“I’m going to go back to the table,” said a determined Jill Scott as she made her way towards the back of the stage. “I’m going to get a beverage. It may be tea. It may be Crown Royal. It may be Grand Mariner.”
The audience at the Smart Financial Center laughed as Scott kicked off her shoes and got more comfortable. The Who Is Jill Scott tour finally touched down in Sugar Land.
In the summer of 2000 a small record label going by the name Hidden Beach released Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 an album which took the world by storm and introduced the masses to the Philadelphia songstress. By the next year, the album had been nominated for a Grammy award for its performances of chart-topping singles like “Getting’ In The Way”, “A Long Walk”, and “He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)”. Scott, who had begun her career as a spoken word artist and had been working with fellow Philly natives The Roots, quickly rose to national fame and cemented that success with the release of Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2 in 2004.
Since then Jill has built up an acting career, appearing in Tyler Perry’s Why Did I get Married?, HBO’s Botswana, the remake of Steel Magnolias, the superhero series Black Lightning, BET’s First Wives Club, and has even given her voice to animated series like the Black Panther. Even though Scott has crafted out and flexed her abilities as a thespian her roots still lie with music and fans still flock to see the songstress whenever the opportunity arises. Whether its Essence fest or the Roots picnic, people that were first introduced to Jill Scott over two decades ago still flock to see her perform. She incorporates jazz, spoken word, classical, soul, opera, hip-hop, and more into her performances and is one of the artists attributed to the neo-soul movement.
Friday night Scott returned to the city to perform at Sugar Land’s Smart Financial Centre. The Who Is Jill Scott Tour is a celebration of the 23rd anniversary of the album that introduced Jill to the world. It’s a show that didn’t disappoint with Jill making sure, as always, that fans left entertained. Jill has continued to release music but the show grabs from the new and the old with large screens playing nostalgic clips like scenes from The Wood, Poetic Justice, House Party, Dream Girls and more while “Do You Remember Me” played in the background. For Allen James the show was something he couldn’t miss out on.
“I had tickets to another event tonight, but I was surprised with these and skipping the other event was a no brainer,” he exclaimed while grabbing a drink at the bar. “I’ve seen Jill multiple times and she is someone you just don’t miss.”
Fans like James have led to an extension of the tour with the singer posting a glowing message on her website shortly after the original dates were announced.
“The response has been completely overwhelming,” gushed a smiling Scott as she tried to hold back her emotions. “[I’ve gotten] requests to bring the tour to more cities and more countries and you know what? I’m going to do it!”
With dates including Friday night’s show in Sugar Land, Dallas, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Cabo San Lucas local Jill Scott fans can consider themselves lucky they were able to celebrate the singer’s prestigious career.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
