaffey Theater
8/11/15 – Jackson, MS @ Thalia Mara Hall
8/12/15 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
8/14/15 – Grand Prairie, @ TX Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
8/15/15 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater
8/19/15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
8/22/15 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
8/23/15 – Saratoga, CA @ The Mountain Winery
8/25/15 – San Diego, CA @ Humphrey's
8/28/15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theatre

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6465972/jill-scott-new-album-is-closer-than-its-ever-been

Jill Scott: New 'Album Is Closer Than It's Ever Been'

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The Juice
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By Gail Mitchell

Los Angeles |

February 12, 2015

Billboard

Jill Scott: New 'Album Is Closer Than It's Ever Been'

Jill Scott performs onstage during the 6th Annual "Black Women In Music" event held at Avalon on February 5, 2015 in Hollywood, California.
Michael Tran/Getty Images

The 2015 Essence Black Women in Music honoree is celebrating her 15th anniversary in music

Jill Scott was among the stellar lineup of performers at the Feb. 10 taping of the CBS/Grammy tribute concert to Stevie Wonder (airing Feb. 16). She, along with India.Arie and Janelle Monae, threw down a rousing cover of the Wonder classic "As." But that wasn't the only Grammy Week highlight for Scott, who is currently finishing her fifth studio album.

The singer/songwriter was honored earlier during Grammy Week at Essence magazine's annual salute to Black Women in Music. Staged at the Avalon in Hollywood, the event ranked as one of the best celebrations in its six-year history. Performers honoring Scott included Chaka Khan, Brandy, Lianne La Havas and MC Lyte. Among the music celebs in the house were Grammy Award winner Lalah Hathaway, Ciara, Grammy nominees Ledisi and Antonique Smith, Empire up-and-comer V. Bozeman, Goapele, Marsha Ambrosius, Zendaya and Jordin Sparks.

Exclusive: Essence To Honor Jill Scott at Black Women in Music Event

This year also marks Scott's 15th anniversary since the release of her debut platinum album Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1. She is now busy mixing and mastering her new Atlantic album. The yet-untitled set, slated for a spring/summer release, is the follow-up to her 2011 outing The Light of the Sun -- her first No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200.

In an earlier phone interview with Billboard, Scott -- who recently co-starred in the January Lifetime movie With This Ring -- said the album is "closer than it's ever been. But I don't think my gut is finished. I haven't emptied everything out. This is my baby, you know, and it takes me some time to relinquish the reins. I might come up with another song or two. I don't know."

Jill Scott: The Billboard Cover Story

Scott's collaborators include songwriter/producer Aaron Pearce (Boyz II Men) out of Nashville and longtime creative colleague Andre Harris. "I wanted some of the storytelling of country music that I enjoy so much," adds the singer, "the simple stories. The album is pretty eclectic, but again it's me storytelling from the point of view of a grown-up woman."

http://www.jillscott.com/biography/

Who Is Jill Scott?

She is an artist with an abiding, deep commitment to lyrical honesty and musical integrity. Simply put, if Jill Scott feels it, she writes and sings it. While vivid imagery, metaphor analogy are her stock in trade, there’s no pretense, no hiding. She’s upfront, in-your-face always real, using her own distinctive poetry to breathe life into words, digging inside to bring forth the accompanying emotion. It is that authenticity that has endeared Jill Scott to everyday music buyers who hear what she’s saying through her music and respond according. Folks who know the rough and tumble of life, love right, love wrong, passion misspent, passion fulfilled, lonely nights and empty days and everything in between declare, ‘Yeah, girl!,’ ‘Go ‘head on!’ and ‘I feel ya’. And in the tradition of the four albums that precede it, THE REAL THING is another cause for celebration for those who live for the real.

Commenting on her latest, much-awaited Hidden Beach CD – which features production work by Scott Storch (DMX, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Ja Rule), Jill’s musical director Adam Blackstone (The Roots), Carvin “Ransum” Haggins & Ivan “Orthodox” Barias (Musiq, Chris Brown, Mario) and JR Hutson among others – Jill says, “I thought the last album (2004’s Grammy-winning “Beautifully Human,” Words & Sounds, Vol. 2) was more peaceful, an affirmation… On the new record, I feel aggressive about what I want, need and desire and you can hear it in my vocal choices, in the tracks. I’d say in a way, it is a sequel to “Beautifully Human” but it’s grittier, sassier than the last one. I’m feeling gutsier, I’m feeling much more bold, free. In many ways, it’s closer to my first album. My original concept was to show different women – you know, like the housekeeper, the stripper, the congresswoman – but as I started writing and recording, I started taking on all these characters. I put myself in each woman’s place…and found that it became more about me, all of it, with the envy, the anger, the frustration, the loneliness, the joy, the passion and the rapture.

And that’s what makes it juicy…”Juicy, indeed.

The first single, “Hate On Me” one of the fifteen cuts Jill wrote on the album, with its powerhouse production is edgy, intense, exemplifying the kind of work for which Jill is known. “I’m reminded of the biblical scripture, ‘No weapon formed against me shall prosper.’ I realized that there are people who are gonna be haters. That never affected me until I started noticing it, seeing that there were people…family, friends…who were angry to see me revealing my blessings, wishing they were me. I had to let go of some people in my life because of that. It’s been healing for me to say I’m still gonna be me, to say to those people, ‘go right ahead, whatever you say won’t change my destiny.’ We spend too much time ‘hating’ the hater. If I’m mean to shine and glow, I will. That’s what the song is saying…”

Jill – who has her first major starring role in Tyler Perry’s fall 2007 “Why Did I Get Married?” movie – agrees that many of the tracks on THE REAL THING have an autobiographical ring.

The smooth’n’mellow “Wanna Be Loved” is an example: “I want to be appreciated, liked for who I am, respected. The song reflects that aching yearning I have to be loved and I know that’s what all people want…” The midnight love-flavored slow jam “All I” is about “being in a lonely marriage. There has to be a level of passion in a relationship. As a wife, you can become the
‘good girl’ and your love life can get really repetitive, sex can be very clinical. I’m saying [inside a marriage] I can still be your ‘nasty’ baby…”

Jill’s “Come See Me” evokes lyrical comparisons with Marvin Gaye’s classic “Distant Lover” from his “Let’s Get It On” LP which – much like THE REAL THING – dealt with topics of fire and desire, joy and pain. The soulful poetess accepts the comparison gladly (“I love the way Marvin was willing to look at his life”) noting, “My song is about distance, about being far away from someone who gives you great pleasure. It’s almost like a plea. I love the line that says ‘I know it’s hard over there’ because it has more than one meaning! I write stories where some things are clear…and some you don’t get until the fifteenth listen!”

Ever provocative, Jill uses “How It Make You Feel” to pose a thoughtful if jarring question: “What if,” she asks, “every black female disappeared? That’s a question to the world but particularly to black men. I love to talk to my brothers, not at them not to them. Think about it…how would it be if black women vanished tomorrow?” Expressing female bravado is yet another ingredient in this multi-faceted artist’s musical palette and two songs come to mind. The rock-oriented title track, like the interlude “Breathe” are what Jill terms “crotch-holding songs! With ‘The Real Thing,’ I’m like smellin’ myself…and ‘Breathe’ reminds me of the storytellers in rap and hip-hop, LL, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Nas so it’s like I’m going to be cocky right now!”

Erotic love, the reality of sex and sensual satisfaction form the basis for a number of cuts and memorable interludes that have been an integral part of Jill’s recorded work since her groundbreaking 2000’s “Who Is Jill Scott?” Words & Sounds Vol. 1, which earned Jill four Grammy nominations, including a Best New Artist nomination. With its Southern hip-hop feel, “Do It Babe” (featuring Slim) is “a request to keep it up, the keep the intensity you had before, to rock with that.” The highly-charged, heavily percussive “Epiphany” is, Jill says, “explicit without being vulgar. The tricky thing about sex is that it’s so explosive physically and everything seems right at the time but the moment – and I mean the moment – after, you’re left with a longing…especially if you want more, like I do!” Equally explicit: “Crown Royal On Ice” which Jill declares is her “favorite piece of writing on the album. In R&B, sometimes people just say things just to be sexual or to be nasty but they’re not necessarily poetic. . I wrote this as one consistent stream of consciousness, as one sentence. There are harsh words, soft words, lots and lots of images…”

On the same tip, “Celibacy Blues” – reminiscent of the jazz style of the late, great Billie Holiday (whose “God Bless The Child” was one of the highpoints of 2006’s Al Jarreau/George Benson project “Givin’ It Up” and a featured cut on “Collaborations,” Jill’s 2007 collection of tracks on which she’s appeared as a guest artist and recorded with others) – was inspired by a year-long self-imposed period of sexual abstinence that Jill experienced. “I had my feelings hurt and I said, ‘just let me pull back and focus on myself.’ I know a lot of women who did that and they go to God, they become celibate, they want to wipe all that hurt away. But it’s hard. I know we are sexual beings but that’s not to say you have to act on every urge. Personally, I need that chemical, spiritual connection [from sex] and I prefer it with someone I love. During the time I was celibate, it was blue, a lot of mind over matter where I had to stay away from situations that I could get in that were trouble…” With its cosmic, futuristic sound, “Imagination” is “part of the celibacy thing,” Jill explains, “what it would be like, he most lovely love-making I could imagine where we’re not controlling ourselves, we’re on a wave. It’s just ‘wow’…you know, I don’t want to bite your face off but I appreciate the raw passion…”

And, indeed, passion as expressed through her music has been the essence of what has made Jill Scott one of the most important artists of the new millennium. The North Philly native became part of the international music consciousness with the release of “Who Is Jill Scott?” Words & Sounds Vol. 1, which achieved double-platinum status and earned her NAACP Image Awards, trophies from both Billboard and Soul Train and the honor of sharing the stage with Aretha Franklin for VH1’s Divas Live. She graced magazine covers (and was voted among People’s 50 Most Beautiful for 2001), contributed editorials and blessed the national television stages of Oprah, David Letterman, Jay Leno and “The View.” After touring the world, she released a real, live album with some new cuts, 2001’s “Experience: Jill Scott 826+” which spawned the Grammy-nominated “A Long Walk.”

During the ensuing three years, Jill stayed busy, touring consistently, directing a video for Hidden Beach labelmate, trombonist Jeff Bradshaw, appearing on “Sesame Street” in celebration of its 33rd year. Her original compositions were featured on the soundtracks for “Brown Sugar,” “Rush Hour 2,” “Down to Earth,” “Kingdom Come” and the “Red Star Sounds” compilation. Jill made her primetime sitcom debut with a four-episode run on UPN’s “Girlfriends,” starred in Showtime’s “Cave Dwellers” and crafted a book of poetry, entitled simply, “The Minutes, The Moments, The Hours” (St. Martin Press). Reflecting on her accomplishment-filled career, she says, “Honestly, I didn’t expect anything when I did my first record. I just hoped and so far I am floored with the things. I’ve been able to do as a writer and vocalist. I’ve learned a lot…”

With the 2004 release of “Beautifully Human,” Words & Sounds, Vol. 2), Jill experienced a continuation of the acceptance and recognition she enjoyed with her first two albums; the anthemic standout cut “Golden” reflected her life experience, “After taking time off, I felt like I was just living my life like it was golden – it was as if I could polish it, like I could walk past a mirror and just marvel at it. So when I heard the track for the first time, the words just came to me and all I could do was just write them down.” The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Album and won the Best Urban/Alternative Performance Grammy for the single “Cross My Mind.”

After another stint on the road, Jill began working on THE REAL THING in 2006, stopping during the procees to appear in the Dakota Fanning movie “Hounddog,” in which she plays Big Momma Thornton, the artist who originally sang the Elvis Presley hit. “I’m normally on the road for a year and a half at a time and in between recording projects, I like to live so I have something to talk about. I might be gardening, clubbing real hard…and then when I feel the juice, the force telling me it’s time to record, I do that. I’m fortunate to be with a record label that understands my creative process. I started at the beginning of 2006 and I declared I was done in June 2007.”

THE REAL THING is filled with impactful cuts that will resonate with Jill’s loyal existing audience – and beyond. There’s “I Don’t Know” which Jill describes as a song based on “seeing someone and being blown away by them, not knowing why you connect with them but you do.”

The real life experience of “being the woman and being the ‘other woman,’ feeling extreme pain and extreme happiness” is expressed with “My Love.” A lament for a man who’s ‘disappeared’

“Insomnia” is a song Jill wrote “when I was around twenty, when I was feeling that kind of desperate, sad longing you feel for someone that you can’t get out of your head”; while

“Whenever You’re Around” is an ode to “the loneliness that can exist inside of a marriage which is the worst kind, when stay in a marriage for the sake of staying there.”

Summing it all up, “Let It Be” is “for the critics. I say, whatever it is, let it be that, if it’s be-bop, hip-hop, if I stretch my wings and sing country, don’t say I’m an R&B singer singing country, say I’m a singer, period. The great artist Salvador Dali one of my favorites and you could watching his life change as you saw his art. That’s how I feel about my music. It’s an evolution.”

While the consistent theme of Jill’s latest work centers on relationships, she says, “I’m not oblivious to the realities of what’s going on in the world. I just felt it necessary to delve into some other things with this record and create a connection with people. What makes this record any different? Well, it’s me, sexy, harsh, simple…and growing.” Indeed, indeed.
David Nathan

Press Contact For Jill Scott
The Chamber Group
Chris Chambers/ Sherlen Archibald
646-792-2978/ 646-792-2974

THE MUSIC OF JILL SCOTT: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH MS. SCOTT

Best of Jill Scott
by Stephan Stacey
49/66 videos

Jill Scott "Cross My Mind"

Jill Scott - "You Don't Know" (Official Music Video)--2015

Jill Scott "The Way"--2007

Jill Scott "A Long Walk"--2007

Jill Scott "Golden" -2007

Jill Scott "Gettin' In The Way"

Jill Scott Concert: 'Made in America'--2013

JILL SCOTT LIVE AT NORTH SEA JAZZ 2012

Jill Scott - "Golden"-- (Live at the White House 2014):

● Watch the full concert here: [http://youtu.be/SMZO1t9Q9Fg]

http://www.missjillscott.com/, http://www.pbs.org/inperformanceatthe..., http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Jill Scott - "Rock Steady"-- (Live at the White House 2014)

● In Performance at the White House: Women Of Soul 2014

● Set-list:
- Patti LaBelle - Over The Rainbow [http://youtu.be/Ukxn_qLi3jQ]
- Janelle Monae - Goldfinger [http://youtu.be/MzJKYrvxPrQ]
- Melissa Etheridge - I'm The Only One [http://youtu.be/fU33WH_uLZA]
- Tessanne Chin - Last Dance [http://youtu.be/qeUiq1ODKz8]
- Jill Scott - Rock Steady [http://youtu.be/jozs2ETQaQs]
- Ariana Grande - I Have Nothing [http://youtu.be/Rv_Klu0tsfE]
- Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) [http://youtu.be/7JyNK8R36ag]
- Janelle Monae - Tightrope [http://youtu.be/C4qcIAZ1cV0]
- Patti LaBelle - Lady Marmalade [http://youtu.be/LvYKQrBmU08]
- Jill Scott - Golden [http://youtu.be/eAs827XCt7I]
- All - Proud Mary [http://youtu.be/5W9nsdkQ9Sg]
- Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace [http://youtu.be/UFt1FRG4_VM]

● Personnel:
Greg Phillinganes - musical director, keyboards
Sherrod Barnes - guitar
Steve Ferrone - drums
James Genus - bass
Taku Hirano - percussion
Harry Kim - trumpet
Andrew Lippman - trombone
Charles Peterson - trumpet, woodwinds
George Shelby - saxophone, woodwinds
Andrew Weiner - keyboards
Amy Keys - vocals
Nicki Richards - vocals
Jory Steinberg - vocals

Jill Scott ft. Anthony Hamilton- "So In Love" (Official Video)--2011:

Jill Scott "Hate On Me"

The Roots live feat. Jill Scott - "You Got Me":

Jill Scott - "So Gone" (2011 Tour Video):

Jill Scott performs "So Gone" on her 2011 Summer Block Party Tour. "So Gone" is Jill Scott's second single from her new album "The Light of the Sun" and features Paul Wall. Stay tuned for the official "So Gone" music video coming soon!

Jill Scott - "Fools Gold"-- [OFFICIAL SINGLE--2015:

Jill Scott "The Way" and "Whenever You're Around"

LIVE--2007:

http://www.nationalurbanmedia.com/The-Lady-Waxes-Eloquent--Jill-Scott-The-Why-Did-I-Get-Married-Too-Interview-/

The Lady Waxes Eloquent

Jill Scott-The “Why Did I Get Married Too”

Interview with Kam Williams

National Urbanmedia

Jill Scott was born on April 4, 1972 in The City of Brotherly Love where she was raised by her mother, Joyce, and her maternal grandmother. A naturally-gifted child, Jill was speaking at 8 months and learned to read by the age of 4. She credits her mother for broadening her horizons by taking her to see plays and to museums during her childhood.

After graduating from the Philadelphia High School for Girls, Jill attended Temple University, working two jobs to put herself through college. She majored in English and planned to become a teacher, but dropped out of school after becoming disillusioned with the profession while spending time in the classroom as an assistant.

She started out in showbiz doing poetry readings which is how she was discovered by drummer QuestLove of The Roots in 1999. He invited Jill to join the band in the studio where she collaborated with the group on writing their Grammy-winning hit, “You Got Me.” This led to her being signed by the Hidden Beach label to record her debut album, “Who Is Jill Scott?” This launched Jill’s phenomenally-successful musical career which has netted the sultry singer 3 Grammys thus far.

The talented triple threat has also published a book of poetry and made a phenomenal foray into acting via both the big and small screens. On TV, she’s handled the lead role of Mma. Precious Ramotswe on the Emmy-nominated, Botswana-based, HBO series “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.” Meanwhile, she’s received additional critical acclaim for her work in such movies as Hounddog and Why Did I Get Married? Here, she talks about returning to reprise the role of Sheila in the sequel to the latter, the latest modern morality play from Tyler Perry.

Kam Williams: Hi Jill, thanks so much for the time.

Jill Scott: My pleasure, thank you.

KW: Congrats on doing a great job in this sequel which I felt improved on the original.

JS: Thank you, I’m really excited about it.

KW: How was it being reunited with everybody?

JS: It was so nice. It really was. It’s just a pleasure to be around people that you like, and that you have a good understanding of. We clicked in the first film, and never really separated after we walked away from each other. We still called each other. “How’re you doing?” “How ya’ been?” “How’s the kids?” “How’s the wife?” And then, here it is a couple of years later, we’re doing another film, and everybody just sank right back into character.

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman says she just loves your acting, and was wondering whether there are any plans to resume shooting “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.”

JS: I certainly hope so. We’ve been talking to HBO about resuming. The reason why we didn’t continue shooting was because I was pregnant and Mma. Ramotswe was not pregnant! [Chuckles] So, I had to wait until I after had my child, and then once I did, I felt he was too young to travel on a plane for 16 hours. So, that was one of the reasons why we went on hiatus. At this point, we’re looking at scripts, and trying to see how to continue the show because the feedback and excitement has been exceptional.

KW: Bernadette also says she thought your accent on the show was incredible, and almost did not believe it was you speaking. She wants to know how you perfected it.

JS: What’s funny is that I spent about a month and a half learning the wrong accent. I didn’t know it was wrong until after I arrived in Botswana. The Motswana people said, “What are you talking about? That is not a Botswana accent. You sound like you’re from Zimbabwe.” And they are very particular, if you are going to represent their culture. Their dialect is specific, so I had to unlearn everything I had learned, and then learn again.

KW: Why do you refer to the people of Botswana as the Motswana?

JS: You live in Botswana, you speak Setswana, and you are Motswana.

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls would like to know, how has motherhood changed your views on life and career?

JS: Well, I am making an effort to truly live. I don’t mean to imply by that that I haven’t been alive before but, with my son being here and such a powerful force in my life, he’s given me a freedom to be more. I think that sometimes we can get stuck, and just the fact that he’s here says so much to me about my own existence. I didn’t think I’d be able to have children, and this level of blessing is something I can’t even put my finger on. I don’t even know where to begin to describe the emotion. I feel like I have a lava stick in my spine that’s propelling me forward to do larger things like going on tour with Maxwell, doing stadiums, and leaving my old record label to look for a new one that can support my new effort 100%. I appreciate my old label very much, but it’s time to move forward. So, my son has given me the courage to get out of any box that I’ve been in.

KW: Larry Greenberg thinks your music is beautiful and as smooth as silk. He says, “Philly has produced more than its share of stunningly-talented artists. Do you think that growing up in Philadelphia has tempered your work?”

JS: Yes, this might sound terrible, but there has been segregation in Philadelphia for many years. The Italians live around Italians. The Greeks live around Greeks. Spanish people live around Spanish people, particularly Puerto Rican. And black people live around black people. That makes us culturally thick, because if you want to hear real Puerto Rican music, you go to Little Puerto Rico. If you want to eat real Italian food, you go to Little Italy. Everybody’s welcome in any neighborhood in Philadelphia.

KW: It isn’t like Boston where a black person couldn’t even walk through an Irish or Italian neighborhood when I lived there.

JS: Well, in Philadelphia, you are welcome, and that’s The City of Brotherly Love. I think that makes us culturally thick and sound, so you can experience all kinds of cultural authenticity.

KW: Laz Lyles says she hopes you plan to put out more poetry books. She has the first one and loves it. She wants to know, what's the way you’ve most changed, creatively since your first album?

JS: I think I’ve changed more as a person and, as I change as a person, there is new added creativity. I’ve seen more… I’ve met more people, done more things with dogs, and walked on more beaches since the beginning. The more I see, the more I wanna do; and the more I do, the more I wanna see.

KW: Laz also wanted to wish a happy birthday to you and your son, Jett. I know yours was April 4^th. Happy Birthday! When’s his?

JS: Thank you.His is the 20^th.

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

JS: Is there any question no one ever asks, that I wish someone would? Wow! If there is, I don’t know what it is.

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

JS: All the time.

KW: The Zane question: Do you have any regrets?

JS: Yes.

KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?

JS: All the time.

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

JS: A woman.

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

JS: I read three at a time. One of the one’s I’m reading right now is an autobiography, “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali.”

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1432596640?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1432596640

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to?

JS: It was something really cool by an artist from DC. I can’t remember his name.

KW: Was it Wale?

JS: Not Wale, his counterpart. A friend of mine played me his album in the car, and I found it really interesting.

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

JS: Wow, that’s another good one. Let me think… It was playing with my dog, Benji. He was my best friend.

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

JS: You ask good questions! I like that. I would want a clean planet.

KW: Thanks again, Jill, for this opportunity to talk with you, and best of luck with everything.

JS: Thank you so much for the cool interview. Be well.

To see a trailer for Why Did I Get Married Too, visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSONVGYiIHo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Scott

Jill Scott

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jill Scott (born April 4, 1972) is an American singer, model and actress. Her 2000 debut, Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1, went platinum, and the followups Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2 (2004) and The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 (2007) both achieved gold status. She made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? in 2007. In Get On Up (2014) she plays the second wife of James Brown.^[2] She also appeared as the lead role in the BBC/HBO series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

Early life

Scott was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up an only child in a North Philadelphia neighborhood, raised by her mother, Joyce Scott, and her grandmother. She indicated in an interview with Jet Magazine that she had a happy childhood and was "very much a loved child".^[3] Scott was raised as a Jehovah's Witness^[4] and attended the Philadelphia High School for Girls.

After graduating from high school, Scott attended Temple University while simultaneously working two jobs. She studied secondary education for three years and, at one time, planned to become a high school English teacher. However, after serving as a teacher's aide, Scott became disillusioned with a teaching career, and she dropped out of college.^[5]

Prior to breaking through the music industry, Scott worked at a variety of jobs, including a number of retail positions and stints at a construction site and an ice cream parlor.^[6] She remains close to her mother and grandmother, who is nicknamed Blue Babe.^{[citation needed]} Scott has resided in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey, and currently resides in California.^[7]

Music career

2000–2009: Words and Sounds albums (2000, 2004 and 2007)

Scott performing in Hamburg, Germany in 2000

Jill Scott began her performing career as a spoken word artist, appearing at live poetry readings to perform her work. She was eventually discovered by Amir "Questlove" Thompson of the Roots. Questlove invited her to join the band in the studio. The collaboration resulted in a co-writing credit for Scott on the song, "You Got Me". In 2000, Erykah Badu and the Roots won a Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or group for "You Got Me", and Scott debuted as an artist during a Roots live show, singing as original artist/singer of the song.^[8] Subsequently, Scott collaborated with Eric Benet, Will Smith, and Common, and broadened her performing experience by touring Canada in a production of the Broadway musical Rent.

Scott was the first artist signed to Steve McKeever's 'Hidden Beach Recordings' label. Her debut album, Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 was released in 2000. She experienced some notice and chart success with the single "A Long Walk", eventually earning a Grammy nomination in early 2003 for Best Female Vocal Performance. Scott lost that award, but won a 2005 Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative R&B Performance for "Cross My Mind". The live album, Experience: Jill Scott 826+, was released November 2001. Scott's second full-length album, Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2, followed in 2004.

Scott continues to write poetry; a compilation volume of her poems, The Moments, The Minutes, The Hours, was published and released by St. Martin's Press in April 2005.^[9]
In early 2007, Scott was featured on the George Benson & Al Jarreau collaboration single "God Bless The Child" (written by Billie Holiday), which earned Scott her second Grammy award, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance, at the 2007 Grammy Awards ceremony. Scott shared the win with Benson & Jarreau. In 2006, Scott was prominently featured on hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco's single "Daydreaming", which won a 2008 Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance and also appeared on a new Scott collection called Collaborations on January 30, 2007.^[10]^[11]

The Collaborations collection served as "an appetizer" for her next studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 released September 25, 2007.^[12] A clip of the title track was released on a bonus disc from Hidden Beach Records and included with Collaborations. The lead single "Hate on Me", gained airplay in May 2007 with a video released in mid-July. In advance of the album's release, Hidden Beach released a 17-minute album sampler through their forums.^[13] Interspersed between the dozen songs previewed on the sampler was a personal explanation from Jill for the inspiration behind some of her songs.

In 2008, Scott released her second live album, Live in Paris+, which consists of 8 songs recorded during her set list of the "Big Beautiful Tour" in Europe. The bonus DVD contains the same concert, plus some live cuts from The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3. In the same year, "Whenever You're Around", a single from The Real Thing, which features George Duke, was a moderate hit on urban radio.

2010–2012: Hidden Beach lawsuit, The Light of the Sun (2011), and tour

Early in 2010, Scott was sued by Hidden Beach Records for leaving halfway through her six album contract and owing millions of dollars in damages.^[14] The label's founder, Steve McKeever, claimed that he helped launch Scott's career and nurtured her into a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, but was unceremoniously dumped in October after a 10 year plus relationship. Scott, however, countersued that claim.
To offset the damages, Hidden Beach planned to release several compilation albums consisting of previously unreleased material by Scott. The first album in this series was The Original Jill Scott from the Vault, Vol. 1. Previously titled Just Before Dawn, the album was asked to be paused by Scott so that fans would not get confused with the new material she was releasing entitled The Light of the Sun being released under a distribution deal by Scott and Warner Brothers signed in early 2011.^[15] The deal gives Scott direct control over her marketing and promotions and releases her music under her imprint of Blues Babe Records. She also signed a multi-tour deal with Live Nation to expand her concert touring.

The Light of the Sun officially began production in 2010. Scott gave fans a preview of the music on her 18 city venue, co-headlining tour with R&B singer Maxwell, Maxwell & Jill Scott: The Tour. After tour, Scott began studio sessions with the album's executive producer, JR Hutson. Recording sessions took place in several locations including 9th Street Studios, Studio 609, Fever Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California, Threshold Sound & Vision in Santa Monica, California, and The Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Boom Boom Room in Burbank, California, and The Village Studios in West Los Angeles, California. It features collaborations from Anthony Hamilton, Eve, Doug E Fresh, and Paul Wall. The album was released for pre-order days before it was officially released on June 21, 2011. It debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 chart, with 135,000 copies sold in its first week, becoming her first #1 debut on the chart.

The album was preceded by the promo single "Shame", which was released on Scott's SoundCloud account in April 2012. The single features the rapper Eve and R&B trio The A-Group. The video was released on Essence.com on April 13. The album's official debut single was "So in Love" featuring Anthony Hamilton. It was released in April and debuted at #43 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, Scott's highest debut on that chart. It peaked at #10, and tied a record with Maxwell's "Fortunate" for spending 14 weeks at #1 on the Urban Adult Contemporary Chart.
Scott promoted the album with several tactics including The Light of the Sundays, several online Essence interviews, and releasing the album as an iTunes LP, giving fans exclusive photos and videos. Scott also embarked on her Summer Block Party tour sponsored by Budweiser's Superfest. The tour was a hit, selling out venues throughout the country with opening acts Anthony Hamilton and legendary group Mint Condition. It also featured Doug E Fresh as the host and DJ Jazzy Jeff as the DJ. The album's second official single, "So Gone (What My Mind Says)" featuring Paul Wall was released in August 2011, and the video premiered on September 13 on E! Online. It has peaked at #28 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Scott also released a video for the song "Hear My Call". The project gained Scott four NAACP Image Awards including Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Music Video ("Hear My Call"), Outstanding Song ("So in Love"), and Outstanding Album (The Light of the Sun).

2013-present: Lullaby album and fifth studio album

During Jill's stint at the Essence Festival, she announced her intentions of releasing two studio albums. One at the end of 2013 and the other during the spring of 2014. She first began kicking around the idea for Brown Baby Lullabies several years ago prior to giving birth to her son, Jett. Now putting the finishing touches on it, she says the album will provide affirmations for babies and children. “The lyrics are meant to be encouraging and nourishing to the spirit,” she explained proudly. "The ultimate goal, however, is for people to purchase the album, but not actually hear it because they’ll be too busy sleeping," she said with a smile. “Turn that joker up [and] walk out the room,” she ordered. “Let them learn how to go to sleep.”^[16]

Other appearances and songwriting

Her live performance in 2004 with members of The Roots, which also includes a joint performance with Erykah Badu, is featured in Dave Chappelle's 2006 concert film, Dave Chappelle's Block Party. UK dance duo Goldtrix covered Scott's song "It's Love", renaming it "It's Love (Trippin')" with singer Andrea Brown taking over vocal duties. The song became a top ten hit in the UK, peaking at number six. Jill is also featured on a Lupe Fiasco song named "Daydreaming". "It's Love (Trippin')" was also covered by South West Beats (featuring Claudia Patrice) in 2008. The song "Golden" is featured in a R&B themed radio station in the Rockstar Games video game Grand Theft Auto IV. She recently appeared on Pharoahe Monch's 2011 release W.A.R. (We Are Renegades). Also Jill is one of the featured artists in Kirk Franklin's video "I Smile" released in 2011. In 2012 rapper Substantial released "Jackin' Jill". The album was recorded as a tribute to Jill's voice and songwriting.

Vocal profile

Scott is a soprano, who infused jazz, R&B, spoken word, and hip hop among other genres to create a distinct style, that many refer to as neo soul. A reviewer on Pop Matter, referring to Scott's vocal ability (1st soprano), stated, "Scott draws on her upper register, recalling the artistry of the late 'songbird' Minnie Riperton and Deniece Williams."^[17] The same reviewer in another article stated, "The song evokes the artistry of Minnie Riperton as Scott sings in the upper register that makes its only appearances on 'Who is Jill Scott?' on the teasing 'I Think It's Better' and 'Show Me'."^[18] Scott has "a very rare facility to hit notes in the sixth octave as displayed on songs such as 'Gimme' where she hits a D6 with full vibrato, and on 'Spring Summer Feeling' where she hits a C7 in the background."^[19]

Film and television

On the advice of her good friend, director Ozzie Jones, she began pursuing a career in acting in 2000.^[20] She joined a fellowship at a theater company in Philadelphia. For two years, she took small, menial jobs in exchange for acting lessons. In 2004, Scott expanded her resume by appearing in several episodes of season four of UPN's Girlfriends, playing Donna, a love interest to main character, William Dent (Reggie Hayes). She also appeared in the Showtime movie Cavedwellers, starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.^[21]
Her first feature film appearances occurred in 2007, when Scott appeared in Hounddog (as Big Mama Thornton) and in Tyler Perry's movie, Why Did I Get Married? The next year, in 2008, Scott appeared as Precious Ramotswe in Anthony Minghella's film adaption of Alexander McCall Smith's series of books The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency playing a detective. Scott then filmed additional episodes for the series in Botswana in late 2008, co-funded by the BBC and HBO, that were broadcast as a seven-part series on BBC1 in March 2009; and on HBO, which debuted March 29, 2009. BBC and HBO are contemplating whether to produce a second round of episodes of the series.^[22]

In 2010, she voiced Storm of the X-Men on the BET series Black Panther. On March 24, 2010, Scott guest-starred in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.^[23] She reprised her role as Sheila in Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010). The movie was shot in August 2009 and received an April 2, 2010 release.^[24]^[25] That same year, Scott starred in the Lifetime Movie, Sins of the Mother, as Nona, an alcoholic mother confronted by her estranged daughter, whom she neglected. At the 42nd NAACP Image Awards, Jill Scott was awarded Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for her role in Sins of the Mother.^[26]^[27]

In May 2012, Jill Scott appeared on VH1 Storytellers. Scott performed a few of her most notable songs such as "Golden" and "He Loves Me." With wig as well as costume changes, Scott created characters to fit each song in order to convey the message of the song.

Later in 2012 she starred alongside Queen Latifah, Alfre Woodard, Phylicia Rashad, Adepero Oduye and Condola Rashad in Steel Magnolias, a remake of the 1989 original for Lifetime. She played the role of Truvy Jones, which was originated by Dolly Parton.
In December 2012, Scott appeared in "The Human Kind", the eighth episode of the fifth season of Fringe.
Scott starred alongside Paula Patton and Derek Luke in Baggage Claim (2013), the film adaptation of playwright David E. Talbert's 2005 novel of the same name.
In January 2015 she co-starred with Regina Hall and Eve in Lifetime Movie Networks' "[With this Ring]"^[28]

Personal life

Scott and longtime boyfriend Lyzel Williams, a graphic artist and DJ, married in 2001 in a private Hawaiian ceremony during a vacation. The couple dated for seven years before they wed.^[29] Scott wrote and recorded the song "He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)" about Williams. After six years of marriage, Scott and Williams divorced in 2007.

On June 20, 2008, at a concert in New York's Carnegie Hall, Scott shared a long on-stage kiss with her drummer, Li'l John Roberts; the couple then told the audience that they were engaged.^[30] Their son, Jett Hamilton Roberts, was born on April 20, 2009.^[31] On June 23, 2009, Scott announced that she and Roberts had broken up, with Scott breaking the news to Essence magazine. Despite the break-up, Scott hopes for both parents to have an active part in their child's upbringing, stating that "We definitely love our son and we are co-parenting and working on being friends. It is what it is. I have a lot of support, so I want for nothing as far as that's concerned."^[32]

Charity work and advocacy

Scott has established the Blues Babe Foundation, a program founded to help young minority students pay for university expenses. The Blues Babe Foundation offers financial assistance to students between the ages of sixteen to twenty-one, and targets students residing in Philadelphia, Camden, and the greater Delaware Valley. Scott donated USD$100,000 to help start the foundation. The foundation was named after Scott's grandmother, known as "Blue Babe." On the foundation's website, it defines its mission statement as one where it "seeks to provide financial support and mentoring for those students who have shown the aptitude and commitment to their education, but whose families may not have the resources to ensure completion of their undergraduate degrees."^[33]

In Spring 2003, the Blues Babe Foundation made a donation of more than $60,000 to the graduating class of the Creative Arts School in Camden, New Jersey. Any student, who maintained a 3.2 GPA received a yearly stipend for the next three years, that was put toward his or her college education.

At the Essence Music Festival in July 2006, Scott spoke out about how women of color are portrayed in the lyrics of rap songs, and in rap music videos. Scott criticized the content for being "dirty, inappropriate, inadequate, unhealthy, and polluted" and urged the listening audience to "demand more."^[34]

Discography

Main article: Jill Scott discography

Studio albums

Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 (2000)
Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2 (2004)
The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 (2007)
The Light of the Sun (2011)
Woman (2015)

Tours

Filmography

Films and television films
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Cavedweller	Rosemary
2005	Dave Chappelle's Block Party	Herself	Documentary
2007	Hounddog	Big Momma Thornton
2007	Why Did I Get Married?	Sheila
2010	Sins of the Mother	Nona
2010	Why Did I Get Married Too?	Sheila
2012	Steel Magnolias	Truvy	Television film
2013	Baggage Claim	Gail Best
2014	Get on Up	DeeDee Brown
2015	With This Ring	Viviane	Television film

Television shows and appearances
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Girlfriends	Donna Williams	Recurring role (Season 4)
2008-2009	The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency	Precious Ramotswe	Main role
2010	Black Panther	Ororo Munroe / Storm	Main role
2010	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Janice Raleigh	"Disabled" (Season 11, Episode 17)
2012	Fringe	Simone	"The Human Kind" (Season 5, Episode 8)

Award history

List of Jill Scott's Awards and Nominations

References

Mitchell, Gail. "Jill Scott Talks 'The Voice,' James Brown Biopic and New Album". billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 2014-08-28.

Mitchell, Gail (February 18, 2014). "Jill Scott Talks 'The Voice,' James Brown Biopic and New Album". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2014.

Waldron, Clarence (August 20, 2001). "Jill Scott: SINGER KEEPS IT REAL WITH SOULFUL, DOWN-HOME SOUND - Interview". Jet.

Africana.com / By Isoul H. Harris (2004-09-07). "Beatifically Human | Media". AlterNet. Retrieved 2011-05-09.

Touré (April 26, 2001). "Soul Sister Number One". Rolling Stone (867).

http://artBody;col1 Aug 01 Jet Mag

Venutolo, Anthony. "Jill Scott performs 'chapters' of life in NJPAC concert", The Star-Ledger, March 7, 2008. Accessed January 30, 2011. "A 35-year-old Philadelphia native who lives in Mount Laurel, Scott has one of the strongest, most commanding voices in R&B, and an open-minded approach to music."

Jill Scott: Who Is Jill Scott? -Ink Blot Magazine

"Who is Jill Scott? Now she's a poet too". NPR. April 27, 2005.

Cohen, Jonathan (December 26, 2006). "Hidden Beach Rounds Up Jill Scott's 'Collaborations'".

"Jill Scott". Hidden Beach Recordings.

"Jill Scott And Friends Team Up On Collaborations". Chart. 2007-01-02. Retrieved 2009-05-31.

The Hidden Beach Family Reunion -> Download Manager -> Jill Scott -> Jill Scott's "The Real Thing" Sampler

"Jill Scott Sued By Label". Billboard.com. February 4, 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2012.

"Exclusive: Jill Scott Signs Distribution Deal with Warner Brothers Label". Billboard.com. March 3, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2012.

http://www.essence.com/2013/07/07/jill-scott-puts-final-touches-lullaby-album

Jill Scott: Experience: Jill Scott 826+ - PopMatters Music Review

Neal, Mark Anthony. "The Isley Brothers Featuring Ronald Isley aka Mr. Biggs: 'Eternal' (DreamWorks)". Pop Matters.

"Book Jill Scott". 1-800-4ENTERTAINMENT. Retrieved 2007-01-02.