It’s easy to think of Jill Scott’s new album, “The Light of the Sun,” as marking a new chapter in her career. It’s not that the Grammy Award-winning singer and actress has ever really been in a slump. She’s got plenty of sold-out shows, top-charting songs and high-profile gigs to show that her star has continually brightens. But now that the singer has lost 50 pounds, it seems she brings a whole new attitude to her music and her life.
“I’m past caring about some things that never mattered in the first place…” Scott told Ebony magazine. “I’m also unafraid. I know how much music has always meant to me, how much it means to us all, and I know there’s someone out there, maybe just one someone, who can feel inspired by being brave.”
| Onstage |
| Jill Scott’s Summer Block Party |
| When: 7 p.m. Sunday |
| Where: Verizon Center, 601 F St. NW |
| Details: $69.75 to $200.75; 202-397-SEAT; ticketmaster.com |
The Philadelphia-born Scott has seemingly always been an inspiration as she went from performing her own poetry to songwriter, singer and actress in such productions as “Rent,” and Tyler Perry’s movie “Why Did I Get Married?”
The slow, mature R&B Scott performs has certainly inspired others, including Adele, who has cited her as a role model. It’s a fair bet that Scott will continue to inspire plenty more up-and-coming artists especially now that she’s moved into hip-hop. That has resulted in her latest album going to No. 1 on the album charts.
“I [still] don’t believe it,” Scott recently told Reuters. “I have a copy [of the Billboard album chart], but I still don’t believe it. … Somebody sent me a text message, ‘Congratulations on the No. 1 album’ and I thought they were talking about the R&B chart. I was really happy about that. Then I found out it was the No. 1 album in the country. It’s overwhelming.”
The top spot came at a seemingly ideal time for Scott who left Hidden Beach Recordings and is now with Blues Babe, an imprint of Warner Brothers Records.
A standout track on the new album is the song “All Cried Out Redux,” which features rap innovator Doug E. Fresh.
“As a child of hip-hop, having recording anything with Doug E. Fresh is just surreal,” Scott told Reuters.
It was such a love for rap that lured Scott into recording a hip-hop album.
“I started thinking about what kind of music I needed to hear before I went onstage,” she told Reuters. “I think that was the catalyst. I need to hear Lupe Fiasco, Rick Ross and Mobb Deep.
