Jill Scott Rocks The Cover Of Billboard Magazine

Jill Scott has been busy promoting her fourth studio album “The Light of the Sun” – this time she’s landed a rocking cover of Billboard magazine’s July 2nd issue. Ms. Jilly from Philly talks transitioning to a new label and coming full circle

On joining a new label
“Free. That’s the word I’ve been using.”It’s exciting, because it’s on my own terms,” Scott says. “I feel like my eyes are going to bulge out of my head. It’s like starting all over again. Music shouldn’t be a chore or feel like any kind of burden. It’s free and alive. And that’s where I am.”

On her recording process:
All Scott wanted, she says, was to choose collaborators who could “embody the energy I was going for. Without any pretense, without knowing what I was going to say . . . there was no guidance except for the energy and spirit in the room. I’m a big Salvador Dali fan; he put his blood and everything else he had in his painting. That’s how it is for me. There’s no blood on this record, but there sure is some heart.”

On coming full circle:
“I’ve missed myself,” she says. “I’m sassy again, stronger. Now I understand this industry to a certain extent, and know how I work best. Having my son was one of the key factors in me leaving the old label. I need him to see me be as amazing as I can be so he feels fearless. I haven’t arrived at amazing yet. I’m in the process. But I want him to see me grow. I want to get another 30 years out of this amazing life of being an artist.”

We’ve missed you too Jilly! Welcome back Jill Scott! Check out Jill Scott and Anthony Hamilton in “So In Love”

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top