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• Ms. Scott's official site
• Article on Ms. Scott
• Ms. Scott's interview on Africana.com

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Tavis: I'm delighted to welcome Jill Scott to the show tonight. 4 years after her phenomenal debut CD, she's out with her latest disc. It's hard to top what she did 4 years ago, but trust me on this, she's done it. The new CD is called 'Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds, Volume 2.' Later on, she'll perform one of the songs off this terrific new disc. But first, a clip from the video for the first single 'Golden.'

Jill Scott: Livin' my life like it's golden,

livin' my life like it's golden,

livin' my life like it's golden,

livin' my life like it's golden,

livin' my life like it's golden,

livin' my life like it's golden,

livin' my life like it's golden,

golden,

I'm holding on to my freedom,

Can't take it from me,

I was born into it...

Tavis: Jill Scott, everything you touch turns to gold, so I guess it is golden.

Jill: Yes.

Tavis: Like them big gold hoops you wearing.

Jill: You know, you know.

Tavis: Right, right, right, right. How you been?

Jill: I'm good.

Tavis: You know, I've been waiting to talk to you to start this interview, this conversation with this one question that's been burning in me since the first CD.

Jill: What?

Tavis: First CD everybody knows: 'Who is Jill Scott?' So, that was 4 years ago. Who is Jill Scott now?

Jill: Oh, my God.

Tavis: Is that a good opening question? Did I launch a good one for starters?

Jill: Well, it's a good question, but it's a really difficult one to answer.

Tavis: Give it your best shot.

Jill: Well, let's see. I'm Joyce's daughter. I'm Stacy cat's mommy.

Tavis: I'm Joyce's son, by the way. We got 2 Joyces here.

Jill: OK. I have a cat. Her name is Stacy. So now I'm a cat parent. I'm a homeowner. I am a dish-washing, clothes-ironing, singing-on-stage, sleeping-in-bed-with-my-grandmothering, you know, song-writing, poet, actor; and there's more. The list is crazy.

Tavis: What's the most significant thing? I heard you mention you're a homeowner. Did that come after the first CD?

Jill: Yes, it did.

Tavis: So you sold enough records to buy you a house? You go, Jill. You a homeowner.

Jill: Holler.

Tavis: Yes, holler back. All right. So, what was the most--other than buying a house and Lyzel--

Jill: Yes, my husband.

Tavis: I'm mad at you, Lyzel.

Jill: Oh, don't be mad.

Tavis: I'm mad at you, Lyzel. All right. What's the most significant thing that changed in the definition of who Jill Scott is from 4 years ago?

Jill: The biggest thing is that I took some time off, and I had a chance to really look at my existence. I had been on the road for 2 years, which was wonderful. Performed in front of a lot of people, had a great time, but I really needed to go home and reevaluate, you know, if this was for me. You know, if fame was for me, because it's uncomfortable. You know, if being on the road was for me, because I missed home. So I took off some time and just--

Tavis: Let me jump in. You weren't questioning the music, though.

Jill: Not the music.

Tavis: Just the fame and the exposure and all that.

Jill: Just the stuff that comes with it.

Tavis: Got it. OK.

Jill: You know, like, "What have I done?"

Tavis: It's your fault.

Jill: Hey.

Tavis: If you weren't so good...

Jill: I'm trying to be. I'm really trying to be the kind of artist that people will remember, not just 5 years from now, but 50 years from now, 150 years from now. You know, I want to be the kind of artist that young artists look up to and say, "Mm." You know, "It's a little jazz. It's a little soul. It's a little funk. It's a little gospel, some classical."

Tavis: Why is that so important to you? And I ask that because I just had a birthday, a big one, the other day--turned 40 the other day.

Jill: Aah! Happy belated.

Tavis: Thank you, sweetie. I was dealing for the last year with this whole notion of legacy and how I want to be remembered. We talked about that a few nights ago on this program--last week, as a matter of fact. But I'm fascinated to hear your response now--relative to your music, not your age--about why it's so important for you to be remembered 150 years from now. Why is that important to you?

Jill: Well, because I'm here now, and while I'm here, I want to leave my footprints in the sand, in the cement, in the clay. You know, I want to leave my footprints in schoolyards and playgrounds, you know? In universities. There's like--This life is so magic. It's so special, the fact that you've been given the life. I don't want to waste it. You know, I want the world to be better because I've been here. Don't you?

Tavis: Absolutely. That's why I do this every day.

Jill: Absolutely.

Tavis: Trying to make a contribution. Speaking of playgrounds, this CD cover--I'm sure Jonathan's got this in still, so he'll put this up--this CD cover of you back in the day--we'll put it that way--whose idea was this?

Jill: That was between my mother, my husband, and myself. When I came up with the title of 'Beautifully Human,' I thought about, you know, when are you the most beautifully human? When you're a child and all of your reactions to things are just--there's nothing in the way of it. It's all so genuine. You're happy, it's not like, "I'm happy." it's like...you know? If you're upset, it's not, you know, just, "I'm upset right now," but holding it together. It's balling, lying on the floor. You're angry, you have a tantrum. It's just real emotions and right now. You know, all you do is, you know, you live, you learn things every day, you laugh a lot, and you, you know, you love. That's the juice of it, so...

Tavis: That's when it's all good.

Jill: Yeah, so I thought...I had cut my own bangs in that picture, and this tooth is still coming in. You know.

Tavis: So Jill Scott was a hairstylist back in the day. Yeah, all right.

Jill: Yeah, I got a nice little one for that--little spanking.

Tavis: Let me throw some words at you. And I throw these words at you specifically because they are issues that you do not shy away from, and you are very open and very honest. What I love most about your music is how pure it is, how honest it is, how truthful it is. The veracity in it is astounding. Let me throw a few words at you. You respond any way you want to respond. And you don't have to respond in one-word answers, but just talk to me here. You talk a lot about family in your music. Family.

Jill: Grounded. That's where you get--That's where you become--That's where you're safe. It's where you are nurtured. It is--that family will take you right back where you belong, where you need to be, you know, if you have a good one. If you don't, run away. Seriously, run away. Ha ha! Seriously. But if you have a good family, they'll take you right back where you need to be, ground you, make sure that you're on an even keel, that your head...

Tavis: Even when you don't want to go.

Jill: Doesn't get too big. I go home, I have to take out the trash. You know, I pout still. I still pout. "Ohh! Why!" you know? I'll wash dishes or, you know, whatever.

Tavis: But not the trash. Yeah. Yeah, I hated that, too.

Jill: I thought that was always a man's job.

Tavis: I hated trash, too. And because I was a man, I had to take out the trash.

Jill: Aha!

Tavis: But I didn't have to wash dishes, so that was cool. Monogamy. You are actually setting it off on this CD about monogamy.

Jill: Mm-hmm. It's good. It's good. It's so dangerous out here. It's so dangerous. You have to watch--The new person's got to watch their gums to make sure their gums aren't bleeding. You got to watch their fingers and their fingernails. It's so scary out here that you have to really study somebody's character before you can go anywhere physical at all. You got to spend time with somebody. You got to get a blood test. You know? And when you do find that person, which I found, it's such a blessing to know that I can fall all the way down and just before I hit the ground, I know that man's hands are under my back pushing me up. You know? I feel so confident and so secure and so genuinely loved. And not that I've always experienced love, because I had a great family--I have a great family--but this is a different kind of love. It's not the same as when we were dating. From dating to being fiancées, there was a whole other level of love. From being fiancées to being married...huh! I had no idea. Nobody told me. And then the fact that it has the nerve to get better year after year. We've only been together for--Well, married for 3 years--together for 10. And 2 of those years was just friendship. So I'm so excited about our 45th anniversary.

Tavis: So monogamy's a good thing?

Jill: Oh, honey.

Tavis: I know every sister watching right now is saying, "I need me a Lyzel. That's what I need." Can you clone Lyzel?

Jill: There are a lot of good men out there.

Tavis: I got 2 sisters at home who need 2 Lyzels.

Jill: But, in my opinion, I just really think that we have to step outside of the box. You know, we tend to think that that man is gonna look like this, have this amount of money, act this way, do these things, and you can't do that. It's not fair to just, you know, automatically think because he has the green eyes and the bald head and the brown skin that he's automatically gonna be a good person. You know, your list of the things that you want need to be very specific, whether you be a male or a female. It needs to be very specific. Genuine, trustworthy, hard worker, diligent, family man, handyman. You know what I mean? You have to be real specific.

Tavis: I was with you. I was available until you said handyman, and then I fell off the list with that one. Yeah.

Jill: If that's what you want.

Tavis: Let me pick up on that, though, because you said something here that I want to get to in our conversation anyway, and it's come up here, so thanks for the segue. One of the things that--I said earlier I love your music because it's honest and it's pure and it's truth, and I think audiences relate to that. What I also love about your music, though, is that you have--and I have the opportunity now on national television to tell you how much I appreciate, sincerely, your being so positive where black men are concerned. I think that black men are the most maligned group of folk on the planet. You have always been so positive, specifically, where black men are concerned. But here's what you've also done. At the same time, you have become, through your music, very empowering for black women. I know a lot of artists--I ain't gonna call no names. Don't be scared. But I know a lot of artists who can do the player-hating thing, they can brother bash, or they can be empowering to women. You have found a way to do both: to be positive where black men are concerned and to empower women in your music. How'd you come to do that?

Jill: First off, I have to say, "Yay!" because I really do try to do that. I just try to look at it in both perspectives, be genuinely honest about, you know, how I feel as a woman, and recount continuously the good men that I've known in my lifetime. You know, just continuing to remember that there are good men and we can't just assume that because the last 4 that you've been with weren't, that there are none.

Tavis: Somebody saying, "4? 14."

Jill: Well, I would have to say to those particular sisters--Because I've done it myself. I have literally dated the same man 5 times. He just had a different name and a different shoe size, but, you know, it was the same dude, like, 5 times. Maybe you need to step back and reevaluate the kind of man you're dating or the things that you want. You know, what you want may not be what you need. You know, you got to do the work. You can't, you know--You just have to do the work. I'm trying to showcase brothers, because there are good ones. I meet them all the time. And it does bother me that so much of the music doesn't, you know, doesn't support 'em, doesn't say, "Thank you for, you know, however many of you that do take care of your children, and thank you for however many of you will take care of your children." Men are just people like women are just people. We go through things. And hopefully, with positive reinforcement, we can get back to where we need to be. You know?

Tavis: 2 other things--Well, so many things, but 2 right now that I want to get to that strike me about this particular CD. You are still true to the poetry game. I mean, it's not just even good lyrics. Your stuff is poetic. You work hard at that, huh?

Jill: Yes, I do. I can't--You know what? That's not true. I don't work.

Tavis: It just comes?

Jill: I don't work. I don't work. What I do is I step back and allow it to happen. And then when it happens, I have to be obedient. So that may mean 3:00 in the morning, I don't want to, but I got to get up. That means, you know, if I'm on the phone with my girlfriend and something's happening...

Tavis: "I got to go, girl."

Jill: I got to go. Or I just have to put the phone down. My friends at this point are like, "Mm-mmm."

Tavis: "Jill? Jill? Jill? Oh, girl, she's writing a song again. She's writing a song. Something done hit her."

Jill: I just wait. And for a year while I had finished touring, a year into it, nothing came. And I realized, OK, maybe it may never come back again. Well, whew.

Tavis: It came.

Jill: Yeah.

Tavis: 'Beautifully Human.'

Jill: A year later, the lyrics started coming, and I'm very happy with it.

Tavis: I don't know--The other thing about the CD that strikes me, and I don't even know what the word for this is, because I am not--You know, I love good music, but I'm not a music instructor, obviously. I don't know the right phraseology. You'll tell me what it is in a second here. What I'm trying to say is that you use so many voice styles. What am I trying to say here? On this CD, you...

Jill: Tones? Textures?

Tavis: Thank you. Thank you. I mean, that makes this CD unusually good, because there are some artists that come out, and they sound the same as they did last time, or every song on the CD sounds the same, but--now that I know these words--your voice tones and your voice textures are so rich, your palette is so beautiful--your vocal palette--that it makes every song on the CD sound like a different experience.

Jill: Thanks. That's what I hope for. I like a lot of different music, listen to jazz.

Tavis: What's in your CD player right now?

Jill: Actually, T.I. Trapp music. He's a rapper. I don't know out of where, but I'm listening to him because he's smart. And, you know, he has his faults, but it's a very human CD. Because sometimes he sees the error of his ways. Sometimes he doesn't. But I appreciate that. I'm a big fan of Biggie Smalls. I like storytellers. Eric B. and Rakim. You know, I appreciate somebody who can show me the picture, tell me what color it is, let me taste the color in my mouth, let me feel the color on my skin. I like writers that, you know--J. California Cooper is absolutely brilliant. One of the best writers of all time. If you don't know about J. California Cooper, I'm telling you. Uhh, she's brilliant. And, you know, I just like those kind of storytellings. So, if I have an outline, you know, I just wait for the whole picture to come in, and it's very much like a little voice. It just tells me the words. It's like a whisper, and if I don't rush, then it's gone.

Tavis: Got about a minute and a half to go here.

Jill: Aww.

Tavis: I know. It goes way too fast, but I am not gonna go longer than that, because I am not--You got to do this song for me.

Jill: You got it.

Tavis: So I want to hear the song in a second. Very quickly now, I decided a long time ago that if I were ever going to succeed in my career as a broadcaster, I would do it by embracing who I am, by being authentic. Not trying to transcend my race, but by embracing my race.

Jill: Amen.

Tavis: Thank God it's worked out on PBS, it's worked out on NPR. By embracing who I am, not trying to transcend it. You've done the same thing musically.

Jill: Absolutely.

Tavis: You talk about being a black woman married to a black man having been brought up in a black neighborhood around black people. Black friends, black family, and yet, your music is still being embraced by people the world over. Why do you think that is?

Jill: I think because people want the culture. We've become--It's this crazy hodgepodge where it's just a mixture, just a gumbo, a soup. And I prefer, you know, tomato and carrot and celery. I prefer to taste each and every individual flavor. I like that. So when people celebrate their culture and understand and respect who they are, other people are gonna gravitate towards it, because we're more similar than we are different. You know, so...I don't know. It frustrates me when I hear about Asian girls cutting their eyes so that their eyes can be bigger and they can look more westernized. I really feel like it's important to embrace who and what you are. It makes you stronger.

Tavis: Well, you, by the way, are looking awfully gorgeous.

Jill: Thank you. Thank you.

Tavis: I don't know how she's gonna top this CD, but I ain't got to worry about that right now, because this one's out now. It's been 4 years, but it's out. Jill Scott up next will be joined by a couple of her band mates for a special performance of a song that I absolutely love called 'My Petition.' And I want you to listen to the lyrics. Listen to every word of 'My Petition' coming up in a moment from Jill Scott.

From the new CD 'Beautifully Human,' here's Jill Scott, accompanied by Dave Mantley and Adam Blackstone, performing 'My Petition. Enjoy. Good night from Los Angeles, and keep the faith. Go on, Jill.

Jill: The relationship that we have with our government is the same as we would have with any relationship--should be built off of trust.

Hmm hmm hmm hmm,

Hey hey hey hey hey,

You say you mean good for me,

but you don't do it,

You say you have a plan, but you just don't go through with it,

You say you know the way to go

and I should follow,

but all of your empty promises leave me hollow,

and, oh, how do I trust you?

How do I love you when you lie to me repeatedly?

And, oh, how do I have faith in you

when you just don't come through

like you said you could?

Oh, oh, oh,

Oh, say can you see?

Oh, say can you see?

You'll say I'm wrong for

stating my own opinion to you,

You'll say that I'm wrong, and there'll be quiet consequences, too,

but I know my rights, baby,

There'll be no law abridging

the freedom of my speech or the right for me to petition for a remedy of grievances,

and I want to trust you,

I want to love you, yes,

but you lied to me repeatedly, and, oh,

I want to have faith in you,

but you just don't come through

like you said you would,

oh, oh, oh,

Oh, say, can you see?

Mm-hmm, hmm, hmm,

I want fresh foods, clean water, air that I don't see,

I want the feeling of being safe on my streets,

I want my children to be smarter than me,

I want,

I want to feel,

I want to feel,

I want to feel free, for real, yo,

I'm just telling you so you know,

I want to,

I want to have faith in you,

I really do,

but you keep lying to me, and it hurts,

I believe, I believe,

you owe it to me,

Give me what you said you would,

Oh, say, can you see?

Mm-hmm, hmm, hmm,

Oh, say, can you see?

Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm,

Oh, say, can you see?

Mm-hmm, hmm,

By the dawn's early light.