Jill Scott was born in the north Philly neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA on April 4, 1972. She is an artists that is classified as a soul, neosoul and jazz artist, however she began her career as a performance poet. Discovered by Amir “Questlove” Thompson from The Roots, he invited her to begin recording in studios which ultimately resulted in the hit from 1999, “You Got Me”. From this experience, she began collaborating with artists like Will Smith, Eric Bennet, Lupe Fiasco, and Common which allowed her to broaden her performance experience by touring in Canada in the Broadway musical, Rent.
After signing to Steve McKeever’s newly formed label he called Hidden Beach Recordings, she was able to release her debut album, “Who Is Jill Scott: Words and Sounds Vol 1” in July 2000. After the success of her first album, in the following summer she released “Experience:Jill Scott 826+”. She continued to gain recognition, eventually gaining a Grammy nomination in early 2003 f0r Best Female Vocal Performance for her hit single “A Long Walk”. She also won at the 2005 Grammy awards for Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male or Female. Her fame carried her on stage as she got to perform with Aretha Franklin. She was even the recipient of the Aretha Franklin Award for Entertainer of the Year at the Lady of Soul Awards.
It is important to note that Jill Scott is never limited to music. She is a true multimedia brand across books, clothing, TV and film. She starred alongside Janet Jackson in the #1 national movie series, Why Did I Get Married? (Part 1 and 2), Baggage Claim, Steel Magnolias and many more. As stated before, she was a writer at heart so it was no surprise that she penned The Moments, The Minutes, The Hours which are a collection of poems that instantly became a New York Times bestseller.
Scott released her fifth album titled WOMAN in July, 24 2015. It opened on the music charts at #1 which gave Scott her second consecutive number one album. Although she is no longer with the label, Hidden Beach, the history of the label can not be told without referencing Jill Scott who was with the label from the beginning.