Go ahead admit it, you have a crush on Jill Scott. It’s hard not too, there is something simply alluring and beautiful about Jilly from Philly.
The first time I caught a glimpse of Jill Scott, I was skipping class in Fall 2000, and in my typical position in front of the television watching videos on BET. When the intro to “Gettin’ in the Way” came on I was given pause. Who was this beautiful full figured woman with head wrapped to the sky, marching down the street to confront her current man’s ex about being a “line stepper”? Ironically, Jill’s first album would also be called Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1.
I sat there intrigued, wishing there was a way to rewind the video to watch it over and over again. I guess you can say Jill had me at, “hello.” In a world of Destiny’s Child and Aaliyah, Jill stood out. She looked like me…fluffy and beautiful. She had a cool sexy, sass, with a mature sound that I came to crave. As soon as the Who Is Jill Scott? album dropped I was on it. I probably drove my roommates crazy, playing it on repeat. True I was only 18 years old, but Jill made me feel grown; well as grown as a sophomore in college could feel. From the instrumentation to the sweet like honey voice on every song, I became her “faithful concubine.”
I wrapped myself up in the Who Is Jill Scott? album like a baby in a blanket. I learned every verse and ad lib on the album in a matter of days. That album was something like love in progress, from the onset to the fall to the realization that maybe it wasn’t really what you thought it was. And like every other woman in America I fell head over heels for “I Think It’s Better” and “He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat).” I always wondered how special a man had to be to have a song bear his name on a debut album. Even now as I sit here writing this, sipping on chamomile tea, with lights dimmed and “He Loves Me” playing in the background, I find myself stopping to sing along and daydream about the one that will, “…incite me to chorus.” Ten years and many albums later…I still find myself listening to Who Is Jill Scott? just like it’s my very first time all over again.
Here are the lessons that Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 album taught me about love and relationships.
“Do You Remember”-“I was the one you were born to seek and I’m still here…”
“Long Walk”-“I was blind, now I can see what a king’s supposed to be…”
“He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)”- “You got me feeling like the breeze, easy and free and lovely and new…”
While we are not perfect, real love is. Love can be the most simple and serene thing in the world, that connects us despite ourselves. Love has the power to make us grow in ways that we could never imagine. Love is light, sound and color. Tantalizing every single sense.
“Honey Molasses”-“Were you thinking about me and if you were why was I feeling so lonely…”
“Love Rain”-“If you didn’t want me you should have let me know. All you did was make a mockery of something so incredible, beautiful.”
“Slowly Surely”-“Thought it was good, thought it was real, thought it was, but it wasn’t love…”
On the flip side of the coin, sometimes our feelings are not returned. Let’s be real, any kind of one sided situation sucks especially if you’re giving your all to someone that doesn’t have the same room in their heart or life for you. Sometimes it’s easy to get completely wrapped up in the emotions and words that we forget about the actions that also come with love. At the end of the day while being lost in love is great, you have to work not to be blinded by it.
Jill we patiently await your return.
Suezette -- Daily Venus Diva.
YES I AM RIGHT THERE WITH YOU ON JILL SCOTT AND THAT FIRST ALBUM GIRL! AS A POET, SHE WAS LIKE LISTENING TO A BREATH OF FRESH AIR AND AS A WOMAN IN LOVE AT THE TIME AND LATER BROKEN HEARTED I COULD RELATE WITH SOME OF HER WORDS ON SO MANY LEVELS. IT WAS AN ALBUM THAT SPOKE TO ME AND BRINGS MEMORIES OLD AND EVEN NEW. I LOVE JILL SCOTT FOR BEING SO DIFFERENT AND SO VERY REAL. I LOVED THIS!
I have had a MAJOR ‘girl crush’ on Jill Scott since day one!!!! Can’t wait for the next album to drop!!!
I was 15 (I’m 25 now) when I first heard of “Gettin’ in the Way” and Jill Scott’s debut album. I recorded “A Long Walk” and “Gettin’ in the Way” on MTV and fell in love with the music and lyrics. It was a nice change to the unrelatable yet appealing pop songs on heavy rotation. I was going through absolute hell, from serious domestic issues in my family, never having any money for basic things, being afraid to go to school because I might get my ass beat that day for no legitimate reason, and escaping my reality through relationships with men. I was so lost every single day just hoping not to be hopeless one day. The words of her first album changed my life. It was an open book to her personal life. It was a guide of going through the hell and happiness in any relationship and when you realize its time to let it all go or when to keep it. It reminded me that when you’re falling in love it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, you can just take a long walk, or just be. It showed me what it feels like to be head over heels in love, so bad its hard to think if its not about him. Then it shifts the mood into negativity. You see it ending and you don’t know why. He’s not calling you and is becoming distant and you feel like your world in collapsing because he never really wanted to be in it in the first place. Then you come to terms with what’s happening and you pick those tissues and yourself up off the floor and you move on.
I was 15 (I’m 25 now) when I first heard of “Gettin’ in the Way” and Jill Scott’s debut album. I recorded “A Long Walk” and “Gettin’ in the Way” on MTV and fell in love with the music and lyrics. It was a nice change to the unrelatable yet appealing pop songs on heavy rotation. My boyfriend at the time saw me rewinding and replaying so often he saved up money to buy me this album, and it was one of the best gifts I’ve ever randomly received in my life. I was going through absolute hell, from serious domestic issues in my family, never having any money for basic things, being afraid to go to school because I might get my ass beat that day for no legitimate reason, and escaping my reality through relationships with men. I was so lost every single day just hoping not to be hopeless one day. The words of her first album changed my life. It was an open book to her personal life. It was a guide of going through the hell and happiness in any relationship and when you realize its time to let it all go or when to keep it. It reminded me that when you’re falling in love it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, you can just take a long walk, or just be. It showed me what it feels like to be head over heels in love, so bad its hard to think if its not about him. It made me realize that you have to protect your relationship because of the ruthless b****** that are always ready to break it apart. Then it shifts the mood into negativity. You see it ending and you don’t know why. He’s not calling you and is becoming distant and you feel like your world in collapsing because he never really wanted to be in it in the first place. Then you come to terms with what’s happening and you pick those tissues and yourself up off the floor and you stand up tall and move on. The world isn’t perfect and it never will be. She taught me that those experiences made me stronger as a woman and person, and as long as I love myself, nothing else matters and I can get through anything.
Jill Scott’s first album is not an album, its a bible.
I am right there with both of you. The first time I heard Jill Scott sing was like a dream, because I was asleep and she was singing on the Chris Rock Show live. I was asleep and she woke me up. I heard Chris introduce her and then she started singing. I sat up in the bed and said “Who Is Jill Scott?”. She was amazing and I have loved her and her music from that day forward.
EVERYONE SAYS I LOOK LIKE JILL SCOTT … PLEASE WATCH MY VIDEO AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. MY 10 yrs old, directed & produce me in this video.
Please help us reach our goal. We need 1,000 you tube video hits by 2/28/11.
Demystifying the Barbershop Experience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D47ueUVuDlA
Eating kimichee in Korea Town, Las Vegas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXjQ6mMRKEQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Celebrating Chinese New Year and Boba Tea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXjQ6mMRKEQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Thanks a bunch!!!