Great Scott

The single should have been Scott's first vocal twirl in the spotlight too, but before it was recorded, Erykah Badu replaced Scott when record executives decided a bigger name was needed to garner the commercial push necessary to make the tune a hit. Undaunted, Scott hooked up with another Philly native, Fresh Prince sidekick DJ Jazzy Jeff (Jeff Townes), who helped produce Who Is Jill Scott?

The inspiration for the music, Scott says, comes from anything and everything -- babies and flowers, her fiancé and her audiences. The inspiration also comes from other forms of music, including jazz, hip-hop, blues, classical, folk, even country. Growing up, she was exposed to a variety of music, and as such, she now counts among her favorite artists Kenny Rogers, Barbra Streisand and Chaka Khan.

And much like her idol Streisand, Scott knows how to put on a show. As a former theater apprentice, she is no stranger to the stage. Before her career took off, she worked six days a week, 14 hours a day, as a stagehand in the Canadian production of the Broadway hit Rent. Then she landed a part in the musical.

Scott calls upon her theatrical skills for her performances, which have even neo-soul sister Badu gushing, "She makes me cry. She makes me feel me." On the road since June of last year, Scott opened a couple of shows for Sting in May during the American leg of his current tour, and she shared the stage with Garth Brooks during a Fourth of July concert in Philadelphia. Now, she's headlining her own tour.

For those who have never seen her perform live, the concert will be "an experience," Scott says. "It's fun, and it sounds incredible. It's touching and serious. There's a wide range of emotions that happen during the course of the show, and people can definitely expect to put their hands in the air and sing along." The show features a ten-piece band, and is a departure from the artifice that surrounds many contemporary performances. It's all about real music -- the sound, the emotion and the talent.

And that's who Jill Scott is -- the emotion, the talent, the music. She's all that and then some.