Jill Scott is in her ‘auntie’ era

Summary

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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

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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.

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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])

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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.” |

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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

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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.

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

Transcript

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[Jill Scott]

For more.

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[Jill Scott]

Edu.

[Tonya Mosley]

This is FRESH air. I'm Tonya Moseley and my guest today is singer, songwriter and actor Jill Scott. She released her sixth studio album, to Whom this May Concern, last month. Her her first new music in a decade. Here's a single from the album called Pressa.

[Jill Scott (singing)]

I wanted you to be mine

[Jill Scott]

in

[Jill Scott (singing)]

the daytime as well as the night but you needed to hide me and that just don't sit right.

[Jill Scott]

I wasn't dead, I guess, I guess I get it.

[Jill Scott (singing)]

So much pressure to appear just like them Pretty and cosmetic elementary alphabetic

[Jill Scott (singing continuation)]

so

[Jill Scott (singing)]

much pressure to appear just like them Just like them Just like them so much pressure to appear just like them.

[Tonya Mosley]

The song recently went to number one on the Billboard adult R and B airplay chart. And it's about the weight of being asked to look, sound and move through the world a certain way and being desired in private but not claimed in

[Terry Gross]

public, and the quiet courage it takes to stop performing for someone else's comfort. Jill Scott has been making music for more than 25 years. The story goes that Quest's love of the roots first discovered her as part of Philadelphia's spoken word scene. Her 2000 debut, who is Jill? Words and Sounds, Vol. 1, answered its own question with double platinum sales, three Grammy nominations and a sound that has helped define neo soul. Since then, Scott has won three Grammys, written a best selling book of poetry and built an acting career that has spanned from from HBO's the Number One Ladies Detective Agency, BET's First Wives Club, and the role of Sheila in Tyler Perry's why Did I Get Married? A character so beloved, Tyler Perry is bringing her back this year in why Did I Get Married Again for Netflix and Jill Scott. Welcome to FRESH air.

[Jill Scott]

Thank you.

[Terry Gross]

It's a pleasure to have you.

[Jill Scott]

I feel the same way. I'm so happy to be here.

[Terry Gross]

That song, Pressure, what a song for your first single in 13 years. It comes from such a personal place and I just want to know the inspiration behind it.

[Jill Scott]

Pressure was one of the last songs that I got. I've been collecting music from producers for quite some time in order to make this album. And I heard it and I love the dissonance in the chords. The chords felt so dark and haunting, but it also the music felt very sexy as well. Like what is this energy? And I put Paper to pen. And those are the first things that came out. I wanted you to be mine in the daytime as well as the night. Oh, this is someone who is desired but not claimed. And I like that idea because I know that there are people who didn't choose my beloved Beyonce. You know, there are people who passed, you know, on Tyler, the creator. You know, it's not specifically just for someone who is plus size or who's brown skin or who has freckles or, you know, is bow legged. You know, it's the fact that 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 or be a certain way or. Or that you want to. To gain favor by having someone who looks a certain way on your arm. You know, I've seen it a lot and it's always disturbed me, quite frankly, that you've. You're not even choosing what you actually like.

[Terry Gross]

There's a widely circulated essay from a writer named Jasmine Cannock who said that Prussia lands as a recognition for grown women. And she used that term specifically. And I want to read an excerpt she writes. What Jill Scott offers in Prussia is something rare.

[Jill Scott]

She.

[Terry Gross]

She names the weight grown women carry quietly, the pressure to be everything, hold everything, absorb everything, and will 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.

[Jill Scott]

Word. Absolutely. Well said.

[Terry Gross]

How does it feel to start with something that's so rough and raw and. And then you create this piece of work with an intention, and then your intention is received.

[Jill Scott]

It's overwhelming. It really is overwhelming. I know what I meant. I know how much I wanted the album to reach people in a real way. I wanted it so bad. I wanted it so. And I worked so hard for it. I pined over every line, every word, every.

[Terry Gross]

When you say you wanted it so bad, I mean, the thing that the headline of this record, this album was, it's been 10 years. It's been a whole decade.

[Jill Scott]

Yes.

[Terry Gross]

And you've been gone, living life and doing your own thing. And when you say you've been pining it, you've been wanting it, what do you mean? Was that break intentional or was it also a mix of you just trying to find your way back in some way to get to that thing that you're talking about?

[Jill Scott]

I literally loved writing from the very first time I read Nikki Giovanni's poetry.

[Terry Gross]

Loved it and how old was that? When was that?

[Jill Scott]

I was, I think, 12 or 13. Loved it. Never really saw myself on paper before. I could smell the lotion between my grandmother's legs when she would braid my hair. When I read Nikki Giovanni, like, I love that I want to write like that.

[Terry Gross]

And when you say you want to write like that, I think for me, one of the most powerful things about Nikki Giovanni is she made the ordinary so beautiful. It was the place you wanted to be. Talking about the joy of killing a pregnant roach, you know?

[Jill Scott]

Yes, yes, I know that joy.

[Terry Gross]

There's actually a song on the album called Ode to Nikki.

[Jill Scott]

That's right.

[Terry Gross]

And what's really powerful about it is it's in the cadence of the way Nikki wrote. I want to play a little bit of it and we'll talk a little bit more about it on the other side.

[Jill Scott (spoken word/poetry)]

She is not trapped in a perpetual loop they are not doing what they are used to he is not sitting on the same concrete Wishing she is a living alive Celestine prophecy He can actually taste his own vibrant she is swaying to her symphony Rocking, rocking her hammock Feeling the breeze Self motivating, Self satisfactioning Wonderful curiosity Exciting cages crumbled Much pride much humble Much fumbled no more dumbing down for what, for who? Exquisite views Intentional luxury Mind bending the spoon Complex simplicity simpatico Beautiful beings touched by the sun Redefining, shining, vibrating sonically

[Terry Gross]

that was my guest, Jill Scott. And that's a cut from her latest album, To Whom this May Concern. And that cut is called Ode to Nikki. And you were really young, so you were about 12 or 13 when you first found her. Do you remember what it was you were reading?

[Jill Scott]

No, I honestly don't remember what it was. I should. I remember the pictures and I remember how I felt. It was a book of poetry. But my English teacher, her name was Fran Danish, she gave us a list of people to do essay about. And I landed on Nikki Giovanni. And I just thought it was probably like some Italian guy or some Italian lady. Yes. And I found this poet ego tripping, obviously, you know, was. Was big for me, particularly in the quote unquote, neo soul era. We were all discovering poets and having poetry slams in college. I tried to get into her class and couldn't.

[Terry Gross]

Yeah.

[Jill Scott]

Oh, I tried. Couldn't get in that class. I never actually had a chance to shake her hand.

[Terry Gross]

You never met her?

[Jill Scott]

I never met her, but the impact is massive.

[Terry Gross]

One of the things that I found remarkable as I was digging deeper into this new album is that it's come out on your Blues Babe Records, that is your label. You own this one completely. Has it offered you the freedom to be able to really sit in that pocket that you sit in that allows you to speak to that truth in the way that you do?

[Jill Scott]

Yes. Everything, everything has led me to this place as this 53 year old woman who is, you know, maneuvering her career the way she wants to, how she wants to, when she wants to, for whom she wants to. This is, this has all been a part of the, the plan. I didn't know that was even happening, but I love it. I'm the same little girl who read a poem for my eighth grade graduation and got a standing ovation. And I meant what I said. The school that I went to, it had air conditioned, it had carpets on the floor, it had lockers, it had lunch. And from the school that I had come to from before, you know, this was a revelation. This was everything. It's. It set me up for wanting more. Right? So that little girl who reads the poem and everybody stands up and. I'd never really done anything in public before, you know, got this, this. Yes, we hear you, we feel you, we understand it, we see it too. It let me know that I wasn't alone, that there are people who dream for real. This is what to whom this may concern is, is all about. It's that little girl mixed with some, some living. You know, being a daughter, my, my father passed. Being a mother, my son is in this critical area. Being a daughter as well. To my, to my mother, that's a whole other dynamic. Now I'm the leader in our household, you know, when my mother has been my mother. Now I have to mother my mother. Like, oh, a lot of stuff. I turned 50, there was a light that black loudly in my ears and there's no going back. I'm here now. This is the best life I have ever had, period.

[Terry Gross]

You're at this place of such beauty where you say, I am living the life I want to live. I am the age that I have always dreamed of being. But has it always been that way for you?

[Jill Scott]

For me, it really is about the journey. Listen, all that I wanted was a house on Spring Garden.

[Terry Gross]

And that's in Philly.

[Jill Scott]

Yeah.

[Terry Gross]

So what's spring garden like?

[Jill Scott]

3, 4 story homes. They have white marble steps with rod iron banisters, tall ceilings with very intricate crown molding and hardwood floors. I mean, dream. I would walk by there real slow, hoping that somebody would have their window or their door open. So I could take a peek. That's not what I come from. But I wanted it. That's all I wanted. That was it. And I was going to sit on the steps with my cat and I was going to drink coffee with my legs crossed. That was the dream. Yes. My crown molding is so beautiful. It's.

[Terry Gross]

Is there a moment when you realized

[Jill Scott]

every day, every day, every day, like I, I, I'm sure it's annoying, you know, I'm sure somehow somewhere in somebody that this is annoying, that anybody could feel so self satisfied. I feel satisfied when so often everything seems so terrible. Relationships are bad, kids are bad. The system is bad. And, and it is. And it is. It really, really is. And there are people who live within the light that follow their, that inner voice even when it sucks. They make terrible, wonderful mistakes and learn from them.

[Terry Gross]

Let's talk a little bit about growing up in Philadelphia. You grew up primarily with your mom and your grandmother in North Philly.

[Jill Scott]

Yes.

[Terry Gross]

And this is not always the case, but the thing that I've been thinking about is some of the lessons that you learned by being in a multi generational home of women. You're someone who exudes very much femininity and softness, but also kind of a way of being. You set this intention with every piece of music that you put out there. What was your multi generational household like?

[Jill Scott]

Good question. First of all, full of love and humor. My mother and my grandmother both competed for my attention. Yep.

[Terry Gross]

Through humor.

[Jill Scott]

Sometimes. Sometimes I've been beloved. Okay, so they competed for my attention. My grandmother was born in 1917. She had a whole bunch of stories. Bunches and bunches of stories. She's brown. So brown. And, and her, her skin texture was like a soft peach. Stunning. She looks very much like the actress. I think her name is Wunmi.

[Terry Gross]

Oh, from Sinners.

[Jill Scott]

Yes. That's what my grandmother looked like. She's the one that gave me God.

[Terry Gross]

My grandmother, she introduced you to God here. Was she also a singer herself?

[Jill Scott]

Yes, but only in private.

[Terry Gross]

I think I've heard you say she sounded like Mahalia Jackson.

[Jill Scott]

Something like that. Just sincere.

[Terry Gross]

What were the other ways that your mom and grandma tried to get your attention? Compete for your attention. That's an interesting thing because typically it's

[Tonya Mosley]

the other way around.

[Terry Gross]

The kid is trying to get the attention of the adults.

[Jill Scott]

No, my grandmother was in the front room, my mother was in the back. And I could go and visit one and then I had to go and visit the other and then go visit the other. And that was My days, you know, going back and forth, but they wouldn't come together. Now they work together beautifully in creating a home. A home was very, very important to my grandmother and became very important to my mother as well. We lived in North Philadelphia. There were lots of R O D N T s. Yeah. My mother fought them hand and nail, like, literally.

[Terry Gross]

Literally like mice and roaches.

[Jill Scott]

Yes. Fought them hard and she won. She got the house next door to us. It had been abandoned. It was one of the reasons why there was so much going on. Got that house, cleaned that house up.

[Terry Gross]

Do you remember when she decided, I'm gonna buy that house next door and I'm gonna clean it up? And what you thought as a young girl watching your mom do that?

[Jill Scott]

I just thought it was dope. These are the things I expect out of her. My mother will make you a pair of pants. You know, she could do that. Make you a great soup that'll keep you full all day long. You know, she could do that. She started doing drywall with people, you know, a way to make money, but also to learn how to put up drywall. And then she started learning how to put down hardwood floors and then some plumbing. So she was hanging around some people that knew how to do some things.

[Terry Gross]

Was this all in her day job? Because she was a dental hygienist too, right?

[Jill Scott]

For a while she was a dental hygienist till I was about 14. But then, you know, after that it was, I'm gonna do whatever I want. And that was a little tough because we didn't know, you know, how we were eating. But she did what she wanted to do. And one of the things she wanted to do was clean up this house. It was important to her, and that's what she did.

[Terry Gross]

Cause all those rodents in an abandoned house is making their way to your house, right? Yeah, right. Was there a lot of music in your home?

[Jill Scott]

There was some, uh huh. There were nights when my mother wanted to talk and she would play Millie Jackson and we would drink Manischewitz. That was a thing.

[Terry Gross]

What is that?

[Jill Scott]

Manischewitz is like a Jewish wine, I think it's. It's not very good. It's very sweet.

[Terry Gross]

And how old were you?

[Jill Scott]

I don't know, maybe 15, 16. But having a little Manischewitz and listening to Millie Jackson or the Pointer Sisters. My mother's music was very rooted in womanhood. My grandmother's music was very rooted in Jehovah, God.

[Jill Scott (singing continuation)]

And

[Jill Scott]

my music was rooted in, like, verses. Hip hop.

[Terry Gross]

Hip hop.

[Jill Scott]

Storytelling.

[Terry Gross]

Yes.

[Jill Scott]

Nikki Giovanni, she opened the door I never turn back.

[Tonya Mosley]

Our guest today is Grammy winning artist Jill Scott. We'll be right back after a short break. I'm Tonya Moseley and this is FRESH air.

[Jill Scott (singing)]

I'm taking my freedom Pulling it off the shelf Putting it on my chain Wearing it round my neck I'm taking my freedom Putting it in my car Wherever I choose to go it won't take me far I'm living my life like it's golden Living my life like it's golden Living my life like it's golden Living my life like it's golden Living my life like it's golden Golden.

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[Terry Gross]

When did you realize you could sing?

[Jill Scott]

I think I always knew it was just mine, this wonderful thing that would calm me down and give me peace and make me laugh and get the feelings out. But do you remember when other people.

[Terry Gross]

Yes.

[Jill Scott]

Yeah. I was ninth grade. I did freshman day and the initial audition, I had a drummer and it was me and a drummer. We were doing Theme from Mahogany.

[Terry Gross]

A movie. Yes.

[Jill Scott]

And all the kids were like, oh. Because it felt like that, you know, Mr. Murphy, who gave me so much did not like that and played the piano. And I was so disappointed because I really liked the fact that, you know, the kids. I went to all girls school, that the. The. All the girls were like, yeah, this. That's cool. But he took it and played the piano, and I sang it from a different place. It was so sincere. I remember feeling so sincere about those words. And then the place erupted. It was quiet first.

[Terry Gross]

Yeah.

[Jill Scott]

And I finished the line. And then silent. And then that was it. That was the moment, like. Oh, you like it too?

[Terry Gross]

Because before then you had been singing, but just singing to yourself. Not in front of other people.

[Jill Scott]

Not in front of other people.

[Terry Gross]

Where would you sing?

[Jill Scott]

Where my grandma sang in the tub. And when you cleaning, you know, or on my way to school or, you know, on the bus or at recess while playing rope. Like, you know, everywhere there's this story

[Terry Gross]

that Questlove from the roots discovered you as part of the spoken word scene in Philadelphia. How do you remember it?

[Jill Scott]

I was in a poetry reading. I had been doing it quite a bit. I had my feelings hurt, and my girlfriends were like, read poetry. And I was like, okay. So I wrote, and my girlfriends were like, you're a poet? And I was like, I'm a poet. Like Nikki G. Alvaradi. I'm gonna do it more. So I did it more and started to make a little bit of a name for myself. And then Questlove came to a poetry reading. I think he was DJing. He might have been. I don't know. But he was there and he asked me if I ever wrote songs. And I was like, yeah, I do. But I didn't. I lied.

[Terry Gross]

What was it in you, in that moment that made you say, yeah, I can? And how did that feel, knowing that, oh, you. You might be able to enter this world?

[Jill Scott]

I didn't really think about the world. I just honestly enjoy what I was doing. And you mean there could be more of that? Oh, I would like more of that. So, yeah, I went, you know, when he invited me to the studio to write a hook for them. Sure, I'll go. I had been listening to do youo Want More Faithfully. It's one of my favorite albums. Still is to this day. So, you know, this is a big deal to be asked by Questlove, you know, but it's also like Philly, because this is the guy that played, you know, on the street corner, right?

[Terry Gross]

You knew him at that time?

[Jill Scott]

I didn't know him. But you knew him. I knew them. I knew of them, you know, But I don't necessarily assert myself in these places. It has to be organic for me so that it's real.

[Terry Gross]

So you entered that studio and then you started writing.

[Jill Scott]

Yeah.

[Terry Gross]

And there's this song. You Got Me. Was your first real songwriting credit a song that you sang for the Roots? But the version that we heard was Erykah Badu's version. Take us back to that moment. Did you record the track? Yes.

[Jill Scott]

It all happened in one day. Like one afternoon. I went to the studio, Sigma Sound, and Scott Storch and I were talking, hanging out.

[Terry Gross]

And who is that? Just for folks who don't know, Scott

[Jill Scott]

Storch is a big time producer now. Okay. Big time. And at the time, he was playing keys for the Roots. So we go into the studio and it was very simple. He started playing a melody. I sang the words. He said, can you record that? And I said, okay. Recorded it. And we went to lunch. We went to an Italian restaurant. I kind of forgot all about it. I don't know why, but I did. You know, either they liked it or they didn't.

[Terry Gross]

Yes.

[Jill Scott]

And they liked it. So I heard through the grapevine. I was told that they liked it, that they were going to use it. Then I heard it was a single. I was like, it's a single. Oh, my God, that's crazy. I can't believe this is happening to me. And then I was on 22nd Street. I was looking for, like, beauty supplies or walking by the beauty supply places, and I heard the song and I was like, this is the song. And it wasn't my voice. And I was like, what is who? And then I knew who it was. You know, I listened a little more. I was like, that's Erykah Badu. That's Erykah Badu. I made it.

[Terry Gross]

So you weren't feeling like, why isn't that my voice? You were feeling? Oh, my gosh, Erykah Badu is singing my words.

[Jill Scott]

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. Like, way bigger. This is a door. A door has opened, you know? And Erica will tell you herself, she doesn't sing anybody else's music. I didn't know that either.

[Terry Gross]

So that. Knowing that, what does that mean to you? Knowing that she doesn't sing anyone else's music, but she was singing your words.

[Jill Scott]

I'm telling you, it's really ridiculous. Well, you eventually ended up in the morning feeling fresh to death. I'm so blessed.

[Terry Gross]

Yes, yes. Like well, you eventually ended up touring with the Roots. And yes, then you were singing every night, every city that you went to. You got me got a chance to

[Jill Scott]

learn and almost lost that job because I had a manager who wanted to make money. And it's not that I didn't want to make money, but I'm singing one hook on one song. You know what I mean? How much can you really ask somebody to pay you to sing one hook? And I'm getting an opportunity to see places I've never been. I haven't traveled much. I don't have the money, you know, but now I'm getting to go from city to city and see these venues and I'm performing in front of people and it's a lot more than poetry readings, you know, like. But luckily we fixed that. We had to part ways, she and I.

[Terry Gross]

And you went on tour.

[Jill Scott]

Yeah, I went on tour.

[Terry Gross]

And did you write your first album while you were on tour?

[Jill Scott]

No, because when you got me came out, that gave me the confidence, you know, to go ahead and do this. I had been calling producers and musicians for six, seven months. I don't know how long, but a long time I was waiting for somebody to call me back so that maybe I could write some songs for them. And that was the goal, you know,

[Terry Gross]

to be a songwriter.

[Jill Scott]

Yeah. Yeah, I liked it. It seemed it fit me. And I figured if I could talk to the person, the artist, and they could tell me some things about their life, I can paint. I can paint for them. And that was the goal.

[Tonya Mosley]

Let's take a short break. If you're just joining us, my guest is singer and actress Jill Scott. We'll be right back after a break. This is FRESH air.

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[Terry Gross]

So once you started getting deep into your performing and you understand yourself to be an artist, you wrote this really amazing remake of the Star Spangled Banner.

[Jill Scott]

I did.

[Terry Gross]

And a video of a performance that you you did at the Essence Fest in 2023. It comes up every now and then on social media. A few months ago, it was back being viral again. I think that people come to it when we are at moments of unrest in the country and it kind of makes its way again. You were 19 years old when you wrote this, and I want to play a bit of it. Let's listen.

[Jill Scott (singing continuation)]

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. Sweat and their hands. But you'll die in this place and your mem. Oh say, does this truth hold anywhere? This is not the land of the. But the home of the slave.

[Terry Gross]

That was my guest, Jill Scott, performing at Essence Fest in 2023. Tell me a bit about what spurred you to sit down and Write that at 19 years old.

[Jill Scott]

I don't know exactly. I don't remember what it was that made me write it. I'm mostly amazed at what made me sing it now you know, made me sing it years and years later. I don't know. I think I just was so frustrated. Just so frustrated. And I knew I wasn't lying. I mean, it's a couple years later. Oh say can you see by the blood in the street that this place doesn't smile on you Colored child. I could have said a lot of things. I said colored. It's a big spectrum. Whose blood built this land? What is America without the Chinese on the railroad? What is America with without, you know, that all that free labor. And then please include all the other people that have contributed to this country in so many ways. Whose, whose blood built this land. People died here. You know what they said with. With sweat and their bare hands. But you'll die in this place and your memory erased. Look at what's happening. Look at it. I know that people went immediately to African Americans being enslaved. I'm talking to all of us, every single, every kind of person you are. There is an oppression and we're in a place that just needs us to purchase and purchase and purchase ourselves to death.

[Terry Gross]

You know, many people think it's sacrilegious to change even a word from the Star Spangled Banner.

[Jill Scott]

The stuff has underbellies. Well, we're not interested in the underbelly. And guess what else? I risked a lot to share that. That's what I meant when I said why did. I don't even know why. I don't know. I had to.

[Terry Gross]

When you say you risked a lot.

[Jill Scott]

Yes.

[Terry Gross]

Just knowing that it's a sign that

[Jill Scott]

death threats, whole hours of blogs with people being very, very ugly towards me. There was a lot of stuff about race. I was talking about us as a American society on a whole. You know, this is this, this was tough. This was tough. But this is what we do here as artists. You know, we're not gonna say, always

[Terry Gross]

say the nice thing you feel like that's your purpose.

[Jill Scott]

I do. I do. I'm a writer. This is what I do.

[Tonya Mosley]

If you're just joining us, my guest is singer and actress Jill Scott. More of our conversation after a short break. This is FRESH air.

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[Terry Gross]

Before I let you go, I gotta talk to you a bit about your acting career. Why did I get married again? It's coming to Netflix later this year. It's the third film in the franchise. It's nearly two decades after the original. And you play Sheila again, the character who was married to this man who is just ridiculous. He openly ridiculed your weight and treated you like you were lucky to have him. You have said that the filming of that original was one of the hardest experiences of your career, that Tyler Perry directed that set by having extras hurl insults at you night after night to provoke that raw emotion that we see in your performance. And now you're back to playing her again. Tell me about why was the hardest moment in one of the hardest moments in your career?

[Jill Scott]

It wasn't.

[Terry Gross]

It wasn't?

[Jill Scott]

No, no. People made it a lot more than what it was. I did not enjoy that. That was not a favorite for me. To be verbally accosted by strangers at work. No, I did not enjoy that. But being in Botswana in one degree temperature with a fat suit on, saying words like quilo kulela, that was hard.

[Terry Gross]

Oh, let's talk about this. So you played Precious. You played Precious in the HBO series the Number One Ladies Detective Agency. And that's what you're talking about. You traveled to Botswana to play that character. It was based on Alexander McCall Smith's novel set in Botswana. And just to let the audience know, the story follows this woman who, after her father dies, gains an inheritance to open the first female run detective agency. And she is deeply intuitive. She knows. She knows this world. She's able to get into it and solve cases. I actually want to play a clip where your father has just died and you're talking with your friend about what you want to do with your life. And you say you want to help people solve mysteries. Let's listen.

[Jill Scott (as Precious in The Number One Ladies Detective Agency)]

Every man I am meeting wants me to change something. I prefer to fix things myself.

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And what brings you to Gaboron?

[Jill Scott (as Precious in The Number One Ladies Detective Agency)]

I've just sold my father's cattle, so I'm looking for a nice House in the city. And then I will find an office and start my own business.

[Jill Scott]

And what business is that?

[Jill Scott (as Precious in The Number One Ladies Detective Agency)]

I'm going to open a detective agency.

[NPR Sponsor Announcer]

Really?

[Jill Scott]

Error.

[NPR Sponsor Announcer]

Then the bad man better watch out. What?

[Jill Scott (as Precious in The Number One Ladies Detective Agency)]

Those are the very same words my father said to me when I told him.

[Terry Gross]

That was my guest, Jill Scott in the HBO's number one ladies detective agency, playing Precious, who owns a detective agency. And hear little baby Jill's voice. You can hear how light it was.

[Jill Scott (singing continuation)]

So young.

[Jill Scott]

Oh, my gosh.

[Terry Gross]

But the accent. How did you. How did you perfect that accent?

[Jill Scott]

Oh, they worked on me. Yeah. Well, when I got there, I realized I was being tutored by a coach, a dialect coach. Got there and realized my accent was actually zim.

[Terry Gross]

It wasn't even the right dialect.

[Jill Scott]

It wasn't the right dialect at all. So I had to unlearn and relearn. And I had a group of women, I would just call them a tribe of elder women. And if I got something wrong, you'd hear. And I was like, oh, no. You know, went through every line, wrote it in phonetics so that I could understand and say it properly. Practice so much. It was an incredible experience. I just took my son for his 13th birthday to Botswana because he had to be there. I was pregnant with him.

[Terry Gross]

While you were there.

[Jill Scott]

While I was there in a fat suit in 109 degree weather. Yes. That was a challenge. That was. That. That was tough.

[Terry Gross]

What a shame that it was only a season.

[Jill Scott]

It was a crying shame. I loved it because people had an opportunity to see that Africa isn't just war and famine.

[Terry Gross]

And it was only one season because Anthony Minghella passed. He passed away.

[Jill Scott]

Sidney Pollack passed and I was pregnant. I shot up until seven months pregnancy. And then after that I was like, okay, guys, so in some of those

[Terry Gross]

episodes, you're seven months pregnant.

[Jill Scott]

Yeah.

[Terry Gross]

Wow.

[Jill Scott]

Yeah. Which is why for his 13th birthday, my son, I had to take him to Botswana because we don't have a rite of passage as, you know, African Americans. We called it a bro mitzvah.

[Terry Gross]

That's pretty good.

[Jill Scott]

Yes. So he had an opportunity to sleep and hang out under the kalahadi night the stars, and eat delicious foods and meet people from all over the world, and particularly from Botswana. They just welcomed him beautifully. It was great.

[Terry Gross]

You know, Jill, your first album came out in 2000 when I was coming into myself as a woman. And I just want to thank you for all of what you have put out in the world. You've allowed me to see myself. And it's a Beautiful thing, isn't it? I can't even. I don't even have the words to tell you.

[Jill Scott]

I'm telling you. I really love this auntie life.

[Terry Gross]

Yeah.

[Jill Scott]

I really. Wherever I can help. I am into it. Wherever I can help. Especially when it comes to. I've learned this. When somebody wants something from you, you give them a task. If they handle the task and do it well, then you can proceed. But other than that, you know, people talk a lot, oh, I want to do this. I want to be this. I want to go here, Let me see what you do.

[Terry Gross]

Do you do that? Because I'm sure you have a lot of young artists and singers who come to you because they want to. They want advice from you. Is that what you do?

[Jill Scott]

That's what I do.

[Terry Gross]

Yeah.

[Jill Scott]

Yeah. Let me see what you do. This is how I've learned to navigate.

[Terry Gross]

What do you have them do?

[Jill Scott]

Whatever I need them to do.

[Terry Gross]

Yes.

[Jill Scott]

Whether it is to learn an album or listen to an album. Whether it is. Aretha Franklin sent me to get her two hot dogs with cooked onions and mustard.

[Terry Gross]

You met her, you told her you loved her.

[Jill Scott]

Yes.

[Terry Gross]

And then she said, what?

[Jill Scott]

Go to the corner and get me two hot dogs with cooked onions and mustard. And I went, yes, Okay. I think I had the number one album in the country at the time. Yes. And I went to the corner and I got those hot dogs and I brought them back and I, you know, just waited. I don't even think she ate them.

[Terry Gross]

What did that teach you?

[Jill Scott]

Well, I would, one, say, be nicer to people, but two, you gotta earn your stripes. Then I was like, oh, you know, I wanted her to be nicer to me, to embrace me, to tell me that, you know, give me some advice and hold my hand a little bit. But that's not what happened. Okay, now I'm in a. Now I'm. I am that woman to a certain degree. And now I just have a task for you. Let's see what you're gonna do. Don't waste it. Don't waste my time. Don't waste. Your time is too valuable. And I like this. This is. This is the auntie portion. She's a little tougher, and I like that part. This is good for me. It's good for you, too, if you want it.

[Terry Gross]

Absolutely.

[Jill Scott]

If you want it. I'm very grateful to be a part of so many people's maturation. There's nothing wrong with being mature. There is nothing wrong with growing up.

[Terry Gross]

Jill Scott, this has been such a pleasure to talk with you. Thank you so much for your time and for your music and your art.

[Jill Scott]

Thank you. You're welcome.

[Tonya Mosley]

Jill Scott's new album is called To Whom this May Concern. Fresh Air's executive producer is Sam Brigger. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Meyers, Roberta Shorrock, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Yakundi, Anna Bauman and Nico Gonzalez Whistler.

[Terry Gross]

Our digital media producer is Molly CV Nesper.

[Tonya Mosley]

Theresa Madden directed today's show with Terry Gross.

[Terry Gross]

I'm Tanya Mosley.

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[Jill Scott]

Eduardo.