The poet from Philadelphia who found her voice on a Roots session

Jill Scott was born in Philadelphia in 1972 and grew up as an only child in North Philadelphia, raised by her mother and her grandmother. She remembers a happy childhood and says she felt very much loved. After the Philadelphia High School for Girls she attended Temple University and studied secondary education, planning to be an English teacher. After three years and some time as a teacher’s aide, she grew disillusioned and left college.

Her path into music started on the poetry stage. She performed spoken word at live readings, and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of The Roots noticed her and invited her into the studio. That led to a co-writing credit on “You Got Me”, which won a Grammy for Erykah Badu and The Roots in 2000, and Scott made her debut as the song’s original singer at a Roots show. She also toured Canada in a production of the musical Rent.

She was the first artist signed to Hidden Beach Recordings. Her debut, Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1, came out in 2000 and went platinum. Beautifully Human followed in 2004 and The Real Thing in 2007, both reaching gold. “A Long Walk” earned her a Grammy nomination, and “Cross My Mind” won a Grammy in 2005. In 2005 she also published a collection of her poems. In 2007 she won another Grammy for “God Bless the Child”, a collaboration with George Benson and Al Jarreau.

Acting widened the picture. She made her film debut in 2007, starred in the BBC and HBO series The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, played Dee Dee Jenkins in Get on Up, and appeared in Black Lightning. After a four-year break from music she released The Light of the Sun in 2011, then Woman in 2015, and a sixth album, To Whom This May Concern, in February 2026. The through-line is the poet who never stopped writing, whether the words ended up on a stage, on a screen or on a record.