Jill Scott (born April 4, 1972) is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter,
poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the
films Hounddog (as Big Mama Thornton) and in Tyler Perry's feature
film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The
Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on September 25,
2007. She has won three Grammy Awards. She also appeared in the lead
role of the BBC/HBO series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
Scott 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".[1] Scott was raised
as one of Jehovah's Witness[2] and attended the Philadelphia High
School for Girls. After graduating, she attended Temple University
while simultaneously working two jobs. She studied secondary education
for three years and had planned to become a high school English teacher,
but after spending time as a teacher's aide, disillusionment with
the teaching profession set in causing her to drop out of school.[3]
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.[4] She remains close
to her mother and grandmother who is nicknamed Blue Babe. Jill currently
resides in [Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey|Mount Laurel Township],
[New Jersey].
[edit] Music career
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 "?uestlove" Thompson of The Roots. ?uestlove 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.[5] 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.[6] In early 2007, Scott was featured
on the George Benson & Al Jarreau collaboration "God Bless
The Child", 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. Recently,
Scott was prominently featured on hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco's 2006
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.[7][8]
The Collaborations collection served as "an appetizer" for
her next studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 released
September 25, 2007.[9] 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.[10]
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.
[edit] 2010-Present: The Light of the Sun
Following up 2007's Grammy nominated Gold certified album The Real
Thing, Jill is currently in the studio recording her fourth studio
album titled The Light of the Sun. The album embarks Jill on a flurry
of emotional poetry as both her career and personal life have skyrocketed
with success in Hollywood and the birth of her first child.[11]
In an interview with HitQuarters, producer and album collaborator
JR Hutson commented on Scott's approach to the record by saying, "She’s
now in charge of a lot of different things and with it comes a lot
of trials and tribulations, and I think her goal is to just give
people a very realistic glimpse of where she is in her life right
now."[12]
Jill has been working in Los Angeles and Philadelphia studios with
producers Terry Lewis, JR Hutson and Justice League for the new album
and is scheduled for a 2011 release.[13]
[edit] Other appearances and song-writing
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", re-naming
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. "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[14] in the Rockstar Games
video game Grand Theft Auto IV.
[edit] Vocal profile
Scott is a vocalist 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. Her vocal capabilities are so rich that a reviewer
on Pop Matter, referring to Scott's vocal ability, stated 'Scott
draws on her upper register, recalling the artistry of the late "songbird" Minnie
Riperton and Deniece Williams'.[15] 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."[16] 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".[17]
[edit] Film and television
On the advice of her good friend, director Ozzie Jones, she began
pursuing a career in acting in 2000.[18] 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.[19]
In 2007, Scott appeared in Hounddog (as Big Mama Thornton) and in
Tyler Perry's movie, Why Did I Get Married?
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.[20]
On March 24, 2010, Scott guest-starred in an episode of Law & Order:
Special Victims Unit.[21] 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.[22][23]
In 2010, Scott starred in the Lifetime Movie, "Sins of the
Mother", as Nona, an alcoholic mother confronted by her estranged
daughter who she neglected. [24]
[edit] 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.[25] 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, Lil' John Roberts;
the couple then told the audience that they were engaged.[26] They
expected their first child on April 25, 2009[27][28] but the baby
boy, Jett Hamilton Roberts, arrived five days earlier. On June 23,
2009, Scott announced that she and Roberts had broken up, with Scott
breaking the news to Essence. 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."[29] During
her 2010 tour with Maxwell, Scott has introduced her music band and
Roberts is no longer a member. He is now a member of Mo'Nique's band
on The Mo'Nique Show.
[edit] 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".[30]
In the spring of 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".[31]
Scott was a columnist in the April issue of Essence magazine and
she expressed her point of view about Black men who marry Caucasian
women. In the column Scott says "We reflect on this awful past
and recall that if a Black man even looked at a White woman, he would
have been lynched, beaten, jailed or shot to death. These harsh truths
lead to what we really feel when we see a seemingly together brother
with a Caucasian woman and their children."[32] The column has
sparked controversy on the internet.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
Year Album U.S. U.S. R&B UK[33] RIAA certification
2000 Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 17 2 69 2× Platinum
2001 Experience: Jill Scott 826+ 38 7 — Platinum
2004 Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2 3 1 27 Gold
2007 Collaborations 11 3 — —
The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 4 2 — Gold
2008 Live In Paris+ — — — Gold
2011 The Light of The Sun — — — —
[edit] Singles
Year Song U.S U.S R&B Hot A.C. UK[33] Album
2000 "Gettin' In the Way" 115 28 — 30 Who Is Jill
Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1
2001 "A Long Walk" 43 9 — 54
"
The Way" 60 15 — —
"
Shining Through" (Fredro Starr featuring Jill Scott) — — — —
Save The Last Dance (Soundtrack album)
2002 "He Loves Me (Lyzel In E Flat)" 125 46 — —
Experience: Jill Scott 826+
"
Gimme" — 107 — —
2004 "Golden" 110 31 — 59
Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2
2005 "Whatever" 112 34 — —
"
Cross My Mind" — 38 6 —
"
The Fact Is (I Need You)" — 63 19 —
2006 "Daydreamin'" (Lupe Fiasco featuring Jill Scott) — 83 — 25
Food & Liquor / Collaborations
2007 "Hate on Me" 107 24 9 — The Real Thing: Words
and Sounds Vol. 3
"
My Love" — 31 11 —
2008 "Whenever You're Around" (featuring George Duke) — 56
20 —
[edit] Tours
* Words And Sounds Tour (2001)
* Buzz Tour (2004)
* Big Beautiful Tour (2005)
* The Real Thing Tour (2008)
* Maxwell & Jill Scott: The Tour (2010)