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Jill Scott Interview
Comparisons with Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Angie Stone... Jill Scott's had them all, for the simple reason that she's an indivdual soul singer with one hell of a voice and something to say with it. Which is why this Philadelphia native has been getting such critical acclaim for her debut album 'Who Is Jill Scott?'. We met up with Jill in London recently to find out more about her...
You're signed to independent label in the States, right?
It's called Hidden Beach records. I don't care about business, and of course I want to make money, every artist does, you don't want to be poor, but I don't really like to focus so much on business. I'm an artist, this is what I do. I wanna sing, I wanna write, I wanna perform, that's more than anything what I want to do.
Of course I want to get the fruits of my own labour, but at the same time I felt that a record label would be good for me, and I found one which was independent, and they've a passion for music, and their first question wasn't, "What does she look like?" It was, "We love this, we have to come to Philadelphia to meet her", and I could really, really, really appreciate that. The title, 'Who is Jill Scott?', I created that. The album, what it looks like, my fiancé designed that. All the songs, I wrote; the music, I put my little dibs and dabs in, and next time I'll co-produce.
The album seems very autobiographical, lyrically. Do you feel moved to write about your own experiences rather than making up little fictional stories?
I feel moved to write, you know? This album was about me in so many different ways. The title itself is, 'Who is Jill Scott?', so I felt it important to let people see just some of who I am. I figured I would create this album without really focussing on making this an autobiographical album. I just wrote songs, and they happened to me about me!
There are many love songs on there. Are they about your fiancé?
Of course. 'Lyzell in E flat' is about him, and 'A Long Walk' is about our first date. There are some other personal things going on in there too.
How does he feel about having songs written about him?
He's flattered. It's deeper than flattery. He's such a good man. He gets it, he understands.
Do you feel comfortable talking about your private life to the media?
Well, I sing about my private life, so I'm not really hiding anything, but sometimes, yeah. I don't tell everything, I tell just a little bit. I tell you what I want you to know.
Your album's been picked up by a number of influential tastemakers over here, people like Gilles Peterson and Trevor Nelson on Radio 1, but if this translated into massive commercial success, how do you think you'd cope with the attention?
I don't know. I'm hoping that folks will respect the work that I've done here, and how much I enjoy music and enjoy performing, that they will give me space and freedom. You need freedom to create. If everybody's watching and everybody's under you, it makes it a whole lot more difficult to write and to watch. I catch the bus in Philadelphia, just because I enjoy people-watching so much. It's really important to do that, I think, as an artist.
When you're working on such a tight promotional schedule like this, would you worry that it might start taking over your life?
Right now, I definitely want people to know about this album, so I'll do some. In a minute I'm going to stop though, because I have a life other than this. This is what I do because I love to do it, but there's also some things that I love to do, like walking my dog, and I miss him, and I miss my fiancé. And I'm sure my carpet could do with some vacuuming, so I have to live. If there ever comes a time where it's difficult for me to live, I'd hate to give it up, but I would. Hell, yeah.
When new artists come out, there are obvious comparisions made between them and other artists working in a similar area. Who do you think are your peers right now, or who would you like to have your name alongside?
I'd like to have my name alongside Ntozake Shange, she's an incredible poet out of Philadelphia. I'd like to have my name next to The Artist. I would like to have my name next to Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway...Chaka Khan... I would like to have my name... hmm... I'm trying to think of the artists that I'm floored by and respect and their work has involved my life all in it... I'd like to be next to Langston Hughes, you know, writers, people who have something to say and can say it... Sonia Sanchez, Nicki Giovanni...
What kind of music and literature did you grow up listening to and reading that made you want to do the same thing?
It wasn't really anybody who made me want to do it. It was a matter of time for me. I just took my time and it grew into what it is now, and I don't know what it'll be next year. I'm just going with this flow. Life has been really good to me, even through the hard times, so I'm just going with it and enjoying the ride.
Have you been holding on to these songs for a few years, or did you consciously sit down and write the whole album?
When I got into the studio, which was I guess the summer of '98, I started writing right then the songs for this album. 'Exclusively' and 'Love Rain' I wrote a couple of years ago, that's about it.
Everything else was written in that moment.
How did you get into professionally singing and writing? When did performing translate into a career?
Let's see. I guess when I did 'Rent' [the musical, in which Jill performed in Canada], no that's not true, it must have been when I started the album...no, it can't be then... I don't know!
Have you always written things, even as a child?
I wrote my first poem in Eighth Grade, and then I didn't write any more until I was around 21, 22, and then I started writing again, but I just kept it to myself. It was when I shared that friends said, "Oh we love it, you've gotta go to poetry readings, you've gotta let other people hear it", and that initial response got me hooked on doing something other than a nine-to-five.
How did you feel about sharing your writing with other people initially?
The writing I thought was definitely worth listening to, as well as the singing. I just kept it to myself. I figured, "This is mine, I'm going to enjoy it, and when I'm ready to share it, I will". I guess it's like your virginity, you own it, until you decide to offer it. I think that's fair.
So how do you feel about the album? Are you pleased with it?
I'm very pleased. I'm very, very,
very pleased. There's so many hands touching it, and it's people that I love that touched this album. The musicians that I worked with are my friends. The things that I wrote about are so much my history and my past, and my future, and my now and my then. The person who did the artwork for this album is the man I'm marrying, you know. The person who put out this album on his label is Steve McKeever - such a good friend to me. And of course Jazzy Jeff is a friend to me...
Was he a friend before you worked together?
No, no. When we started working together, we clicked.
How did that come about?
I met him on the street in Philly. He knew about me because I had called him for six months, calling, calling, calling... "Hi, I'm Jill Scott." "Who?" "I'm Jill Scott, and I'm a songwriter and I'd like to meet with you and get with your production company." "Hi, I'm Jill Scott. I'm singing at this club. If you can make it, I just want you to hear what I sound like." "Hi, I'm in this play, if you can come..." "Hi, I'm reading poetry at this bar..." I just invited him to everything I was doing and he never showed up, and then I saw him on the street, and he said, "Oh, this is Jill Scott!"
So the persistence paid off?
Yeah, definitely. It took a while.
Was it easy for you to get him to listen to you?
Well, we had a mutual friend. I didn't sing until later, I wanted to write, and I got some music from the producers. I took it home and found one song that moved me to write. I wrote the song, 'A Long Walk' and I got in the car with Jeff and I played the music and sang it to him, and he was like, "Oh my God, I think we've got something!"
How did you feel when he said that?
I feel like, because I held on so long, and took my time in sharing, that it's right and it's my own and it belongs to me, and I feel very, very confident in that. Because I took my time, nobody forced me, nobody made me - I came to this because I wanted to do this. I could do other things, I could do lots of other things, but this is what I want to do.
Did you grow up in a musical family?
Not, not at all. Except for my grandmother, she's a singer, so I guess I get my way from her. She would sing in the tub, at five o'clock in the morning, really early. The only reason I got to hear it was because my mother woke me up and would say, "Come, you have to hear this," and her and my aunt Shirley got me to the door, and my grandmother was in there singing this beautiful sound, and she was singing about her feet, y'know? The magnificence of her feet, and her hands! "Thank you Jehovah for my feet and my hands."
She was in there singing and washing, and I thought, "Wow, she owns this, that belongs to her". We snuck back, and went back to bed.
Did you have a religious or spiritual upbringing?
For the early part of my life, I was Jehovah's Witness. I was never actually baptised as a Jehovah's Witness, but that's where my knowledge of God, the Creator came from, and as I grew older, I discovered other things. Jehovah's Witnesses are Christian, so then I went and found out about being Muslim, what was going on in Islam the faith, what was going on in Buddhism.
I just bounced around checking out Baptists, Protestants, you know, what is everybody talking about, and I came to the conclusion that we're all talking about the same thing, we're just saying it in different ways and God has many names. As long as you recognise that God is making your pathway for you, that everything stems from this great, magnificent, wonderful creator, and as big and bad as we are, we could never create a single solitary stone, or a fly. All we can make is do-do!
What kind of circumstances did you grow up in?
I grew up in North Philadelphia, in very much a ghetto, but when we say ghetto, automatically there's a negative connotation, such poverty, but we weren't poor. We weren't rich either, but we weren't poor. But we were rich in the sense that there were people who looked out for kids. If I went across the street when I wasn't supposed to, you better believe that Miss Smith next door was going to call me up, "Hey, get back over here!"
I could get a spanking from anybody on the block and then get sent back home. There were people who worked really hard. You would see people who would wake up and be out at the bus stop at 6 o'clock in the morning and not get home until 8 o'clock at night. That is very much a part of the ghetto. These are people that are struggling to maintain what they have and do better than what they are. It's not always drugs and killing and filth. I've experienced that also, but there's more to ghetto life than negatives.
Do you live in the same area now?
I live about five minutes away from there.
Do you think you'll stay there?
I don't know, it depends. Times are changing. It really depends on what will be better for my future, my child. I don't have any children now, but it really depends on that, and I'll make a decision then, but right now I'm very happily living in a loud ghetto neighbourhood, where Spanish music starts to play at 7 o'clock in the morning, but it's rich with culture, it's rich with personality and smells. And there's corner stores, which I love, and flavour. The one thing the ghetto has is flavour, and a lot of love. There's a lot of love there.
