Some say Jill Scott’s gift for
writing came in the eighth grade, when her teacher gave the
students a writing assignment on biographies. Jill’s choice
was Nikki Giovanni, a Black woman who not only shared Jill’s
experience, but was already writing about it.
Jill started out as an aspiring poet,
and used to read her poetry at places like the October Gallery
and the ‘Black Lily’ night at the Five Spot, both in
Philadelphia. The response that Jill received from her
audience at these shows motivated her to sing and not just
‘recite’ the smooth lines of poetry. At one of her spoken word
events, ?uestlove (Soulquarians/Roots) heard her and asked her
to join his band in the studio. After accompanying him to the
studio, Jill wrote the hook to "You Got Me" in five
minutes. The song was later performed by the Roots and Erykah
Badu, and went on to earn a 1999 Grammy award for Best Rap
Performance.
Shortly after that Jill went on to
record her own music with ‘Jazzy Jeff’ Townes and on July 18,
2000 she released Who is Jill Scott. From that point
she basically blew up on the music scene.
Jill Scott’s music is all about real
life situations. Her new album Jill Scott Experience
has nine new songs, and includes most of her old tracks from
Who is Jill Scott - but all of the songs are performed
live. The entire cd is banging. If you love soulful and music
that gives you inspiration, check out this album.
The ultimate experience is watching
Jill Scott perform her songs live. It was a humbling
experience to have the pleasure of watching her performance
when she came to the Pier in Seattle this past summer.
This is an album every one should have
in their music collection.
~Abdul~
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