After Jill Scott announced the arrival of her sixth studio album via Instagram on Jan. 2, a huge whoosh of air flooded across social media. That’s because fans had been waiting to exhale over the last 10 years while anticipating when the three-time Grammy winner would deliver a follow-up to Woman, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2015.
It’s fitting that the next chapter in the love affair between Scott and her fans, To Whom This May Concern (Blues Babe/Human Re Sources/The Orchard), arrives the day before Valentine’s Day. Sitting down with Billboard ahead of the album’s Feb. 13 release, the singer-songwriter-actress-author noted early in the conversation that the long break between albums wasn’t due to any creative block. Like everyone else, she’s just been living life.
“I did not have a creative block,” she emphasizes. “I just took a creative break. [The creative is] always there. It’s the energy that follows me around the house: in the shower, when I’m cleaning, making a bed. But I needed to take a break from that so that I could live life. I am, you know, a human being. So of course, there’s all kinds of stuff like perimenopause. That’s interesting. I have a teenager now; that’s different than ever before.
“I really don’t think you can create without having the balance between the two,” Scott continues. “It’s important to one, connect with yourself, remember who you are. Like I tell my folk, ‘Jill Scott doesn’t live in my house.’ Nobody calls me that in my house. There’s a separation so that I can fill her up. And that’s me. I have to fill me up so I can fill Jill Scott.”
And now, a full Jilly from Philly is back. And the anticipation for To Whom This May Concern — an added treat as we observe Black History Month — mirrors that for her debut album, which celebrated its silver anniversary last year: Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1. Scott has already paved the way for the 19-track album’s arrival with the release of three insightful songs: “Beautiful People,” “Pressha” and “Don’t Play.” Boasting a colorful guest cast that includes Ab-Soul, J.I.D., Tierra Whack, Too $hort, Trombone Shorty and Maha Adachi Earth, the set was coproduced by Scott in collaboration with Adam Blackstone, Vincent “VT” Tolan and DJ Premier, among others. It was also just announced that Scott will also be performing at New York’s Blue Note on Feb. 14.
Check out additional revelations about the new album and other subjects (like what’s up with that movie sequel for Netflix, Why Did I Get Married Again?) in Billboard‘s video series In Conversation: Jill Scott above.
