Jill Scott

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.

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. 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. They expected their first child on April 25, 2009 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. 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.

Early life

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". Scott was raised as a Jehovah's Witness 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.

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. She remains close to her mother and grandmother who is nicknamed Blue Babe. Scott has resided in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey and currently resides in California.

Music career

2000-2009: Words and Sounds

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.

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. 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.

2010-Present: The Light of the Sun

Following up 2007's Grammy nominated Gold certified album The Real Thing, Jill is currently about to release 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.

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.

In 2011, following a recently settled, tumultuous legal battle with previous label Hidden Beach—which found her countersuing the label's claim that she exited halfway through a six-album deal last year—Jill Scott signed a distribution deal with Warner Brothers Records. Jill plans to release her fourth studio album, The Light of the Sun, June 21, 2011. Dance auditions for Jill's buzz single from the album, "Shame", were held in Philadelphia on March 17, 2011. West Philly native Eve, who is featured on the song, will appear in the video, as will Black Thought, Mos Def, Pharaohe Monch, Peedi Crakk and Ms. Jade, says the video's director, Devin Hampton. "So in Love" featuring Anthony Hamilton will be released as the first official single from the album.  The song debuted at number 43 on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, making it the highest debut of her career on that chart.

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. 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 2011.

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'. 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. 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".

Film and television

On the advice of her good friend, director Ozzie Jones, she began pursuing a career in acting in 2000. 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.

In 2007, Scott appeared in Hounddog (as Big Mama Thornton) and in Tyler Perry's movie, Why Did I Get Married?

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. 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".

Jill Scott will perform at BET Awards 2011 on June 26, 2011.

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".

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".