Jill Scott's debut, Who Is Jill Scott?, is a luscious portrait of the artist as a grown woman. In R&B, black femininity has often been reduced to two dimensions: sex and materialism. But Scott lives in 3-D, and it shows in her voluptuous songwriting. She combines a beautiful voice with an extreme generosity of spirit, making her music a dreamy, soulful delight. Lizz Mendez BerryJill Scott is the singer-songwriter who wrote the unforgettable hook on the Roots' "You Got Me." Jill Scott is a better singer than the garble-mouthed Erykah Badu, who mangled those lines (albeit prettily) on the Roots' single. If Scott had sung them (which she does, and marvelously so, on the group's live album, The Roots Come Alive), we would have known what the hell the words were. Thankfully, Jill Scott has put out her own album, which exceeds all hook-derived expectations. She is, in fact, a wonder--a magically soulful tunesmith who writes tunes like "The Way" and "Watching Me" that feel as comfortable, warm, and sexy as Al Green on a cold day. And then she rips into the songs' haunting melodies with a gorgeous honey-crisp alto that'll leave you wanting more. --Sylvia W. Chan
