Jill Scott
(born April 4 1972) is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her theatrical debut in the films Hounddog
(as Big Mama Thornton) and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married?
That same 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 currently appears in the lead role of the BBC/HBO series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
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JILL SCOTT TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Jill grew up an
only child in the
North Philadelphia neighborhood of
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania and was 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 attended the
Philadelphia High School for Girls and after graduating, attended
Temple University while simultaneously working two jobs. She studied secondary education for three years and had planned on becoming a high school English teacher, but after spending time as a teacher's aide, Scott became disillusioned with the teaching profession and dropped out of school.
[2]
Prior to her breakthrough in 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.
[3] She remains close to her mother and grandmother, nicknamed Blue Babe, and currently resides in
Mount Laurel Township,
New Jersey.
Personal life
Jill Scott and longtime boyfriend Lyzel Williams, a graphic artist and DJ, were married in the fall of 2001 in a private Hawaiian ceremony during a vacation. The couple had dated for seven years before they wed
[4]. 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.
[5] They had expected their first child on April 25, 2009;
[6] [7] On April 20, 2009 Jill and boyfriend Lil Jon Roberts had a baby boy named Jett Hamilton Roberts, who arrived five days earlier than expected. On June 23, 2009, Jill and Roberts broke up, with Jill breaking the news to
Essence.
Despite the break-up, Jill 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."
[8]
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 "QuestLove" Thompson of
The Roots. QuestLove invited her to join the band in the studio, and the collaboration resulted in a co-writing credit for Scott for the song, "You Got Me." In 2000,
Erykah Badu and The Roots won the 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, filling in for Badu and providing her own variation on the song.
[9] 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 chart success and notice with the single "A Long Walk", which eventually earned her 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.
[10] 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.
[11] [12]
The
Collaborations
collection served as "an appetizer" for her next studio album,
The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3
released
September 25, 2007.
[13] 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.
[14] Interspersed between the dozen songs previewed on the sampler was a personal explanation from Jill for the inspiration behind some of her songs.
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 in the Rockstar Games video game
Grand Theft Auto IV.
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]
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. 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, which was broadcast as a six-part series on
BBC1 in March 2009; and a 13-part series on HBO, which debuted March 29, 2009.
Jill will reprise her role as Sheila in the sequel to
Why Did I Get Married? (2007). The movie is set to shoot in August for an April 2, 2010 release.
[20] [21]
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".
[22]
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".
[23]
Discography
Albums
Year
| Album
| U.S.
| U.S. R&B
| UK [24]
| RIAA certification
|
2000
| Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1
| 17
| 2
| 69
| 2x Platinum
|
2001
| Experience: Jill Scott 826+
| 38
| 7
| —
| Gold
|
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
|
2009
| The No. 1 Lady Remixed
| —
| —
| —
| -
|
Singles
Year
| Song
| U.S
| U.S R&B
| Hot A.C.
| UK
| 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
| —
|
Award history
List of Jill Scott's Awards and Nominations
References
- Jill Scott: SINGER KEEPS IT REAL WITH SOULFUL, DOWN-HOME SOUND - Interview
- Soul Sister Number One
- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_10_100/ai_77557488/pg_2?tag=artBody;col1 Aug 01 Jet M
- Jill Scott: Divorce Neo-Soul Style
- Reported by Khari Shabazz, in attendance, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, June 20, 2008
- R&B Singer and Actress Jill Scott is Pregnant People.com, January 10, 2009
- Jill Scott Pregnant With First Child TheBlackSpotlight.com
- R&B Divorce Court: First R Kelly/Tyrese, Now Usher/Jill Scott? Soulofrnb.com
- Jill Scott: Who Is Jill Scott? -Ink Blot Magazine
- Who is Jill Scott? Now she's a poet too
- Hidden Beach Rounds Up Jill Scott's 'Collaborations'
- Jill Scott
- Jill Scott And Friends Team Up On Collaborations
- The Hidden Beach Family Reunion -> Download Manager -> Jill Scott -> Jill Scott's "The Real Thing" Sampler
- Jill Scott: Experience: Jill Scott 826+ - PopMatters Music Review
- The Isley Brothers Featuring Ronald Isley aka Mr. Biggs: 'Eternal' (DreamWorks)
- Book Jill Scott
- Jill Scott on Acting, Singing, and Divorce. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
- Find Articles 404 File not found
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1161590/Move-Miss-Marple--Jill-Scott-Mma-Ramotswe-new-s
- Detective Agency to be serialised
- Blues Babe Foundation
- BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Singer attacks 'degrading' images
- British Hit Singles & Albums