Jill Scott is deeply entwined in my life, but at the same time, I probably haven’t listened to her much in years. Her debut album, Who Is Jill Scott? dropped in 2000, on the cusp of a new millennium, and became an instant classic in what became known as Neo-soul. Like a lot of genre, it’s a nefarious business trying to pin down what makes something Neo-soul as opposed to R&B or soul, but it definitely leans into an organic sound – real instruments, live drums, and strong, powerful vocal performances. Philadelphia obviously has an extraordinarily rich history in soul music, and Scott became the latest on a long line of legends from that city to pick up the baton and run with it into a new era.
Right from the off, she created a sensual, rich sound full of tight performances and expansive songwriting, and that’s before we even get to that voice. She has a unique ability to sound sexy, authoritative, contemplative, in your face, gentle. She can sing, she can rap, she can sound like spoken word poetry. She’s the real deal and she quickly found herself at the top of the true alongside the likes of Erykah Badu and D’Angelo.
And then onto my own personal with this music. I had just got together with Caroline the year before – and indeed had just met Joey at the same time, and this genre was the so much the part of those years. I can think of scores of soul and R&B albums we all rinsed to death at that time – Lucy Pearl, Raphael Saadiq, Maxwell. And Jill Scott. They felt politically conscious very much like the Native Tongues hip hop of a decade previously, big on Afrocentricism and positivity. It was optimistic music. And I want to come back to that point.
Those first two Jill Scott albums I loved so hard. I don’t know why, but they just spoke to me and they soundtracked our early relationship. But like a lot of artists, she kind of fell of my radar a bit. I remember spinning her Woman album in 2015 a few times and thinking – yeah, I’ve heard this before, nothing new here. That was her last album. It’s been ten years.
So this could go one of two ways. It could be a tired old retread. Or it could be a revelatory return to form. I’d seen some preview reviews that suggested this might be the latter. And boy, they are not fucking kidding. I cannot believe how much I love this record.
Firstly, let’s get some housekeeping out the way. It’s not a short album. It’s 19 songs and 58 minutes. But personally, I have never had something slip down so easily. She sounds energised, excited to be making music, and so fucking cool. There’s an incredible array of genres on here – slow jams (Pressha, Beautiful People), hip hop (Norf Side, a real highlight for me), Afrobeat grooves (BPOTY), club friendly dance tunes (Right Here, Right Now). The whole thing is a total tour de force.
I know everyone is having their own journey here, so let me raise a couple of things that are worth considering. One is this – let’s be honest, this album could been made in 2002. It is not rewriting the history books, it’s just very, very good at what it is. But what it is is a very positive record, it’s a 53 year old woman rediscovering her joy at making music after a long gap. But it’s also full of that early 00s positivity vibe. I guess I’m wondering – does that feel a bit out of place in our fucked up, bleak world right now? For me, it’s just giving me life. But maybe it doesn’t quite for everyone…
The other factor is that this is plugging into my past and probably even my relationship with Caroline. Remove that and does it mean so much to the average listener? Perhaps not.
Anyway, this is the first record I’ve heard this year that could be in my top 10. But that’s just me. Over to you, brothers…
thisisnothappening.net 
Lovely write up David, thank you.
Jill Scott | To Whom It May Concern
I have considered and tried to rewrite this a few times to sound less angry! But either failed or ran out motivation to sound less angry!
I’m fascinated and perplexed by your response, Joey. And I definitely think there’s some kind of reason you’re feeling like this, though I can’t quite put my finger on what it is!
The only thing I want to pick up on is the idea that this doesn’t have tunes on it. I’m like, what? Am I listening to a totally different album. It’s absolutely packed full of tunes! They might not be tunes that are connecting with you, but I’m just not finding it noodly AT ALL. It feels pretty focussed and tight to me.
Let’s see what your fellow TINHers make of it, anyway….
This is really interesting already. It seems to be a set of extremes. David: a delightful write-up as ever. I was really wanting what makes the album great for you as a piece of context. And it’s lovely to see an artist you love come back after so long away. We all want to fall back in love with something from our (relative) youth.
I think my starting point is neither of yours. I am not sure I have ever knowingly listened to a Jill Scott track before this month. It’s not because I dislike her; I’m aware of her and how much resonance she has, but a flick through previous albums tells me that it’s just not my vibe at all. Which is interesting, as with the month’s SPIN IT in mind, it’s clear I’m not even aware of what Neo-Soul is, and that – bar a few bangers, it’s never really been part of my life. And when it was in its 2000s/10s zenith, I was not listening to this sort of music. So…. a clean slate perhaps.
First impressions were pretty joyful. The album is very welcoming, with heavy slices of funk, soul, hip-hop, r’n’b. It was very easy to consume. It washed over me working, cooking, all the usual things. Songs I liked started to emerge, and the intriguing part of it was that they were the most ‘non Jill’ (to me) of the album. The true, floaty, smoky neo-soul stuff about love and life and spirituality started to pass me by. I realise these songs just aren’t for me, and never really will be. But it’s funny as they are adjacent to lots of what I love – Native Tongues, for sure, and some soul music – but I think I love the samples, not the full length tunes.
Anyway, I’ve had a lot of time with it in the past few weeks and here’s where I am: (hashtag Joeybullets)
There’s an album I’d like in there, for sure. There’s so much to Scott’s style and story that is to enjoy. The Sodajerker interview was interesting for sure, as have been a few things I have read. But in the end, the hurdle for me is that her trademark style is also just not my thing, which makes it hard to adore.
Anyway, here’s my 11 track version (which won’t embed, pfft). Plenty to chew on and chat about this Friday….
https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2LEFf9iNozZqyXtrlqDrN5?utm_source=generator