Latest / The Breakfast Club / Best of full interview: Jill Scott On Divine Timing, Honesty, Healing + New Album 'To Whom This May Concern' + More

Transcript

Best of full interview: Jill Scott On Divine Timing, Honesty, Healing + New Album 'To Whom This May Concern' + More · The Breakfast Club

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hold up.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: Every day I wake up.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Wake your ass up.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: The Breakfast Club.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Y'all finished or y'all done?
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha Guy.
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: We are The Breakfast Club. Lawn LaRose is here. And
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: we got a special guest in the building.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: The legend, the icon, has returned to bless us with
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: her presence once again.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, Jill Scott is back. Welcome. How you feeling?
• 0:22
  Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: How do you feel, Miss Jill?
• 0:25
  Speaker 4: Excited. Excited.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: First album in a decade.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Ten years.
• 0:29
  Speaker 4: That's what I hear.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: To whom it may concern.
• 0:31
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: By the way, I love the way you release music
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: because it feels like you release music when you feel
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: like you want to, when the spirit moves you. How
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: do you know when is the right time to release music?
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: Because I have too much. And then it lets me relax.
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: When it's not finished, I keep tweaking, touching, touching, tweaking,
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: finding new flavors, seasonings, musicians, producers. And when it's done,
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: it leaves me alone. And then I can just listen.
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: And I have so much that I could just listen to.
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: I knew I was done. I was like, okay, now
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: I can create.
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: So people would assume that you stopped recording for a
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: little bit and then you just started recording recently.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: But you've been recording this whole time.
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: I mean, it doesn't stop. It's going to show up.
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: I mean, what are you going to do? I do record,
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: but I just go when I feel like it. For
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: no intention whatsoever. Just because I have to get it out.
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: Other than that, it's not like I'm thinking about an
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: album until it's done.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Are you like a comedian? Comedians always say they got
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: to stop and live a little life before they get
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: back on the stage. Are you like that?
• 1:38
  Speaker 5: Absolutely.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: I got to make dinner. I got to go grocery shopping.
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: I got to see my mom. I got to have
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: her put me in my place a little bit. Raise
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: my kid. Do stuff.
• 1:49
  Speaker 6: Absolutely.
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: Other than that, what are we talking about?
• 1:51
  Speaker 5: I saw you talking about when you took the time
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: off and how intentional you are with just being a
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: mom in that time that you took off. And then
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: explaining to your son about, like, why you got to
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: get back to work and teaching him that. How has
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: it been now that you're back out on the road
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: and you're doing all these things and getting back into
• 2:05
  Speaker 5: the swing of things?
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: Well, he's 16 now. Mm-hmm. And I didn't have to
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: explain anything to him. He knew. He was in the
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: studio with me. You know, he's the one that suggested JID. Mm-hmm.
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: He's the one that suggested Tierra Whack.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: You know, he's been a part of the whole process.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: But you got him working.
• 2:21
  Speaker 6: So he an A & R.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: He is.
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: He is an A & R. Absolutely. We'll see what
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: else he can do. Right now, he's a scuba diving, cross-country, singing,
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: writing person thus far.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: All of that.
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Thus far. I'm just watching to see, you know,
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: what I can do. You know, how I can help
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: out with the thing.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Does he know how special his mom is and how
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: powerful his mom is?
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: Well, he loves me. You know?
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: Whether I do well or what I have or don't have,
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: he loves me. We love each other.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you're special and powerful to him in ways that
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: we would never understand. You his mom.
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: I love him. I appreciate him. I respect him. I
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: try to help him in any dream that he has.
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: And I don't even know what that'll even mean. I
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: don't know. I don't care. As long as he's happy
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: and he can take care of himself financially, that matters
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: to us. I'm straight. He's a good person. He's so funny.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: He's cool.
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: So I'm glad he suggested J.I.D. We listened to him.
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: This is our music in the kitchen. This is what
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: Jet and I do when we have time together. And
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: he said, Mom, why don't you call J.I.D.? And I
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: was like, I don't know him, Jet. And he's like,
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: just DM him.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: And that's what you did? Yeah.
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah. And like minutes later, he texted back like, what's up, queen?
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: What you want? What you want to do? And I
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: was like, huh, well. He said, send it. And within
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: 24 hours, he sent his verse back.
• 3:57
  Speaker 7: Wow.
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: And when I tell you, I asked him specifically, I said,
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: I need you to paint a picture with words. This
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: is what I require of the emcees that I love
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: and the emcees that I put on my projects. I
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: need you to paint pictures. Less than 24 hours. You
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: could see it. You could taste it. He painted. Brilliant.
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: So proud of him and so happy that he's on
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: my project.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: So what made you put Ab Soul on Ode to Nikki?
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Because I feel like Ode to Nikki would have been
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: such a personal record to you that you would want
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: to keep that to yourself. What made you reach out
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: to Ab Soul?
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: Because Nikki Giovanni inspired writers. She inspired poets. And Ab
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: Soul is an ill emcee.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: He's so thought-provoking. I have to go back and listen
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: again and again. And then I pull out books and,
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: you know, pick up Wikipedia or whatever, you know, to
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: find out exactly what he's talking about because he's, he's
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: that thoughtful. He's that prolific. He's, he's had quite a
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: life experience and it, it represents in his writing deeply.
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: So I, when I did Ode to Nikki, she's the
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: first poet that I ever found out about at school. Um,
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: black poet, black woman. And, uh, It was just awesome
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: to see myself on paper like that. My people, my neighborhood,
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: you know, my love on paper. So when I did
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: Ode to Nikki, she had just passed. Absol seemed like
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: the right guy to me.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, no, he sounds great on it.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: He does sound great on it.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: I just wanted to know the meaning because I'm like,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: that's a big compliment for Absol.
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: Because we spent a lot of time talking. We clicked
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: really easily. So we talked about the Celestine prophecy within
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: minutes of just talking to each other and moved on
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: from there. So, yeah, he was the right person for
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: me to choose.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: So you look so happy.
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: You look so glowing. I've been watching your rollout, right?
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: I've seen you with Adimu, and I've seen you doing
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: a lot of pressing. You just look and feel like
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: a positive vibe.
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: I feel good. I did something that I really wanted
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: to do, and it means a lot to me. And
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: I have an opportunity to share it and perform it
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: in front of people that will be looking at me
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: like I look at them. And I get a chance
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: to travel some more and make some money.
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: But even when I see you do these interviews, you're blushing.
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: It's like you're overly loving it.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: I love it. I love it.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: Even when you got here this morning, you said, what
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: time do you guys get here in the morning? But
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: you were smiling and happy about it.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: And I love to see artists like that that love
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: the craft. You can tell when an artist has to
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: do something for money. or when an artist has to
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: do something because a label is requiring it, or management
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: is requiring it, then you can tell when somebody just
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: loves putting out music.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Push out albums every 10 years. She doesn't do anything
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: because the label wants her to do it.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: I know, that's what I'm saying. You can tell the difference.
• 6:50
  Speaker 6: Even your rollout felt like a hook.
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 6:52
  Speaker 5: Like, I saw you, you went from Gillian Wallow, then
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: I saw you on Angie Martinez, then eventually you started doing, like,
• 6:57
  Speaker 5: you were posting, like, the letters on your Instagram and
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: kind of explaining the project, and I'm like, this just
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: feels like I'm being ushered into, like, a whole new, like,
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: world of things.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: That was the plan. Um.
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: I have a new publicist. I think she's absolutely wonderful.
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: Her name is Erica Tucker. I think she's fantastic. But
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: we had a whole other idea two days before we
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: started doing the rollout. Two days before, I just was like,
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. We're talking
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: about beautiful people. We're going to put beautiful people out
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: as an introduction to the album. Because really, that's who
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: I'm calling. I'm calling the people that light up from
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: the inside, you know, that love, love, yeah, love, love,
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: that are, again, financially respectful to their lives. Make sense?
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: Okay. And so if that's the intention, this is the call-out, well,
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: let me represent the people that have been so beautifully
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: in helping me with this project. It's all been organic.
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: I met a guy at a party. He was like,
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: I'm too sure it's engineer. And I was like, I
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: believe you.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: The church going to be mad at you.
• 8:22
  Speaker 6: Oh, yeah, possibly.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: That's like part two of Drewski's skit.
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: Possibly.
• 8:28
  Speaker 5: It's the church and the education system too, though, right?
• 8:30
  Speaker 5: Because you mentioned education in there as well.
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: Yes, and the pharmaceutical industry.
• 8:34
  Speaker 6: Yes, big pharma.
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: You ain't lying, though.
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: You didn't lie. And even just the choice to go
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: get too short to come on there and describe pimping.
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: The mentality of a pimp. What is it? So we're clear.
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: I'm not saying anything. I'm not trying to be mean
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: to you. What do I want to be mean to
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: somebody for? That's not it. This is what it is.
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: This is what it is. And I have a thoroughbred
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: pimp to tell you so. give you all the information
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: that you need. And this has been brought to you
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: by education. Because I want you to know.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Are those records easy or hard to create?
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: Easy. Really easy. The musician's name is Kari Martine. I
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: met him when he was like a kid at the studio. Now,
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: he played every instrument on that. Every instrument. Right. Right. Okay.
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: He gives me this music. It feels like It feels
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: like the player's ball. It feels like it's pimpy. It's
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: a failure. It's like revolutionary at the same time. And
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: I was like, yeah, okay, what am I going to
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: talk about? This is what I want to say. I say,
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: preacher man, what you trying to do? Trying to get
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: this money. Is that all you do? When mama ain't
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: got squat, but you take that. toll. When you ain't
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: good for the people, I ain't moved. Where's the universities?
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: Where's all the food for free? People can't pay the bills,
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: but you're still riding around in the coop to bill.
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: Biggest pimp of the year.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: Uh-huh.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: So when you meet Too Short, what do you say?
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: You met his engineer?
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: I met Too Short at something. He's just a part
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: of me. I don't even know when. I didn't know
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: Too Short.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: He's in hip-hop's DNA.
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: Yo, is that what that is?
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: Like immediate breakthrough. Okay, that's what it is. Okay, okay.
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: I don't feel too crazy. But I met his engineer
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: at a party. He said, I'm a producer and I also,
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: I engineered for Too Short. I just believed him. I
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: just believed him.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: I just believed him.
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: I just believed him. So I gave him my number.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: We exchanged numbers. I called him. He sent me music.
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: He sent me Off of the Back and he sent
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: me Pressure.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: When I say organic, like just allowing the things to
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: be what they are. I'm talking to David Banner. You know,
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: that's my dude. And we're talking. He's been giving me
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: music forever. He just keeps the inspiration churning, right? So
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: we're talking, and I said, I got this track. I
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: want it to feel like a marching band. I want
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: it to feel like HBCU marching band. That's what I want.
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: That's what I want. He said, why don't you call
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: Trombone Shorty? You got his number? Yeah. Send it to me.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: I called him. Easy. He went in and cut 480 tracks.
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: Why would you do such a thing, sir? Why would
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: you do such a thing? And he's just like, I
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: love you.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: That's a great intention.
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: Listen, the way that it's working, I couldn't have planned it. Like,
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: even the day that it's, you know, come out, it's...
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: It's February.
• 12:05
  Speaker 6: December.
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: 13th.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: 13th, yeah.
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: 2-3. 2-1-3. No. February 13th. Got it?
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: I don't get it, but.
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: Okay. On the 20, wait, 26th year, right? 26.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Nobody else in the room got it?
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: 2-13-13 times, no.
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: Nope.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: You ain't got anybody.
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: It's as simple as simple could be. I love, I
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: call myself the queen of grand simple things. Two, four,
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: one and three, two and six. Wait, two and six. Eight.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: Two, four, eight. Just as simple as can be. These
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: are the things that I look for.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Just when things just all add up, basically.
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: I am, after reading the Celestine Prophecies, I am driven.
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: I am driven. It's a path. I just follow it.
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: Signs are obvious and evident. And I say yes. Whether I,
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: you know, my number is four. Two is obviously. So
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: I'm always looking for a four. I'm looking for the
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: right energy. And Friday the 13th kind of felt good
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: to me. I don't know. And it's the day before
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: Valentine's Day. I could have released it on Valentine's Day.
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: But I like this. I'm hoping people will listen and
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: have something to talk about.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: Most people would have stayed away from Friday the 13th.
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: Why?
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: She playing Jason. She killing these hoes.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Listen.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: When you talk about the Celestian prophecy, it's like, to me,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: I've always seen your aura. When you talk about following
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: the divine, you've always had that divine energy, that divine presence.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: That's why we've always gravitated towards you.
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: It's a confirmation of what I already knew. It was
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: a stamp. So when I'm not reading it, I'm listening
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: to it. It's just a good story. Like, Like any folklore,
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: I would say, or Bible or Torah or Holy Quran,
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: they're filled with stories that teach us how to live
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: a life. And obviously you get to choose how you
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: do the thing. With the Celestine Prophecy, it taught me
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: that I'm already doing the things that I need to do.
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: I always look for beauty. No matter what situation I'm in,
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: where is the beauty? It's some. There's got to be some.
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: And then you find it. The mud around your boot
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: is rich. And it's kind of like mushy and something
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: about it is a little satisfying. So you step in
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: the mud a little bit more. My boots are muddy.
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: But my spirit feels good. So I follow these things.
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: There are nine insights. The studio that I was working
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: out of has, I've worked in many times, but it's
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: been changed over and over again. It's always closing down
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: and starting again. So I'm in the middle of Celestine
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: Prophecy and I'm going to the studio because I've decided
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: to take the month and just go every day, like finish.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: And I'm walking up and I look. And they put
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: that new sign on the studio and it's I-N-C-I-I-T-E, studios.
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: I was like, Insight Studios?
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: Okay. I'm headed in the right direction. Don't give up.
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: These are the things that I look for. Like little
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: signs that are actually really big ones. And here I
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: am with you. It's been a while.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: It's been a while. So if everything's a sign, do
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: you have a.
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: see a sign that says I'm not going in that
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: direction or I'm not going there or management let's not
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: do that because that does not feel right.
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: It's not as easy it's abrupt it's harsh it's a
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: jerk back and I haven't really I don't know how
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: to like navigate that part yet but I will get
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: I will get away I will get away I've learned
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: that too that when the spirit says no When your
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: whole energy says, no, what are you doing? Don't talk
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: to this person. I remember talking to somebody at a
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: party and I was like, why are you talking to
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: this person? Got COVID. All in my face. And I
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: was like, got COVID. I was like, see, girl.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: Everything makes so much sense now, because one of my
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: favorite records on the album is Pay You On Tuesday, right?
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: And it's so funny, because my niece had put out
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: a tweet yesterday, and she put, if you young, black,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: and gifted, get away from niggas and nigga shit ASAP, right?
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: And I just thought that was hilarious. And then I
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: heard Pay You On Tuesday, but now I'm like, oh,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: she's staying away from the poor me energy type. I mean,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: now that I hear you talk about the book so much,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, that's why she wrote that record.
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: Part of it.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Part of it, yeah.
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: Part of it. And I know I keep saying financial,
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: but I am really over us spending and buying things
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: that we can't afford. For who? For what? It's so
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: many things to do, to taste, to see, places to be.
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: I just don't see how it profits us. I like
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: nice stuff, too. I really do. But I buy the
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: stuff that I can afford. And somebody else was like,
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: you could afford. You don't know what I could afford.
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: And you don't know what I want.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: But you act your wage.
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: I do. I do. I do. I think it's a
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: wise decision. I save properly. I invest. I really want
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: to switch out of this poverty mindset or the lacking
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: mindset of some, you know, my family break away from
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: these things. I'm not interested in doing that anymore. I
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: want to grow and I want to make a whole
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: lot of money, like a whole lot. And I'm going
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: to do great things with it. Enjoy it. I already
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: do enjoy the money I have. I do dope shit
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: on a regular. I really do. It's been, it's been
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: so nice. Oh my God. You know, my son went
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: to Tanzania to, to get his school certification.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 18:59
  Speaker 6: That's amazing.
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Tanzania is beautiful. I was like, ah!
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: I've never been.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: I went to Zanzibar and Tanzania.
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: Beautiful. I've never been, but he has. Like, yes.
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: But that's the most important thing, right? When we get
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: to a place where it's like, none of this matters.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: You just want your kids to be happy. Whatever it
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: takes to be happy. Like, I tell my daughter, my son,
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: I don't care what you do. If you want to
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: do nails, if you want to do hair, if you
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: want to do sanitation, as long as you're happy.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: Life is too short.
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: Joyful. Happy is fleeting.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: Joyful.
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: Joyful look for it that's an insight as well to
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: constantly look for the joy taste the food taste it
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: feel the water it's nice and it sparks creativity.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: But i can't afford to eat that jill and i
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: can't afford to go there to swim in that water,
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: so can you loan me something?
• 19:52
  Speaker 7: Mm-hmm.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Let me get Tim's eyes in real quick.
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: I've learned this. If someone wants to borrow something from you,
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: you give them a job.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: Word.
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: If they do the job and do the job well,
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: then you're showing me something.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: I'm going to give you a small reimbursement contract. I'm
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: going to say $ 25 a month. Fair? Yes. You don't
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: pay the $ 25. I don't know when it's going to stop.
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: It's going to stop if you're consistent. If you're consistent.
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: If you're not consistent, you never have to worry about
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: me again. You never have to ask me anything again.
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: Because this was a contract. It didn't have any interest.
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: This was respect. So, I enjoy helping people, but I
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: have to see what they want. I have to see
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: what they're doing. I gotta see something. You gotta show
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: me something. You can't just tell me a dream. Okay?
• 20:51
  Speaker 5: When did you get to that point in your life?
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: Because I saw you talking to Angie Martinez about that, right?
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: And setting these boundaries. But then I also hear you
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: talk a lot about, like, you carried so much for
• 20:59
  Speaker 5: your family for a long time because you were trying to, like,
• 21:02
  Speaker 5: y'all were trying to get out of the situations that
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: you guys were in. And I think that there's, like,
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: a Sometimes there's like this tug of war of like,
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: I'm able to help, so I want to help. But
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: at the same time, I got to set these boundaries.
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: When did Jill Scott say, I didn't did enough. I
• 21:15
  Speaker 5: got to stop this.
• 21:16
  Speaker 7: Now.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Something had to happen.
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: I turned 50. And the light popped on. Again.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: That's what happened. Time creates wisdom. You know, if you're
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: paying attention. If you're not paying attention, it just creates age. But, yeah,
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: I've been paying attention, and I know that that doesn't
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: make me feel good. To watch people do things that
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: are outside of their particular space, financial space, like going
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: on a cruise, okay? You're going on a cruise, but
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: you didn't pay the mortgage. I can't help you with that, right?
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: And the fact that you would ask me to is ridiculous.
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: You made a choice. That is your choice. It wasn't
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: like something happened, like, you know, the car broke down or,
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: you know, the tuition is behind or it's nothing like that.
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: And even if tuition is behind, how them grades? How
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: they doing? What activities are they in? Because it's mine.
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: And I can share with you as I seem fit
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: and deem fit. It might seem harsh, but I don't know.
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: It feels right to me. I feel better. I don't
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: feel weighed down by people's stuff.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: I don't think that's harsh. And also, what about when
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: you give somebody money for mortgage, but then you go
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: see them on a cruise after they just asked you
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: for money?
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: I didn't get invited to the cruise.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: What is nigga blues to you?
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: That's his favorite song.
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: By the way it's called pay you on Tuesday.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: I got a lot of favorite records but that record
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: was hit for me yesterday in a real way I
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: got a lot of favorite records on that one but
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: that one really.
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: Wasn't okay music is medicinal it'll hit you when you
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: need it so what do you mean by like what
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: does it do for.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: You man For me, it just put things in perspective
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: based off what you're saying, because you're saying a lot
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: of that throughout the song as you're singing. But it's also,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: it's like, I don't want no more nigga blues. Stop
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: putting your problems on me. I can wake up in
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: the morning and be good. And then by the end
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: of the week, I'm feeling weighed down. And then when
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: you realize why you're weighed down, it's because you're trying
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: to help everybody else with they shit. I don't want
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: no more nigga blues.
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: It's exhausting.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: It's exhausting. I love to inspire. I want people to
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: do better. Mm-hmm. But if they don't want it, what
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: am I supposed to do? Just keep pouring into an
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: empty well? I can't do it. The things that you
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: do don't benefit you. So why do I have to?
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: Damn.
• 24:05
  Speaker 6: That's a bar.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: It's really mentally heavy, too. Especially depending on where you
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: come from. Your song with Atiyah Watt. It's so Philly.
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: It's so like arts Philly. I love to hear whack,
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: but just hearing you say that makes me think about
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: like a lot of people who come from like particular neighborhoods, families,
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: whatever that mental weight.
• 24:26
  Speaker 6: We never, some of us never let that go. Like
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: I used to, I turned 50.
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: I got family members 65 and plus that are like
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: literally aging themselves because they're still holding on to that.
• 24:34
  Speaker 6: I got to do everything for everybody.
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: Yes. It's not benefiting us. It's like, what are we
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: being loyal to? That line, you know, all skin folk
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: ain't kin folk. Not all people are your people.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: You got to search out for your people and weed
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: them out respectfully. Or disrespectfully. They just have to go.
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: They can't stay. They're taking up space. A girlfriend of
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: mine had asked me about What to do? She said
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: she wanted a man. And I was like, hmm, maybe
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: make some space for one. A physical manifestation of a
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: dream or an idea that you want, it becomes real.
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: Make room in your closet. Take the lamp down on
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: the other side of your bed and take the stuff
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: out of it. It might sound crazy to some. Try it.
• 25:49
  Speaker 4: Make space in your life for what it is that
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: you want. And you'll see it every day, the fact
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: that there's a space. And watch. Just watch. Just trust Auntie.
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: I love you. Okay?
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to make space in my bank account.
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: And I'm going to manifest if that money come in.
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: Get another account. Get another account.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: Did your friend ever get the man?
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: Hmm.
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: They're very happy.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: Oh, good.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: At this stage in your life, what does honesty and
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: music require that it didn't demand from you when you
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: was in like your 20s and 30s?
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: What does it require now? I don't know what it requires.
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: I know what I require.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: What do you require?
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: I require a certain amount of rest. Hmm. I want
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: to be in the best venues that has the best sound.
• 26:50
  Speaker 4: I like a two-bedroom or definitely a two-bathroom hotel suite.
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: Time with my people. Like, my people, I've known them forever.
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: They're like friends. They're not like friends. They're the best
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: of friends. Time with them. And then I love to
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: do my job. So it's not even like I feel
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: like I'm required to do anything by anyone. I set
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: my space. You know, I said it before. I'll say
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: it again. You work hard in your 20s. You work
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: smart in your 30s. You work how you want to
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: in your 40s. You work when you want to in
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: your 50s. And you work if you want to in
• 27:33
  Speaker 4: your 60s. And I'm in my how I want to
• 27:36
  Speaker 4: phase of my life. So how I want to is
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: more than likely. I will be having residencies instead of
• 27:46
  Speaker 4: running all over the country. Come to me. Come to me.
• 27:49
  Speaker 4: Let me give you a stage that I've created that
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: I don't have to pick up and move from space
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: to space. Just come see me. I'll let you know
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: in plenty of time so that you can come. And
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: I'll create based off of the space that I'm in.
• 28:06
  Speaker 4: This is where I am now. This is what I require.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: And then....
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: I would love listening ears. People that actually listen to
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: what's being said and the musicianship of the album. You know,
• 28:23
  Speaker 4: that part. Like, I hope to inspire bass players like crazy.
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: I hope to inspire MCs like crazy to start, I
• 28:35
  Speaker 4: don't know, telling stories, painting pictures in big, grand scopes,
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: you know? So To Whom This May Concern requires these things,
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: and that's where I am at this point.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: The title feels like a boundary and a release in
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: a way. Why'd you come up with that title, To
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Whom This May Concern?
• 29:01
  Speaker 4: Because it's To Whom This May Concern.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: It's casting a wide net.
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: It is to whom this may concern. You'll know if
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: it's for you. You'll know. And then I thought about
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: this because I thought maybe that was limiting. I thought
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: about this the other day that I didn't understand Billie
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: Holiday when I was young. I didn't understand the tone
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: of her voice. I didn't understand the things that she
• 29:21
  Speaker 4: was talking about. I didn't get it. It's like, why
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: I didn't make such a big deal about this lady
• 29:26
  Speaker 4: until I got my feelings hurt. And then I played
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: Billie Holiday and I was like, oh. that's what this is?
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: And you're relating to me in this space? Oh. So
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: it could be the same thing for a lot of people.
• 29:45
  Speaker 4: I don't know. But to whom this may concern is
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: for to whom this may concern. We'll know. I can't
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: wait to see your faces.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: That makes so much sense. I can't wait. I think
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: about older records of yours like Blessed, right? And when
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: you first heard it, it's a good record. But when
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: you're actually in that space, oh, later in life, oh,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: my God.
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: It just hits different.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: It just hits different.
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: You get to that point, you're like, and I know
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: what I know.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: Do you think about that when you're creating?
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: Like, I want to make sure that people understand it
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: when they're at their lowest moment, at their highest.
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: Moment, at that moment.
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: I don't know if I could do that to myself.
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: I try my best to be as clear as possible.
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: And I know that I speak in poet, but I
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: try my best. And then I just, you know, have
• 30:36
  Speaker 4: to release the baby. Go ahead out in the world
• 30:41
  Speaker 4: and see what happens. You know, I put a lot
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: of good intentions, a lot of prayer, a lot of love,
• 30:46
  Speaker 4: a lot of hours, lots into the project. So this
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: baby's been loved. I think you can hear that. I know.
• 30:58
  Speaker 4: I can hear it. And we'll see who gravitates towards it.
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: I'm excited to see them. I really am.
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: I was going to say, on the start of the album,
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: you talk about you can't wait to see the people.
• 31:11
  Speaker 5: Just now when you said it before this last time,
• 31:13
  Speaker 5: you kind of got emotional when you said you can't
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: wait to see people's faces. What is that feeling that
• 31:17
  Speaker 5: I'm like, since as you say, you can't wait to
• 31:19
  Speaker 5: see the people show out for this?
• 31:22
  Speaker 4: It's a dream. Yeah. It's a dream. I've seen it.
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: I've seen it every time I sing Beautiful People. I
• 31:30
  Speaker 4: just see thousands and thousands of people. And they're up there, too,
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: as far as I can see. And I get to
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: see these faces looking back at me. I don't know
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: how I'm going to make it through that, but I'll
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: do my best. And I don't know how I'm going
• 31:51
  Speaker 4: to make it through Ashe either.
• 31:53
  Speaker 7: Ooh.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Jay hits so different. Me and one of our producers
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: were talking about that record earlier. She was asking me
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: what was one of my favorite records on the album.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: She said, I say, I say.
• 32:04
  Speaker 4: I was crying during the recording. Andre Harris sent me
• 32:09
  Speaker 4: the music and I was like, this is a prayer.
• 32:12
  Speaker 4: This is a prayer. Now what shall I say to
• 32:16
  Speaker 4: my beautiful people? Man, I don't know how I'm going
• 32:21
  Speaker 4: to ever get through that song. They'll probably have to
• 32:23
  Speaker 4: sing it for me. I just don't know. I don't know.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: I've seen you do some amazing singing when you was crying.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: I remember years, years, years. This is 20-plus years ago.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: I seen you in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Sugarwater Festival.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: You hit a high note so crazy, like literally a
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: tear came down your face like Denzel and Glory. It
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: just sat there for a second, and you didn't miss
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: a beat. So I don't think you'll miss a beat.
• 32:44
  Speaker 4: We'll see how this goes.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: On the hook of Be Great, you say, I'm going
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: to go ahead and be great.
• 32:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: Do you have times where you feel like you're not
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: great already?
• 32:55
  Speaker 4: It's internal. And it's not for anybody else's. It's not
• 33:00
  Speaker 4: for anybody else. You're great. My great. It's all great.
• 33:03
  Speaker 4: You know what I'm saying? But I'm going to do
• 33:05
  Speaker 4: my great. I'm going to, you know. Yeah. Do I have,
• 33:08
  Speaker 4: do I have, what was the question?
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: Like, do you ever feel like you're, you have moments
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: where you feel like you're not great already? Like, I
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: don't know. Cause I can't, I can't imagine Jill Scott
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: having imposter syndrome ever.
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: Oh, thank you. I'm sure I feel insecure and scared
• 33:23
  Speaker 4: and all the things that human beings feel. I mean,
• 33:25
  Speaker 4: I know I do. Was there a time I didn't
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: think I was being great? I don't remember.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: When you say, I'm going to go ahead and be great,
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: you're just talking about... Everything.
• 33:38
  Speaker 4: And all the things. I said all my life, I
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: wanted to do good. I wanted to be good. I
• 33:47
  Speaker 4: wanted to feel free. of a history that made me
• 33:50
  Speaker 4: cry and stump my stride. So I changed my mind.
• 33:54
  Speaker 4: I doubled down on believing that the opinions of other
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: people couldn't light my light or deter my sight nor
• 34:02
  Speaker 4: wrong my rights or delay my flight. I'm flying high
• 34:07
  Speaker 4: now up above on the clarity of love. I only
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: get what I put into it. I spend my sweet
• 34:14
  Speaker 4: time where I deem fit. I got one life. I'm
• 34:20
  Speaker 4: going to let my glow show. Baby, look at this.
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: The embodiment of soul glow. I admit. Paint my own pictures.
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: Gifts on gifts on gifts. Let the load lift. Let
• 34:34
  Speaker 4: the words shift. I ain't here to live in fear
• 34:42
  Speaker 4: or just plain old exist. I'm going to go ahead
• 34:46
  Speaker 4: and be great. so I want people to play before
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: they go in their audition I want them to play
• 34:56
  Speaker 4: before they go in their job interview I want them
• 34:58
  Speaker 4: to play before they propose.
• 35:00
  Speaker 7: Before they take their test before they take their test
• 35:02
  Speaker 7: so much affirmations here like the whole like it felt
• 35:06
  Speaker 7: like like I feel like living my life like it's
• 35:08
  Speaker 7: golden it's like a song that you play when you
• 35:10
  Speaker 7: want to feel good too like that's like my go
• 35:12
  Speaker 7: to like easy affirmation song but when I was listening
• 35:14
  Speaker 7: to this I'm like you got like the first three
• 35:16
  Speaker 7: songs first two songs are just straight out the back
• 35:19
  Speaker 7: and then you you're just going off with affirmations.
• 35:22
  Speaker 4: And other things. Is that what it is?
• 35:25
  Speaker 6: It felt, I don't know if I, like, it's kind
• 35:27
  Speaker 6: of like, so the opening song, what is it? Dope Shit.
• 35:31
  Speaker 5: That kind of felt like a, like how you was like,
• 35:34
  Speaker 5: just listen to Auntie, right? I felt like I was
• 35:37
  Speaker 5: sitting down and somebody was like, I'm tired of you.
• 35:39
  Speaker 5: Come here, come have a conversation. Let's really talk because
• 35:41
  Speaker 5: what's going on? It felt like that. And then when
• 35:42
  Speaker 5: we go into the second song, Be Great, it's like,
• 35:45
  Speaker 5: it's already there and I done told you and I'm
• 35:46
  Speaker 5: not going to tell you again. And then Beautiful People
• 35:49
  Speaker 5: is like, The people have finally got it and now
• 35:50
  Speaker 5: they like all come together and it's just this big
• 35:53
  Speaker 5: march and push back against like this.
• 35:55
  Speaker 6: I just, like, it's like a world phenomenon. Like everything's switching.
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: You can see it.
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 35:59
  Speaker 6: Like it just continues and continues and continues.
• 36:02
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 36:05
  Speaker 6: So maybe it's more of a movement, not affirmations.
• 36:07
  Speaker 4: Ooh, I'll take it. I'll take it. It's, it's, I
• 36:15
  Speaker 4: was made an auntie for a reason. And I'm going
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: to do my job. Period.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: You know, I wonder when you do records like Pressure Hill,
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: when you do records like Me4, is that, when you
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: do the actual record, is that when the closure comes
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: or do you have closure before in order to do
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: the record?
• 36:39
  Speaker 4: I've never thought about it. I don't know if that
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: I'm looking for closure necessarily I need to say it
• 36:50
  Speaker 4: I need I need to say it it is true
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: I need to get it out I think that's how
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: I feel about that yeah and then when I listen
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: to it it becomes an affirmation for me because I've
• 37:03
  Speaker 4: said it and I was like yeah you said that
• 37:05
  Speaker 4: because that's what it is that's exactly what it is.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah you ever went too far and was like let
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: me take this.
• 37:12
  Speaker 4: Out man many many times really many times I typically
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: write the thing before I get into the studio so
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: I can find how it feels when I get in there.
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: Or I'll already know how it feels. It wasn't something,
• 37:31
  Speaker 4: I don't know if I necessarily went too far. Let
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: me be clear.
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 37:36
  Speaker 4: I just said some shit I probably shouldn't have said.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: That might be too far, but go ahead.
• 37:40
  Speaker 4: I don't know. It was the right thing. And when
• 37:43
  Speaker 4: I listened to it, I'm like, yep, that's right. You know,
• 37:45
  Speaker 4: that was real there. But I probably shouldn't have shared it.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: You went hard on this album.
• 37:54
  Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, I did.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: You say you married a bitch that's pretty that's pretty
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: self explanatory I.
• 38:06
  Speaker 4: Think I just needed to get stuff out too you
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: know music is healing for the artist as well supposed.
• 38:12
  Speaker 3: To be what's the moral compass with that is it
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: yourself saying no is it your son is it your homies.
• 38:21
  Speaker 4: I haven't had that it didn't come up nobody said
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: anything You know, and my son listens to everything. And
• 38:28
  Speaker 4: we talk about everything. Yeah, so it didn't come, nobody said, hey,
• 38:34
  Speaker 4: you probably shouldn't say that. Right. Nobody did. And I
• 38:38
  Speaker 4: don't know if I would agree or disagree about it. Shit,
• 38:41
  Speaker 4: did you see how everybody's going crazy about squeezing my meat? Mm-mm.
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: It's a song called Don't Play.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but I didn't see people going crazy about it.
• 38:53
  Speaker 4: Oh, boy, I did. They were like, squeeze my meat.
• 38:58
  Speaker 7: And I was like, she said squeeze my meat.
• 39:03
  Speaker 4: She was like, squeeze my meat. And I was like,
• 39:06
  Speaker 4: I did.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: They're not used to that from you yet at this point?
• 39:09
  Speaker 6: It's a new generation of people who just be on Twitter.
• 39:13
  Speaker 4: I'm just confused. Maybe you all can help me out
• 39:16
  Speaker 4: here because I would love to know. I've heard lyrics that... Oh,
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: way worse.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: Lob on my knob, like corn on the cob. They
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: singing about eating ass now, Jill.
• 39:27
  Speaker 7: I heard.
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: I heard.
• 39:31
  Speaker 6: I heard.
• 39:31
  Speaker 4: I listened to a lot of music. And because I
• 39:35
  Speaker 4: listened to a lot of music, I was just like,
• 39:37
  Speaker 4: what exactly is so radical about Squeeze My Meat?
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: They not real Jill Scott fans, then.
• 39:44
  Speaker 4: No, but what, but beside being a fan or not,
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: like what's radical about that? I just thought I'm missing something.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Probably the way you sung it when you sing it with,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: you know, cause it sounds amazing. So you might be
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: just randomly finding yourself singing it even as a guy.
• 39:57
  Speaker 5: You know what I mean I also think it's I
• 39:59
  Speaker 5: think it's too like with the new generation they get
• 40:02
  Speaker 5: it different ways like go ahead go.
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: Ahead I'm sure I will at some point the end
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: of the spirit will move me and I'll just be
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: coming around the corner squeeze my meat.
• 40:12
  Speaker 3: You better never sing that if you're in the bathroom
• 40:14
  Speaker 3: with me bro I'm just telling you that right now
• 40:16
  Speaker 3: it might can happen that's.
• 40:17
  Speaker 4: All I think it's the fact that you gotta say
• 40:19
  Speaker 4: squeeze like.
• 40:20
  Speaker 5: I think they said it was they was deeming the
• 40:24
  Speaker 5: big areola music I heard that too yeah I was like, okay.
• 40:30
  Speaker 5: Because basically, if you don't know what to do with it,
• 40:31
  Speaker 5: don't come over here. That's the conversation. And I think
• 40:35
  Speaker 5: it's just right now in music, you either get stuff
• 40:39
  Speaker 5: like that very straightforward to the point where it's not sensual.
• 40:43
  Speaker 6: And that has.
• 40:43
  Speaker 5: Always been you to be able to communicate those type
• 40:45
  Speaker 5: of things in a very unique way, right? But there
• 40:48
  Speaker 5: is a new generation of like creators and artists who
• 40:51
  Speaker 5: are listening to this and discovering your ability for the
• 40:54
  Speaker 5: first time and they They just think it's so powerful
• 40:56
  Speaker 5: and forward.
• 40:57
  Speaker 6: And I'm like, welcome.
• 40:59
  Speaker 4: That's what's up.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: People like that, it's like, I hate people that, I
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: don't want to have to, I don't want to catch
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: up with you. Okay? Like, we over here celebrating Jill
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: Scott because of who Jill Scott is and always has been.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: I don't have time to explain to you the greatness
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: of Jill Scott. You know, catch up in your own time.
• 41:15
  Speaker 4: Fair enough.
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: They'll get there.
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: Catch up in your own time.
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: Right. I ain't got to explain it.
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: They'll get there.
• 41:20
  Speaker 4: Life will happen. And then there I'll be. Your loving auntie.
• 41:24
  Speaker 4: with so many stories to tell, so many life experiences
• 41:29
  Speaker 4: to share, so many lessons learned, so much music.
• 41:34
  Speaker 5: There was a skit on here, too. I forget where
• 41:36
  Speaker 5: it comes in at. You're talking to someone, and then
• 41:39
  Speaker 5: it goes into a song. And I was hoping that
• 41:41
  Speaker 5: we would get more of that type of thing, kind
• 41:42
  Speaker 5: of like what Jasmine Sullivan did on Hotels. Just because
• 41:47
  Speaker 5: of what you said, we know so much about you,
• 41:49
  Speaker 5: but I know that there's a lot more to hear,
• 41:51
  Speaker 5: and not that I'm older. I just was like, I
• 41:53
  Speaker 5: wonder if she'll ever do that where we just get
• 41:55
  Speaker 5: to hear her talk through her like experiences of things.
• 41:58
  Speaker 5: And then we go back to the music after that.
• 42:01
  Speaker 4: Well, I don't know. I did listen to Viola Davis's
• 42:05
  Speaker 4: book and just, my God, I could listen to that woman.
• 42:10
  Speaker 4: That story was so powerful, so impactful. I think if
• 42:16
  Speaker 4: I were going to do that, it'd probably be a book.
• 42:18
  Speaker 4: You know, I have a lot of dreams.
• 42:24
  Speaker 6: Does that mean a book is in the works or something?
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: I know a publisher if you need one.
• 42:31
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: You know, it's so interesting. You mentioned David Banner a lot.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: To me, y'all, I don't know, y'all have similar spirits.
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: I don't know, like sometimes I hear you talking, I
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: hear David Banner, and then now I'm hearing David Banner,
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: sometimes I hear Jill Scott, but I never thought about
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: that until I've heard you mention him in the last
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: couple of, I heard you mention him in Angie Martinez
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: interview and you mentioned him here now, and I'm like,
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: they the same person, kind of, energy-wise. Thank you.
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: We click.
• 42:53
  Speaker 4: We click.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: You wanna expound?
• 43:04
  Speaker 4: What would I say about David Banner? He is really,
• 43:16
  Speaker 4: like I said this earlier, but he's really, really kept
• 43:18
  Speaker 4: me inspired. Sending me music, sending me music from other
• 43:23
  Speaker 4: people as well. Not just himself, like not just trying
• 43:27
  Speaker 4: to get on the album, like sending me other musicians
• 43:30
  Speaker 4: stuff like that. That's a lot. That's a lack of id. OK,
• 43:34
  Speaker 4: I love that. And he's he's amazing for resources as well.
• 43:44
  Speaker 4: We buck heads often and I tell him, I'm not
• 43:48
  Speaker 4: scared of you, David Banner. You know, and he likes that.
• 43:53
  Speaker 4: So we're, that's my brother from another mother.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: Yep. I can see that.
• 43:59
  Speaker 4: And I think he's beautiful. That part too.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: Do you think healing is louder or quieter at 50?
• 44:11
  Speaker 4: Quieter internally, but very vocal outside. Gotcha.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: It shows up in the music.
• 44:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: Gotcha.
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: How old are you?
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: 47. That's it?
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll be 48 this year. Born in 1978.
• 44:26
  Speaker 4: Baby.
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: I'm right there.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: But I feel the same way you feel.
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: I like being, I.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: Like just growing. You feel more unapologetic about who you
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: are every day. And you realize how much more it
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: is for you to learn. And how much that you
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: have to unlearn.
• 44:42
  Speaker 4: The unlearning part. Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice.
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: What did you have to unlearn that was so difficult?
• 44:54
  Speaker 4: I had to unlearn doubting myself. I had to learn
• 45:01
  Speaker 4: to trust the process. I think for the last few albums,
• 45:05
  Speaker 4: I had been trying my best, trying, trying. You don't
• 45:09
  Speaker 4: have to try. You don't have to try. All you
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: got to do is realize. Shout out to Bilal. But
• 45:14
  Speaker 4: that's all you got to do. And that has freed me.
• 45:20
  Speaker 4: And I have so much music, y'all. It's not even funny.
• 45:26
  Speaker 4: In so many different categories, which is exciting to me.
• 45:31
  Speaker 4: And I don't know, you know, this one, I'm here. See?
• 45:36
  Speaker 4: I got to stay right here. Because there's so many things.
• 45:42
  Speaker 4: And I'm excited about them all. But I have to
• 45:44
  Speaker 4: stay right here with to whom this may concern. I
• 45:48
  Speaker 4: put a lot of love in this thing. I cannot
• 45:50
  Speaker 4: wait for people to listen with their listening ears, like
• 45:54
  Speaker 4: actually think about the words and have conversations. And I
• 45:57
  Speaker 4: don't know, by the time they get to To Be Honest,
• 45:59
  Speaker 4: I really hope that they're in full swing. That was
• 46:02
  Speaker 4: my intention.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: Is there a song on this album that represents a
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: boundary that you used to ignore, but now you protect
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: it no matter what?
• 46:11
  Speaker 4: I'd have to look at the song list. Can you
• 46:14
  Speaker 4: think of one?
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: Let me see. You got dope shit, be great, beautiful people,
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: off the back, north side, disclaimer, pay you on Tuesday, pressure.
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: Me four, the math or universe lifting me up. Don't play.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: To be honest, right here, right now, I say, sincerely do.
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: Probably me four, right?
• 46:32
  Speaker 4: No.
• 46:33
  Speaker 6: Pressure?
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: No.
• 46:35
  Speaker 7: No? Mm-mm.
• 46:36
  Speaker 4: I love all my life. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. Everything gets you
• 46:39
  Speaker 4: where you're going. Mm-mm. If I change something, then what
• 46:43
  Speaker 4: would happen? Who would I be? Mm-mm. You know, I
• 46:47
  Speaker 4: am literally baby mama number four. Four is my favorite
• 46:52
  Speaker 4: fucking number. I'm always going to find it. The silver lining,
• 47:02
  Speaker 4: the joy, the beauty, and the thing. You know, but
• 47:04
  Speaker 4: you go through stuff, and that's life. And you just,
• 47:07
  Speaker 4: you know, I'm on the other side of everything, which
• 47:11
  Speaker 4: is good. Now the job is to get myself engaged.
• 47:15
  Speaker 4: inside of everything to tell the story properly on stage.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: That's what you're looking forward to the most.
• 47:22
  Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to it. It's therapeutic. It's terrifying. So scary.
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: Oh, I'm coming to see you on Valentine's Day. I
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: will be right there, me and the wife.
• 47:34
  Speaker 4: Nice.
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 47:35
  Speaker 4: No, I'm feeling stuff out. So you're coming to a
• 47:38
  Speaker 4: feel out.
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: My last question, when it's all said and done, what
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: does peace look like for Jill Scott? And did this
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: album bring you closer to whatever that is?
• 47:50
  Speaker 4: Life is bringing me closer to my peace. And my
• 47:56
  Speaker 4: kid doing well for himself. And my mother living so comfortably.
• 48:07
  Speaker 4: And she's happy. My private, my personal life It's solid.
• 48:20
  Speaker 4: I love my home. I love my friends. I have
• 48:24
  Speaker 4: beautiful friends, y'all. You would fuck with them. Anybody would. Like,
• 48:28
  Speaker 4: they're so dope. So many levels of it. There's not
• 48:33
  Speaker 4: a lot of them, but they're powerful. I'm, you know,
• 48:38
  Speaker 4: you say you're happy, you say you're joyful, and people
• 48:43
  Speaker 4: get upset about it. I feel sorry for that, for you.
• 48:48
  Speaker 6: People get upset about you saying that?
• 48:51
  Speaker 4: People are upset about other people feeling joy and being happy. Yes.
• 48:56
  Speaker 4: They do it all the time. I see it. Yes.
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 49:03
  Speaker 4: I don't know what it is. I don't care what
• 49:05
  Speaker 4: it is. It's not my bag to carry. I'm going
• 49:11
  Speaker 4: to let this little light of mine shine.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: And that light going to irritate some demons and others.
• 49:16
  Speaker 4: You see what I'm, that's what I'm saying. That's what
• 49:18
  Speaker 4: I'm saying. I have a force field. I put it on.
• 49:25
  Speaker 4: It goes under my feet, above my head. Anytime I
• 49:27
  Speaker 4: think about it or I just put my force field
• 49:30
  Speaker 4: on and I walk through my life. We're superheroes. We
• 49:33
  Speaker 4: can do really anything we want. Anything we can imagine.
• 49:38
  Speaker 4: You just need the power to do it. The power
• 49:40
  Speaker 4: is love. The power is sincere friendships. The power is guidance.
• 49:45
  Speaker 4: My mentor is outside somewhere. Like having that is, and
• 49:52
  Speaker 4: anybody can attain it. Anybody at any time in any
• 49:57
  Speaker 4: state of their life can get all of the things.
• 50:01
  Speaker 4: My mentor sometimes, life will be a little stressful. She'll
• 50:06
  Speaker 4: come in swinging. Swinging, like boys in the hood, swinging.
• 50:11
  Speaker 4: She'll kick. It's a physical manifestation of a spiritual thing.
• 50:18
  Speaker 4: She's fighting off whatever can't happen. And then she says, whoo, whoo.
• 50:25
  Speaker 4: And I love that. I want to, you know, I'm like, damn,
• 50:33
  Speaker 4: I'm really like.
• 50:37
  Speaker 2: I got everything.
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: Praise God.
• 50:40
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 50:42
  Speaker 4: Oh my God.
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: Oh my God.
• 50:45
  Speaker 7: Oh my God.
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: Everything.
• 50:50
  Speaker 7: Wow.
• 50:50
  Speaker 6: It's okay.
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: Feel that.
• 50:53
  Speaker 5: That's what I've been feeling all interview. I'm like something. She,
• 50:57
  Speaker 5: there's a feeling here. I just don't know what it is,
• 51:00
  Speaker 5: but I'm so glad that you in this space, you
• 51:02
  Speaker 5: deserve it.
• 51:03
  Speaker 6: You worked hard.
• 51:04
  Speaker 4: Ma'am for a long time ma'am.
• 51:06
  Speaker 5: You've been literally like the Jill Scott my whole life
• 51:09
  Speaker 5: I'm 34 I.
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: Just want you to know what you mean to so
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: many people like I hope you know that we really
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: love you and we value you and we appreciate you
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: and even you putting out new music means so much
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: like this is an event like oh my god Jill
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: Scott putting up putting out new music like that matters
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: like a lot of people that put out music I
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: can take it or leave it some people put out
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: music the world stops for me and that is what
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: you're doing to whom it may concern.
• 51:40
  Speaker 4: I hate to be redundant, but I'm going to say
• 51:44
  Speaker 4: it again. That in the time when Marvin Gaye was
• 51:51
  Speaker 4: the highest, there were albums that hit number one and
• 51:56
  Speaker 4: stayed number one for weeks. In the time with Chaka Khan,
• 52:03
  Speaker 4: I love you wherever you are, Chaka Khan, so much.
• 52:08
  Speaker 4: Had number... five on some chart. There was some one, two, three,
• 52:14
  Speaker 4: and four that were doing way better than that. But
• 52:17
  Speaker 4: who do we remember? Who do we talk about? Who
• 52:21
  Speaker 4: do we still go see? It's, you know, this thing
• 52:24
  Speaker 4: is all secular. You're going to get a bunch of
• 52:28
  Speaker 4: other things in the water as well. But sometimes, sometimes
• 52:33
  Speaker 4: you get a Prince. Sometimes you get a Michael Jackson.
• 52:37
  Speaker 4: Sometimes you get a Teddy Pendergrass. and a Stephanie Mills,
• 52:40
  Speaker 4: and a Phyllis Hyman. Oh, Lord, the list. And we
• 52:45
  Speaker 4: remember them, and we carry them, and we play their
• 52:47
  Speaker 4: music in our house, and we live by it, and
• 52:50
  Speaker 4: we reference it. And that's what my goal was. I
• 52:55
  Speaker 4: wanted to have a career like Frankie Beverly and Maze.
• 52:58
  Speaker 4: And somebody else would be like, well, what do you
• 53:00
  Speaker 4: mean Frankie Beverly and Maze? Not everybody knows them. What
• 53:03
  Speaker 4: Frankie Beverly and Maze could do 25 years without having
• 53:07
  Speaker 4: an album is sell out an arena. And everybody's going
• 53:11
  Speaker 4: to show up in white, and everybody's going to sing
• 53:14
  Speaker 4: with all of their hearts, arms in the air. That's
• 53:19
  Speaker 4: what I wanted for myself. And I have it.
• 53:24
  Speaker 6: Yes, you do.
• 53:27
  Speaker 4: I'm going to have to take a nap.
• 53:29
  Speaker 3: Ladies and gentlemen, Jill Scott.
• 53:34
  Speaker 2: The album is out today.
• 53:36
  Speaker 6: Make sure you buy it.
• 53:38
  Speaker 2: All that good stuff.
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: We appreciate you so much.
• 53:42
  Speaker 2: I hope you get that nap.
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: That's divine.
• 53:44
  Speaker 2: Go get that nap. You deserve it.
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: Your soul deserves it.
• 53:47
  Speaker 4: Oh, my goodness. Here we go.
• 53:50
  Speaker 2: It's Jill Scott. It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Hold up.
• 53:56
  Speaker 2: Every day I wake up.
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: Wake your ass up.
• 53:58
  Speaker 2: The Breakfast Club.
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: Y'all finished or y'all done?