Fresh Air (NPR): Jill Scott Is in Her ‘Auntie’ Era

Airdate: March 19, 2026
Host: Tonya Mosley & Terry Gross
Guest: Jill Scott, Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, poet, and actor

Episode Overview

This episode marks a celebratory yet candid conversation with Jill Scott, reflecting on her return with the new album To Whom This May Concern—her first in a decade—and on the journey, artistry, and growth that have brought her into self-described “auntie” status. Hosts Tonya Mosley and Terry Gross delve deep into Scott’s inspirations, creative process, career milestones, and unique personal wisdom, highlighting her evolution as a musician, poet, actress, mother, and mentor.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Inspiration & Message Behind “Pressure”

• Song Premiere: The show opens with “Pressure,” the lead single from Scott’s new album, which quickly went #1 on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay chart ([01:16]).
• On the Song’s Roots:
  • Jill describes “Pressure” as stemming from the tension of “being desired in private but not claimed in public,” tapping into her longtime frustration with performative relationships and societal expectations ([03:01]).
  • Quote:
    “You could be all of what you are and someone would pass on it, desire you privately. But because society says that someone has to look a certain way…you’re not even choosing what you actually like.” — Jill Scott ([04:23])

2. The Weight and Power of Grown Womanhood

• Essay Reference: Terry Gross quotes Jasmine Cannick, who writes that “Pressure” gives rare voice to the unspoken weight grown women carry ([05:10]).

• Jill wholeheartedly agrees, excited that her deepest intentions for the song found real resonance with listeners ([05:30]).

• Quote:
  “She names the weight grown women carry quietly—the pressure to be everything… and still make it look graceful. She understands what it feels like to realize you weren’t rejected because you lacked value, but because your fullness didn’t fit someone else’s image.” — Jasmine Cannick, via Terry Gross ([05:13])

3. Creative Process & Ten-Year Hiatus

• Longing to Create: Jill talks about her decade between albums as driven not by intention but by “pining,” living, and refining her artistry ([06:41]).
• Discovering Nikki Giovanni’s poetry at 12 or 13 unlocked her identity as a writer ([06:51]).

4. Poetic Influences & “Ode to Nikki”

• Musical Tribute:
  • The album features “Ode to Nikki,” an homage to poet Nikki Giovanni, recited in spoken word style ([07:55]).
  • Scott recounts the freeing feeling of seeing herself “on paper” for the first time, citing Giovanni’s vivid depictions of everyday Black womanhood ([06:54], [08:53]).
  • Jill never got to meet Giovanni but credits her impact as “massive” ([09:55]).

5. The Freedom of Independence

• Blues Babe Records:
  Scott now owns and releases her music through her own label, granting her complete creative autonomy ([10:03]).

  • “Everything has led me to this place as this 53-year-old woman…maneuvering her career the way she wants to, how she wants to, when she wants to, for whom she wants to.” — Jill Scott ([10:25])

• Themes of the New Album:
  The album mixes the “little girl” yearning for more with the reality and richness of life as a daughter, mother, and leader of her family, especially after her father’s passing ([11:30]).

6. Home, Upbringing, and Family Values

• Philadelphia Roots:
  Scott reminisces about aspiring to elegant homes in Philly and how those dreams molded her ambitions and gratitude ([13:13]).

• Growing up in a three-generation home with her mother and grandmother taught her love, humor, and resilience ([15:52]).

  • Quote:
    “My mother and my grandmother both competed for my attention…My grandmother was born in 1917, had a whole bunch of stories. She’s the one that gave me God.” — Jill Scott ([15:52], [16:39])

  • Her mother’s practical resilience—in making clothes, food, fixing up homes—profoundly shaped Jill’s understanding of self-sufficiency ([18:20]).

7. Musical & Cultural Roots

• Multi-Generational Soundtrack:
  • Family music traditions: Manischewitz wine, Millie Jackson, Pointer Sisters, gospel, and hip-hop ([19:26]).
  • “My music was rooted in verses. Hip hop. Storytelling. Nikki Giovanni—She opened the door I never turned back.” — Jill Scott ([20:08])

8. Discovery of Her Singing Voice

• Musical Awakening:
  Jill describes herself as always knowing she could sing, but only discovered communal affirmation performing at her ninth-grade audition ([22:37], [23:54]).
• She sang privately, in the tub and on the way to school, before moving into public performance ([24:09]).

9. From Spoken Word to Neo-Soul Stardom

• Origins of Fame:
  Jill began as a Philadelphia spoken word poet; Questlove (The Roots) heard her at a poetry reading and invited her to the studio ([24:37]).

  • She fibbed about already writing songs to seize the opportunity and ended up penning “You Got Me,” later sung by Erykah Badu ([25:26], [26:43]).

  • Quote:
    “I got about 14 good seconds. Wait a minute. What happened? That’s not me. And then I realized it was way bigger than that…This is a door. A door has opened, you know? And Erica will tell you herself, she doesn’t sing anybody else’s music.” — Jill Scott ([28:14])

10. Navigating the Music Industry & Songwriting Aspirations

• First Tour:
  Touring with The Roots gave her vital exposure, though mismanagement almost cost her the chance ([29:04]).
• She originally imagined herself as “a songwriter” rather than a performer, finding satisfaction in helping others tell their stories ([30:10]).

11. Bold Artistic Statements: The Star Spangled Banner Reimagined

• Scott’s viral, impassioned reworking of the National Anthem (performed at Essence Fest, 2023) reframes the song to spotlight the American legacy of violence, exclusion, and erased histories ([32:58]).
  • Quote:
    “O say can you see. By the blood in the street. That this place doesn’t smile. On you Colored child. Whose blood built this land…” — Jill Scott ([32:58])
• She discusses the risk and backlash—hostility and even death threats—that followed, but her commitment to “speaking the truth” as an artist endures ([37:30], [38:05]).

12. Acting Career Highlights

• Film & TV Roles:
  • Sheila in Why Did I Get Married? (and its upcoming sequel) and Precious Ramotswe in The Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency ([40:06]).
• Craft Challenges:
  • The emotional toll of live, staged hostility versus the physical and cultural challenges of filming in Botswana ([41:01], [41:30]).
  • Jill learned and unlearned dialects, collaborating with local women and bringing her son to Botswana for his own rite of passage, humorously dubbed a “bro mitzvah” ([43:27], [45:01]).

13. Embracing the ‘Auntie’ Era: Wisdom, Mentorship, and Legacy

• Mentorship Approach:

  • Jill shares her no-nonsense method: “When somebody wants something from you, you give them a task. If they handle the task…you can proceed” ([46:01]).

    • Quote:
      “Aretha Franklin sent me to get her two hot dogs with cooked onions and mustard. I went to the corner and I got those hot dogs…and I don’t even think she ate them.” — Jill Scott ([47:01])

  • She’s softer but also firmer, encouraging aspiring artists to value both her time and their own ([47:29]).

• On Maturity:

  • “There’s nothing wrong with being mature. There is nothing wrong with growing up.” — Jill Scott ([48:15])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Moment | |-----------|-------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 04:23 | Jill Scott | “You’re not even choosing what you actually like.” | | 06:54 | Jill Scott | “I never saw myself on paper before…I want to write like that.” | | 10:25 | Jill Scott | “This is the best life I have ever had, period.” | | 15:52 | Jill Scott | “Full of love and humor. My mother and my grandmother both competed for my attention.”| | 28:14 | Jill Scott | “This is a door. A door has opened…Erica [Badu] will tell you herself, she doesn’t sing anybody else’s music.” | | 32:58 | Jill Scott | (Sings reimagined “Star Spangled Banner”) | | 41:01 | Jill Scott | “To be verbally accosted by strangers at work…was not a favorite for me.” | | 46:01 | Jill Scott | “I really love this auntie life.” | | 48:15 | Jill Scott | “There is nothing wrong with being mature. There is nothing wrong with growing up.” |

Key Segment Timestamps

• 00:15 — Album introduction; “Pressure” single airs
• 03:01 — Inspiration and message of “Pressure”
• 07:55 — “Ode to Nikki” poetry track and discussion
• 10:03 — Independence and Blues Babe Records
• 15:23 — Stories of growing up in a multigenerational home
• 22:37 — Discovery of her singing voice
• 24:37 — Discovery by Questlove and The Roots
• 26:43 — Writing “You Got Me” and Erykah Badu collaboration
• 32:58 — Reimagined Star Spangled Banner performance
• 41:00 — Acting in “Why Did I Get Married?” and “The Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency”
• 46:01 — Mentoring young artists; auntie-era lessons

Tone & Language

The conversation is intimate, reflective, warm, and laced with both humor and gravity. Jill Scott is eloquent, candid, and gracious, perfectly balancing the insightful with the practical and the poetic with the personal. The episode offers not just milestones from her life, but also treasured philosophies and hard-earned advice—true to her new “auntie” role in music and in culture.

For full interview context, listen to the Fresh Air episode “Jill Scott is in her ‘auntie’ era” via NPR or your favorite podcast platform.