Who Is Jill Scott? (Words And Sounds Vol. 1)

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Review by Andrea Boston

“Who is Jill Scott?” was the question on everyone’s mind in 2000 after hearing a golden-voiced Philly girl threaten to take her earrings off and square up with her man’s hatin’ ex-girlfriend in “Gettin’ In the Way.” This "Oh-no-she-didn’t" girl anthem helped further Illadelphia’s status as the soul-music factory of the new millennium and marked Jill Scott as its dangerously sweet sensation. During the zenith of neo-soul’s airwave takeover, Scott pushed her way to the front of the pack, punctuating the genre’s lazy grooves with thunderous brass ensembles, a damn-near operatic vocal range, and a proven track record as a spoken-word virtuoso.

On Who is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. I, she wastes no time experimenting with her identity as an artist, making it known straight from the “Jilltro” that she’s here to testify about being in love. Producer Jeff Townes (aka DJ Jazzy Jeff) and his team of hitmakers orchestrated the ideal score for her eloquent, passionate poetry, mixing dreamy Rhodes keys, sharp hi-hats, and splashes of Washington D.C.’s go-go bass lines. “A Long Walk” finds the chanteuse floating on a high of fresh romance, beckoning her beau to snuggle deeper into their union with conversation or a simple walk through the park. In “He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)” Jill distinguishes the object of her affection in a sweet contemporary love song, lulling hearts with her symphonic voice. The love shout-outs continue with “Love Rain’s” spoken-word roots and the Latin infused self-love tribute, “One is the Magic #.” It’s a hypnotic festival of adoration on “It’s Love” when “Do you want it on your rice and gravy? Do you want it on your biscuits baby? Do you want it on your black-eyed peas? Give it to me, give it me,” is belted out to her sweetheart, raising hands and spirits simultaneously. Word and Sounds Vol.1 was a luscious introduction to Jill Scott’s sound and the first installment in a trilogy of observations of family, community, and of course, love.