Jill Scott (Part 1)

One of Questlove and Team Supreme's most anticipated interviews, Jill Scott, is finally here! Her relationship with The Roots introduced her to the world through a Grammy award winning song called, “You Got Me”. Hear the story of how a talented girl from North Philly joined forces with some of Philly’s finest to stake her claim in this world of soul music and take it far beyond expectations into the lands of television and film.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio.
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another episode of Question Love Supreme.
Here on I Heart first of all our family. What's up? Like? Hey, yes, hallelujar,
how are you doing? Why? Why you can be side

(00:22):
I already me. I'm not giving you out. I'm excited.
Oh no, no, I know this. This Let me just
by past you guys, pay bill in fartacolo, get into it. Yeah,
we've been waiting for this episode, probably longer than we
care to actually stay on the records. I don't know

(00:42):
why it's taken almost three and a half years for
us to finally bring to fortune. Uh the Jill Scott episode.
I can't say enough about this woman. She helped me
get my first Grammy, and I appreciate that. Jill Scott,
she saved my life. She gave me my first and

(01:03):
only hit, only hit. No, Ladies and gentlemen, no, for
Jill Scott is much more than that to me. She's
actually she's literally one of my favorite artists ever. Accomplished poet, singer, actress. Yes, extraordinary.

(01:30):
Please welcome to Quest lept Supreme. Finally one and only
Jill Wait Joe what's your middle name? Nava? I'm gonna
look this up on the internet. Jill. Wait, why don't
we know you have been a Jill? Did you take
your middle name off of the Internet? Internet? Yes? You did? Wow?

(01:53):
Is it? Barbara? Got a black ass middle name? Lady?
On you Mabel? And Scott's probably Mabel. I like, Lorinda, Wait,

(02:18):
are you trying to tell me that your middle name
will never be known to the world ever? If you
search hard enough, you'll find it is really secretive? Like
she didn't want to tell me where she was at.
She didn't tell me where her house was. Not even
a state yea, not because you're a Philly for life? Yeah,

(02:40):
Philly all day? And what I just like balance, man.
I try to find a place so people don't know
me at all for anything, and I go there and
it's great. We have conversations about something and nothing. We
get angry with each other and on each other. It's nice.

(03:03):
You're trying to tell me that you you're in a
circle in which people may or may not know who
you are. That's right, No, not an infact, they're all white.
I believe that. I can believe it. Yes, famous, there's famous, Yes,
and the white famous, yes and the white famous and

(03:26):
uh no incomes texts, no state income text All that
made sense to me an acreage. I was like, Yep,
I mean, wait, there's another place that's not Delaware that
does this. Yeah, I mean I'm in Tennessee. Oh good,
she said it. I was scared she was gonna be said, Yeah,
I won't fight you. I'm I'm scared of you. You

(03:47):
know that the first song was getting let me tell
you about Vassilin never forget j Jill am I time
the first seven words I've ever heard Jill Scott ever say. Okay,

(04:13):
So Jill Scott is best friends with a mutual friend
of ours, Leslie Arnette Pina. Leslie is the voice of
Oh One Lazy Afternoon or do you Want More? Right?
I believe maybe this is when Leslie's cutting it. I'm
not certain, but what I do know is that she

(04:35):
brought her girlfriend down to the studio with her. Now,
what makes this even crazier I'm not knowing that the
guy that Jill was once dating is also currently messing
with a roommate of someone that I lived with in
the house that I was living in doing the do
you Want More? Period. This sounds like an episode of Insecure.

(04:55):
This is all I know. It's terrible. This is all
I know, terrible, not sight unseen. I sat down on
the couch and she must have gotten the news that
that he did her wrong. And she said, and the

(05:17):
most thing of the most oprah harp o voice you
can muster up, she said, she said, um, lady and gentlemen, Heather,

(05:48):
Oh god, I don't know what I was doing. Internet
just told me. I don't know what I was doing.
I was either mid you, I don't know if I
was at my lunch or reading something. But I was like, oh,
I'm scared of this woman forever. What happened to him?
What happened to the dude? Those dick is gonna get
cut off? What happen? Let's see? What do I know?
I know that story at the house. This I can't

(06:11):
tell you the rest. It is so bad. I think
the special limitations. I think you can go in. Okay.
So I went to the house. I went to the house,
and and she was there at the house right, he writes,
right here, drinking my kool aid out of the glass
I bought YEP, I happened to have a razor blade.

(06:40):
Oh boy, all right, this is supreme. Thank you. Yeah,
God keep going. Everyone lived, Everyone lived, but his wardrobe
didn't live. His ward kind of everything, and it's everything

(07:13):
and not on the scene she happened. You can you
can settle something for me, Jill. Was he at all?
Was he at all involved in music? Because I have
another issue with him three weeks later. Now, mind you,
this guy is messing with a girl that lives at

(07:33):
my house and he steals my drummers. Dog. I put
two and two together way after the fact, like you
all just tarantinoed your way into my timeline, and then
I had to put the story together to realize what
was going on. But he also, I have reason to
believe that he stole one of my drum machines. That probably,

(07:57):
and so yeah, but that's how. That's how the second Yeah,
but the second time jills me three grand entrances in
my life before I even started a real conversation with now.
The second one was a little blurry because at the

(08:17):
time I was at Richmond Diana's house. It was like
a barbecue and whatever, and it was like a spades tournament.
And one of my greatest shames is also not right,
so that that parts a little blurry. But I remember
Jill there. But the third time with Meat and Jill

(08:38):
was at a poetry slam in West Philadelphia around in
Baltimore Avenue. I don't remember this. You don't remember this,
you alright, So I believe either to Peter Mason introduced you,
somebody a fellow poet introduced you, and you cut her

(09:01):
off before it was like ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna
bring up someone to the stage, and dada, dada, and
then all of a sudden, from the back you went
into Jody. See's freaking you. So it was like ladies
and gentlemen, Okay, that was Ursula Rucker or Richmon Tina

(09:21):
and you know coming up next as a sister from
North Philadelphia, right, But no, man, it was like you
know how like Felicia was shot over Nantzi Eights where
its like like her last name is Allen, like Felicia

(09:43):
eris Allen or Debbie Allen. From the back of the room.
Every time I closed and we we lost our ghosts,
like who the is this? And she's just like slowly
walked to the stage. It was like our were collectively
wagging like the fuck is that? I don't remember that

(10:06):
at all? Did I miss out on Jill? Sexy poet?
Like whole hoole sexual poetry thing that you were that
you got have been sixteen pudding here's a wink in there. No,
but I believe to three weeks later, this is when

(10:30):
you got me sort of you started coming around the
Sigma with Scott. So Nope, no, Jill tell a story. No, No,
I don't. I don't remember Baltimare. It was so much
poetry at the time. We were everywhere trying to earn
fifteen dollars anywhere. Bob missed his birthday parties, theaters, libraries,

(10:53):
I was everywhere, just trying to earn a living as
a poet. So I really don't remember that. But I
do remember the night I met Yo. Now we were
on a I'm trying to remember the brother's name. He
had a small record store, and he closed the record
store out for the evening so people could read. I

(11:14):
think rich might have been DJ and that was Richard's Oh,
my current my current product manager was still working for
me years later. Yeah, it was Keith look at that, Okay, Yes,

(11:35):
in South Philly. Yes, So I think we were there,
if I'm not mistaken, and I read something and I
came off and you said you, um, do you write songs?
And I lied I said yes, which I did not do,
and you were like, okay, bet, I'm gonna hook you up.
You should come to the studio. I had I been

(11:55):
to a studio yet. I don't even think I had
been to a studio anywhere except of the night I
met you at Uhi Sigma Sound where I met you.
That was the first time I've ever been in the studio.
This would be the second. So you hooked me up
with Scott Storch, who I knew only because I had

(12:16):
seen him playing the keys at every jam session and
every time that I saw you guys before you know,
Scott was there. You You asked me if I could
write a song. I said, okay, I didn't know how
at all. And we sat there and Scott and I
got Blaze for like I don't know, like you got

(12:36):
mere Expence. But was that the first generation? Like you
gave him your first draft? Are you? Yeah? Yeah, there
were seven songs, but you got me. I still have
that cassette you got me was number three. You worked
on seven Sketches You Got Me was number three, and

(12:58):
when I heard it, I said to myself, this song
is gonna change my life. I knew ten seconds in
when you sang it. I was like, this is gonna
change my life and instantly ran downstairs to Dave Ivory's
room and Scott happened to be there, and we just
cut it right on the spot because I knew I
wanted to get it out late before like rich and

(13:21):
Tarik caught demo itis. I was like, this song is
gonna change my life. So before Rich and Tarik here
it in its current state and get demo itis and
be like, Nope, this is the version of that we're
gonna I was like, let me do the drums right now.
And then there's there's a whole another like eight hour
story of even the battle of drum and bass music

(13:42):
at the end of it Dog, because then it was like,
why why are you going to ruin the song? Like
just be like rich was Rich's whole John was like, look,
stay straight ahead whatever, and I was like, no, this
is a drum and bassed song because initially I wanted
to whole song to be that, and Richards like keeping

(14:03):
straight ahead and so you know, and the compromise of
it all was like, Okay, at the end, you get
your little prize at the in the cereal box. Okay, here,
we're still waiting for that part too, Like I just
knew it was just every time you talked to that
about that story, I'm gonna just saying it should have
been part two to that song. We had part two,

(14:23):
part three. We ended up having so many versions of
the song from Live Yeah on the Thing's Fall apart
box two dollar bill performance. That's probably still one of
my favorites ever in d C. Right, yeah, wait a minute,
wait a minute, wait, we are we are, We're for

(14:45):
the gun were Jill Scott? Where are you boring? Where
are you boring? At Albert Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia? You
want to be r F North Philly? Oh n O
R North Philly? Where? Okay? Where? Because North phillis is

(15:10):
anything above Broad Street to me? Like Avenue or like
what what's like your North Philly High? Yeah, le High
Broad and Lee High Avenue. Okay, that's banging now what
was it? Then? It was it was the bottom, It
was the bottom. Then that's near J Street. I don't

(15:34):
know J Street all right, it's the big shooting like that,
many many, many shootings. You know where Dobbins is, Dobbins
Vocational High School. I've taught there for a couple of months. Um,
but I lived around the corner from Dobbins. You're a
school teacher too, I'm an English teacher. Wow, we hardly

(15:58):
knew ye yeah, okay, So in growing up in Philadelphia,
Like al right, first of all, how did you Because
the thing is that if you're saying you're in North Philly,
especially growing up in the eighties, m getting out of
North Philly is an achievement on its own. Yes, indeed, sir,

(16:20):
So what was life like navigating through North Philadelphia? You
know what I really you know, I know that it
was tough. I know that there was there was a
lot of murders. There were a lot. I lost a
lot of like well, we all lost a lot of
young men. Early one summer, we lost like seven young guys.

(16:41):
You know, I knew them all. They were drug dealers,
but I you know the drug dealers that I knew.
They carried my mom's groceries home. You know, they wrote
me poetry, They sat on they sat on my steps
and let me read the Megarel with Pope. You know,
they were they were sweet to me, and you know,
it seems absurd to some people, but I had a

(17:05):
very very idellic uh concept of the hood. It was.
It was beautiful. You know. There was neighbors who played
the guitar and kept their screens open and so you
can hear it. There were neighbors that everybody swept, you know. Um.
And then then crack came. Crack came like a thief

(17:25):
in the night and just destroyed everything good. Um, not everything.
There were still good people around, but it made it
really hard. You know. I definitely got shot at. I
definitely had to fight a lot. And then I thought
the ways of trying to not hurt anybody, because I
thought I was gonna end up in jail if I

(17:48):
didn't figure it out. So, you know, my mom took
me to Juvie. I saw some stuff in there and
I was like, Okay, I don't have to worry about me. No.
She took me to Julie scared straight. Yeah, before there
was a scared straight. She was like you should you know,
I get. She didn't tell me where we're going. We
just got on the thirty three and we got off

(18:11):
and ended up in in Juvie. It was a whole
bunch of girls that looked a lot like me, that
looked like they had been through hell in the basket.
You know. I heard a couple of horrible stories about
being in Juvie, and I was like, I'm good, Like,
I have to find a way to survive without fighting,
without having to defend myself because I don't you know,

(18:32):
I'm not the kind of person that just put my
hands up and we're gonna fight and it's over. You know,
I don't know how to stop because I'm kind. You know,
it might sound terrible, but I am. I don't want
to hurt anybody, so and in a position where in

(18:52):
order to survive, I'm going to have to hurt somebody
pretty badly and they may not make it. So I
figured out other ways step everybody. I don't well, I do,
I do. I have a sister from my father. But
you grew up the loan child, Yeah, your household. Yeah,
if you don't have a story, let me get my

(19:14):
cousin to fuck you up like that. My cousins hated
my ass. I could read through her words that Jill
didn't have a problem being able to fight, because that
was the problem that you were started being good at it.
It sounded like like you It wasn't. I don't. I
would never call it it was. It was you didn't

(19:36):
lose too often. It was it just wasn't fair. You know.
I didn't know how to stop. I didn't know how
to win a fight and stop, so I don't really
I try my best not to be in that position,
to the to the very end, to the bitter end,
to the you're going to jail in. And I didn't
want that for myself. I was scared of it. So

(19:59):
I embraced every possible way to be kind and loving
and open in my hood. So uh, and try at
the same time not to be a sucker, you know,
to get played by the crackheads or by the drug dealers.
But you know, be friendly and be nice and be
helpful where you can, but not give anybody money because

(20:22):
if you give crackheads money to come back the next
day like a squirrel, you know. So you know, trying
to find that balance to to navigate living or dying.
And yes, it was. It was very hard to get
out of North Philly. So I worked three jobs and
did poetry and hoped that I could make some kind

(20:42):
of a living. Got in Dobbins High School was teaching English.
It was dope. I loved it, but they weren't very helpful.
Got in Dobbins and subsequently went back there to teach.
No I went to Girls High, but I taught at
Winds and I realized I wasn't going to make any money,

(21:03):
which is so foul to this day. That I wasn't
gonna make any money and I wasn't gonna have any
kind of support. There's no support for teachers. My my
principal told me I was young and idealistic and I
would get over it, and I quit. I quit everything
that day, like this sucks. There's got to be something else.
And then Ozzie Jones, I don't know if you got

(21:25):
y'all know, Izzie, Yes, yes, Ozzie Jones called me the
day I quit everything and said, Yo, there's an apprenticeship
at the Ardent Theater Company. Do you want to try
out for it. It's a hundred and fifty dollars a week.
You're gonna end up working somewhere between fourteen and sixteen

(21:48):
hours a week, but you'll get free acting classes. And
you'll learn everything about theater. What do you say? And
I auditioned and I had several meetings and I was
the oldest and the only black person in the building.
One thing we gat another Yeah so wait, so no

(22:10):
freedom theater, None of this stuff ever comes into your No,
I wish. I couldn't afford singing in the church as
as a young like none of that didn't grow up
in church. Wait, so that meant that story about you,
It was a story about you, um, not being a
part of freedom, but that like you actually used to
help clean up and do stuff around the building. That's
not true. Um. The cleaning up part came later when

(22:32):
I was in college. But that was that was just
because I thought it was dope. But I couldn't afford classes.
Where'd you go to school? Temple? Temple? Which one? I
went for two years and I took off a year,

(22:53):
went for three years, took off two years, came back Archie,
Were you Archie major? No? No, Um, I don't even
know how many times I went to Temple. I don't
It was just a blur, I swear to you. I
just was trying to finish to be the one in
my family who finished school, and you know, they ended

(23:15):
up giving me a honorary PhD, which I took. And yeah,
I took that, Doctor Scott, I want I went that
on my passport so bad. I don't know how to
get that done. I'm trying to tell you the first,
the first degree I earned. After that, they gave me
the next and the next foot I'm cool with it.

(23:37):
I'm good with it. Damn Joe. I would have uh,
I would have known you, yo. I got into creative
and performing arts. I really would have known you. I
would have went to Kappa. Why got into both schools?
Two girls high in the Kappa And I was terrified.
I was terrified of that neighborhood. I was like, I
already got enough hit. Now I'm going to South League neighborhood.

(24:01):
I'm scared, Like they won't kill me, They're gonna try
to like all day pounced scared, k A R D
T Scared. I was scared. I was like, they're going
to kill me. I can't go here. That was at
the audition, and I changed my mind and I got

(24:25):
in as a writer. You were creative writing major. I
was a creative I wouldn't be the English teacher. Yeah,
I would have been, but I changed my mind and
went to girls high instead. It's crazy, Okay, okay, so wait,
did you know Sean in high school? I did. We
went on you know Sean in high school? Okay said

(24:52):
she just said that. Yeah, but we weren't sure you
were short from date. No, we went on the prom together.
We all went and sat together, were thing. Yeah. Uh
it was me my date, him in his date court

(25:14):
and in his dates. So the six of us Ali
baba limousine. That's right, that's dope. Story of you and Sean,
like what an evolution? Yeah? I think I met him
when I was I was fourteen. I had to be
fourteen and fifteen. I think I might have been fifteen,
But I got pictures of young showing in my office somewhere.

(25:38):
We need this black mail material. Come on, y'all. Oh wait,
I know wait ah, damn ship, because I know Sean's
gonna listen to this episode. I got some really good
on shore. You got you got some tapes, you got
some rap tapes? What you got? What you got? Man?

(26:01):
I scoured the earth for Showan's record. Oh my god,
are all right? Here's the here's the thing now, I
got it and he you know, like he sounds like
it's straight. He's straight light five like fartes right now,

(26:27):
fante he said he talked to Ric his whole style.
That's but the thing is that, yeah, Sean was like
the family star Tarika Fomo because like, you know, Thanksgiving,
Sean asked twelve and single out and was getting played
on local radio. Blowie b was like, you know, and

(26:48):
Tarik was like where they get a little to me.
And then that's what inspired to to like step up
that Sean and are cousins because most people up yeah,
but this is where it even goes deeper. Angela Thistle
my uh Angie former Okay player, partner in current right

(27:10):
writer at Mixed Dish one day, she asked me for
like some interstitial rap music, like do I know like
a real cheap, random rap song that's like kind of
bad from like eighties six, like when they do a
flashback thing at that time back in yeah, right, And
so I was this close to getting that song cleared

(27:34):
on Mixed Dish, but I would have had to I
would have to be the owner of the publishing to
make it happen. Yeah, because I wanted to see something
where like just watching TV and how can how do
I get this? Seems? I get off this phone, I

(27:58):
will send it to you. I've been I've been saving
this to drop it. I've been SA you know what
I wanted. I mean, I want to hear the other
six songs that Scott and I did. What happened to them? If?
I don't know if you have them, but I'm curious
because yeah, my first time with Scott not having Babbage,

(28:25):
not having baggage right Babbage, Babbage right Babbage? Oh real weed?
Yeah yeah, Scott, Scott was on the whole other level.
I was like, wait, wait, wow, this is this is wonderful.

(28:47):
This is a beautiful sins station. Yeah, that was Scott
at work. At what point, even though you didn't have
a traditional uh experience or community theater experience as most
of our guests do. Um, like, where does music play

(29:08):
in your life for at least the first formative years,
like your first eight years? Like what was the first
record you ever brought of the first concert you went to?
And were you allowed to have it? I said she
allowed to have it? Yeah, yeah right right glowing a
dark record player. Yeah, I was allowed. Um, let's see

(29:31):
my first record. I don't know the first record, but
I took The Whiz to my third grade show until
and everybody hated it. I was devastated. It was wrong
with those people and they hated it a record to school, yes,
and they didn't appreciate it as much at all. They

(29:54):
thought it was awful. They booed. I was like, you're
all insane. I'm out of here. I'm not what was
your jam on the record? Jail? Oh Brandon Day, you
know how? I know how you are about the Whiz?
Like ye, yes, the Wiz poster is in a frame
above my son's toilet. I think The Wiz is a

(30:20):
great horror movie. You know what is a hard sell?
One night, one night, I just I conducted experiment. It
was one of these nights where we had like a
Thanksgiving run, uh, like a tour. I had Thanksgiving off,

(30:42):
but not enough to really like plan anything with family.
So this time I was stuck with a bunch of
people that I work with. We call them white people,
and I was just wondering when you're gonna say to me?
And I was like, I want to see how white

(31:03):
people react to the Whiz. Oh this is good, yo.
It freaked them out. It was to them it was
like an acid trip, like the eyes. Then they were like, yo,
this is the scariest ship we've ever seen, Like now
as a kid, like watching the Whiz and when even

(31:23):
Lens when her nails nails go backwards and get the
funk out of here with that man. That was not
We were just happy to see black people. I think
that's what it was for. We was like, we got
Michael Jackson, we got Dana Ross, like we're just happy
to see black people acting. But but the Fords were

(31:46):
so perfect. Black man can't catch cab in New York City, Yeah,
the young woman who can't get out of the house,
you know, still living at home with her mama. You
know all of those things that were actually occurring, the
poppy field or the hookers on the street, you know
all of that. It was the metaphors were perfect for
the hood. It was. It was wonderful. As a writer.

(32:09):
I just fell in love. And then I met Quincy
Jones and was like, I just what the with the
third great He was like, I hated that. I hated
that whole place. Charlie they hated each other. Well, he
hated Charlie because it's you know what it was, Okay,
as as the elder statesman of this crew, because you

(32:32):
all were three at the time when it came out,
I'm saying that to watch like the morning that it
came out, and to watch it in its first run,
I had to stand I had to stand in line
for three and a half hours. Remember the sam eras
the movies like you saw it, you know, I'm just saying, yeah,

(32:57):
I was like, oh yeah, no, no, no, no, The
Wiz I think I think now that I'm looking in hindsight,
the excitement and the build up to what The Whiz
was was probably better than the movie itself. No, no,

(33:19):
I'm not saying that it was a bad film becausist
the thing we have to know, like Sidney Lament technically
lost his career after The Whiz, like after Batting out
the Park with My Dark Day Afternoon, all these other
films that he did. I think he did serproco and
The Whiz was seen as a failure now, you know.

(33:41):
And I also have issues with how black films are
judged by non black critics by higher levels, So I
know that there is also points off for that of
just crucially not understanding Tony, I mean, what are we
talking about it? I know, but the Whiz is a
hard sell now recently watching it, it's a hard sell.

(34:06):
Recently watching it, I realized what Jill was saying, like,
oh man, there's a lot of the Whiz could also
be like a self esteem motivational package because I saw
it in a whole different light now post therapy, life
coaching that stuff. And then I was like, okay, your

(34:30):
standing strong, Steve. Have you ever seen I saw the
Whiz and I saw the sequel Whiz? W Wait what
I thought that truck would do better? I don't try

(34:51):
to keep up. The Whiz is reloaded. I wanted another one.
I really I still want another one, but it couldn't. Okay,
So what's the second? What's this plot line of the
of the Wiz? What's the second? What would be the
next the sequel in the WIRs? Like, what's the storyline?

(35:13):
It would have to be a lost Dorothy. I lost
Dorothy meaning she doesn't know who she is or how
to be. She's trapped in a world where she's uh,
I don't know. We've doubt and uh um contacted and
um what it may be. But I think I think

(35:38):
there's a lot of like that going on. They have
it now, you know. I love Wicked. That was because
it was so good. The sequel to the Wizard of
Oz was like, Yeah, what's better the movie or the
soundtrack for the Whiz. I'm gonna with the movie because

(36:01):
there's dancing at the soundtrack doesn't make sense unless you've
seen the movie. And it's weird because the soundtrack is
technically a story to the movie without visuals, which is
why I think it was a hard sell for Jill
to get a bunch of third and fourth grade class

(36:22):
playing for them. No, I was a student. Okay, yeah,
they booed. But anywhere home can live anywhere? Yeah, but
what does that mean? What does home mean? On the song?
I'm just saying the song, Oh yeah, anywhere, anytime, anybody.
But I wouldn't want to see I wouldn't want to
see like pop stars sing it. I wouldn't want to

(36:44):
see I would like to see, like, grab some folks
out of Juilliard, you know, and have them portray these
incredible people to make it stick, so it has ribs,
you know, not just you know, fancy characters. I don't
want to see that. I would like to I would
like Dorothy to have guts. I would like her to

(37:04):
be afraid. What was it like for you to perform
in front of Michael Jackson at the thirtieth anniversary performance
or was that just a weird experience all together? It
was a very strange experience. I got there and it, honestly,
it felt like nobody was there about before Michael Jackson,
no one, And that bothered me a lot because I

(37:26):
had turned down a role with Denzel Washington to be
there because I really really wanted to honor Michael Jackson
and I was doing the Whiz, so it meant a
lot to me. And I got there and it just
felt like nobody was about it, like nobody was really
there to honor him. And I remember getting on stage

(37:48):
and now they've added other people to this performance, which
really frustrated me too. Um great artists, but I just
that's not what I had in mind. And anyway, long
story short, was your your idea was to do? What
to do? You can't win? To have the scarecrows, the
whole thing, the dancing. I think they had Fatima on

(38:10):
board at the time to Corey choreograph the thing. I
wanted to present him the Whiz, you know, the way
that he did it as best as I could with
all of my heart, and uh, that didn't work out.
They kept adding other people and then added some of
something from The Wizard of Oz to honor Liza Minnelli,

(38:30):
who was his home girl, and I was like the
fuck and um. I got on stage and I looked
to the left and there was Michael Jackson. He he
was paper white. It wasn't like it wasn't any kind
of human white. He was. He was paper white. And

(38:50):
I didn't want to look anymore. I was like trying
to hold back tears during the performance because he was
sitting Liza, uh not Liza. Nelly A. Taylor was sitting
on one side of him, and Macaulay Coffin was sitting
on the other. He didn't he just didn't even look
like a person. He was there. But when I tell
you that color was not a people color, it just

(39:12):
it was. It hurt me. It hurt me, and uh,
I get off stage and I'm I'm all upset. I'm
so upset, and everybody is so happy. I it was crazy.
When you're in the midst of this business and something
impacts you in a way, you know, you're yeah, in
the midst of it. Like, so, I get off stage

(39:33):
and everybody is celebrating and how great that was, and
I I can't even hear them. And then I turned
my head and there's Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston and
why Bobby, I mean Whitney Houston. Uh God rest her
soul walks over and I'm I'm trying to get myself
together and I looked down and all I could think

(39:57):
was that her her knees were bigger than in her thighs.
My heart is racing, and I just I cried the
rest of the night. I just I just could not
stop crying. I could not get myself together because these
are people that I admired and respected and wanted them
to be okay, you know, I wanted them to be

(40:18):
healthy and and and thrive, and they just weren't. They
just they just weren't. And the next day, the next
day was nine eleven. Because I know that there were
I don't know, I only had I did one and
then I saw it. It was on TV one night

(40:40):
years later and I wasn't even in it, and I
was like, ah, did you ever get to circle back?
And like, did you ever speak with him? Did you
ever get to have contact with Michael? I just talked
to him on the phone. He called me one time
to say that he liked me, and you know that
was it. I was on tour and and he just

(41:00):
called to say that he liked me and he was
gonna send me ahead that I never got. Yeah, I didn't.
I didn't like that Michael Jackson thing. I know you
don't know. I'm you had. You must have quite a
few moments of like those industry clarity moments, I know
Fonte has them all the time too, when you just like,
this is where I wanted to be. Man, you mean

(41:21):
as far as the Minister Returns are concerned, Yeah, of
this reality? So how long is it before it kicks
into you? Now? I got into an unfortunate place where
the only way that I could navigate my way through
those disappointments was to then lower myself and lower my

(41:42):
spirit to a place where I constantly just came in
to be disappointed exactly, which is really putting a band
aid over a bullet wound because it might help cope
with that moment, but in the long run, that in
service like my soul or my being and enjoying life

(42:05):
and that sort of thing, because then, I mean, you
do that for ten years and then you become cynical,
and then you become evil, and then you become I
mean's just levels of low self esteem and all that stuff.
So I mean, how long was it until, like, for
for you, was there ever a point where you're just like, oh,

(42:26):
all my idols might disappoint me, or let me not
meet them and let me not take this phone call
or have this lunch with this person. You know, I
didn't even know you can have access to Michael Jackson,
Like wait a minute, you had, Yeah, yeah, but meet
him was a very big be careful for what you

(42:48):
asked for it because I meant, I'm not saying it
was an idea. I mean we had great moments where
it was fun and it was like everything I rely
dreamed about playing with my idol. But there were a
lot of I mean you've seen that stuff. There are
a lot of them into that were like, oh man,
it was better off in my head the idea of
my head of friends than what I got dealt with.

(43:09):
They're a couple of things. One is I'm really grateful
that I grew up as a Jehovah's witness. I had
posters of New Edition on my wall. I loved them.
I talked to them my grandmother. I came home one
day and my grandmother took all my posters down and
she said, you're idolizing these boys. And I was like, no,
I'm not, No, I'm not. And she's like, you're in
there talking to them and telling them how you feel.

(43:32):
They're they're painful. No man is above you and no
man's beneath you. I was devastating. I didn't like my
grandmother for a long time. This is the the ships
of it all. You have these dreams and you have
these ideas of what the world is supposed to be like,
and it is what it is. So what do I do.

(43:52):
I take the good wherever I could find it, and
I hold on to that as hard as I came.
That's all I can do. The rest. I see it
for what it is, and you know, I'll forgive it
for because it's whack. You know, I'll just forgive it
because just because, and keep pushing. There's no need to

(44:12):
hold on to that ship. This it's disturbing and disappointing,
but you know, hasn't been times in your career where
it may have been someone that you met, like a
younger artist or or just anyone where you think you
may have came across the wrong way to them and
kind of been a disappointment to them and you had
to kind of go back and clear up and be like, yo,

(44:34):
I didn't really mean it that way, or whatever, like
if you ever found yourself on that side of the transaction.
I'm certain. I'm certain because I'm not, you know, perfect,
I'm certain that they caught me in the middle of
something and I'm trying to deal, just to deal. I
remember this is a um, you know, an advanced artist.
But I saw Shaka Khan. I was so excited. I

(44:56):
was like, oh my god, you're so beautiful, your beast
that I love you so much. And we're at the Grammys.
I think I won that time. So I'm walking around like,
oh ship, you know, I want to write shoes and
well flip flops, you know, my feet on her. Some
of my personality is good, you know. I'm so excited
and one of her folks comes over to me and

(45:17):
they're like, um, Mrs ms Khan is upset with you.
I said, MS. Kansas shaker Ka is upset with me
do so I don't know, but I'm going over there
to find out because it's Shota Kana and I love her.
So I go over there and she was like, you
called me o'beast And I was like, Wow, I'm glad

(45:48):
you cleared that up. I'm so glad that I had
the good SIPs to go over there. We laughed hysterically.
I was like, you know, I don't mean that it
was in but whatever, Like who got the goal to
say that ship to you? MS? Coin and and me me?

(46:08):
You know how could ill? I was like, Oh my god,
this is crazy but very funny. These things happen. These
things happen. What are the what are the beginning steps
that starts with you getting your record deal? Wait? First

(46:31):
of all, can you clear up something? I'll try What
was is Hidden Beach Michael Jordan's label? And I'm only
asking this because I'm so obsessed with the ESPNT Michael
Jordan's documentary thing? Yeah I was. I think I was
told that Hidden Beach was his label or something like
like what is what was Hidden Beach? Well? Hidden Beach?

(46:56):
Steve McKey announced um Michael Jordan's invested. It was I think,
like the major investor in the face of I didn't
know if if Steve or Michael, if Michael like started
the label and then had him running or whatever. No,
but it was it was incredible to be around him.

(47:16):
And uh, he certainly put me in really nice rooms. Yeah. Yeah,
he kind of liked me a little bit, and I
was glad I got a chance to see some things
and taste some things I didn't know existed. I was like,
what is this you say, dope? My buddies A buddy

(47:42):
mind from down here. Charles Whitfield, he was around at
that time, And yeah, I've heard a lot of those
stories that the MJ stories while parties. He poked us
up parties. Oh, it was great. I don't know. Bulet.
You're gonna tell me later what the buleg The bulet

(48:04):
is the black scal scale bones and bones and you
know the Yeah, the black called the Bulet like. They
didn't want me. They didn't want me. There they're recruiting
one of my DC friends. Bill. That's not for you
to know, my friend, clearly, thank you. You don't know what, Bill.

(48:26):
I don't want to join society it's the black, the black. Okay.
They never wanted me. Ever, I didn't get for him.
I didn't get my buleg I mean, it's real quiet
because it's in it. Listen, might be in it. Tell us, Jill,

(48:51):
So you've known a mire for a long time, longer
than you know any of us have. God, have you
seen him evolved? Who was? Who was the person you met? Question?
She's next? Wow? Okay, in the beginning, In the beginning,

(49:14):
he was so quiet. He hardly ever said anything to me.
He barely ever looked me in the face. And in
my line, you would hardly ever looked me in the face.
And I was coming in and give me a hug,
give me a hug. And I had to you know,
like actually were five years ago. We were more lovey

(49:38):
than you were. Rich was a lovey I didn't want
to get you. Don't do you remember you had played? Um,
I was on the road with you guys. You had
played or something and you were really tired, and I
was like, well, let me massage your ankles. Do you
remember this? And I came to your room and massage

(50:00):
ankles and you fell asleep. That's my By the way,
we're like I don't even let my fuck see my ankles.
But he's very sexy. He allowed me that time and
he rested, and which is what I hope for. He
seems so stressed and tired, and I was like, the ankles,

(50:21):
it's rare. And or did not rest So that was
a big right, Okay, I have massaged a lot of
people in this lifetime. Just just that's your game, Jill.
I wish I remembered this. It's just like you forgot help.
I think I can help. It's not I just think

(50:42):
I can help siding because we're siding. Note because the
first time that Erica tells the story of didn't you know,
she said the same thing about Dilla and I hit him.
I'm like, wait a minute, you had a massage by
Erica Badoo when you was making like she was a

(51:03):
massage and as he was cutting up chopping up the sample,
the Terica blue sample, He's like, I don't remember it
happening like that, though it was. It wasn't anything but sweetness.
It was good, which I'm probably the happiest place in
my life right now. Uh, Jill, So that looks good

(51:27):
on you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Take that on
paid bill shot a sweathird wearing motherfucker. She told the
tech though, But can I so now that we did
all the soft and mushy, can I just ask because
y'all the story, because I know that Jill ended up
on tour singer you got me? But how did we

(51:48):
get to the point of the different vocalists? And then
I want to know? Okay, so he needs to play
on the versus here's the deal. Yeah, I want to
hear yours. Here's so. What I remember was Joe and
I had a lunch date. And do you remember I
was going to copus to on South Street. Yeah, yeah, Jill.

(52:10):
Jill is one of six people who's demo I actually
listened to and actually liked, like envied that it wasn't mine.
The other and I've said this story before. The other
acts were Baloo Slum Village, Little Brother, Jill, Scott, Georgia,
and mal Droe. She been around along for a minute.

(52:31):
That was six davey. She said to me, no, I
heard it. I never let you forget. He told me
I would never sell a record. No no no no
no no no no no no no no no no
no no no no. I forgot. I forgot, I forgot.
I forgot. First of all, this is me, that was me.

(52:55):
That sound like me, or that's sounding Rich Nichols that
it sounds like you. Shut up, Steve. Wait, Jill, you
brought this up before you brought up You brought this
up afore. Yo, and I and I have issue with this.

(53:18):
I don't think I ever said that. No, listen, I
remember sitting at the table you handed me your your
your disc mand Yes it was. It was. I still
hand that, by the way. And I remember first I

(53:39):
was like, wait a minute, there's someone else in Philadelphia
making music. First of all, I was envious of the
tracks because I didn't know you are skating around this
one song. I'm just trying to get that. No no, no, no,
no no, I'm gonna get to that. But this starts
at Copa's. It starts at Copas. And she said that.
I said, I don't think that ever hang like Joe Biden.

(54:01):
Right now, I'm the king, Jill, I'm the king of
my thoughts and my words, being on the opposite sides
of the town. But I don't think there's ever a
time in life in which I was not your biggest fan.
Isn't herve. I'm just just I'm gonna get to that.

(54:24):
I'm gonna get to that. I'm gonna get to that.
But Jill, No, no, no, But Jill has always said that.
In the beginning, I wasn't fully supportive and I said
that she would never sell anything, only because I don't
think that I thought that, or maybe I just thought like, oh,
this is so good that maybe mainstream, that mainstream audience

(54:47):
won't get this, but I was instantly in love with it.
I've heard you hear this story about baduism. I haven't
heard it about Jill. Damn you told her she wouldn't
make it without you out it. No, no, no, no, no.
What I heard was you saying I've read in the magazine.

(55:08):
It was I think it was Vibe or something, and
you heard by the Wisdom and you were like, yo,
I like it, but will you know the hood get
it just right? I think the things that I love
isn't necessarily palatable to mainstream America, and I was wrong.
So maybe that's what I was trying to say, But
I in no way was I not. I wanna I

(55:30):
want to repaint this history between you and I. Jill
Scott and safe record that I was your I mean,
if I took a lunch date with you about your music.
I've never invited no one to the studio but you,
and that includes D'Angelo and Erica and anyone else I've
worked with your Literally the lone human being you invited D'Angelo,

(55:52):
he just didn't show up. Different left. So all right,
now you know I finally heard that quote. I was listen.

(56:13):
It's it's an inside joke, all right, So now for
l ear story. Alright, so the story you got me is.
I hear it and instantly know that this is going
to change my life. I run downstairs from Joe Tarcia's
room where Scott's playing it for me. Me, Scott and
Richard listened to the results of him and Jill and

(56:37):
we're like, that's the one. And instantly I told Scott
stopped playing it because I don't want rich getting demotis.
We ran downstairs. I did it. So the German based
argument was probably like a three day thing, and I
was like, okay, great, I'll just do it the regular way.
I won't put any fancy spanty things on it, and

(56:59):
I'll do it. We do the song it's fucking awesome.
So we go to New York and this is what
Reek's focus on, and everything is done and done. You
know what I think. I think he struggled with the
last first, so I know, all right, So we have
other issues going on, all right, So here's the deal.
Communication in the roots band wasn't too What is up?

(57:28):
What's your motherfucker's We know you guys don't know the
roots band here isn't two ideas, So here's the alright,
so snack number one and you got me? Okay number one.
I mean we've we've made it very public. Malik's codependency

(57:51):
problems now becoming a major problem for the band. There
have been situations of fights and money and all this stuff,
and I'm sort of like, well, is he or isn't he?
What's he doing? Is he drinking too much dada? And
then you see vows of white powder and ship and

(58:13):
so we're dealing with that type of drama. So something
happens that gets us kicked out of Sigma because of Malik.
So now Vocal Vocal Uh headquarters are now at Larry
Golds at the studio. So problem number one is we're
not all in the same place at the same time,

(58:34):
working and interacting. So now it's like a factory. Joe
Tarci still likes me because of his history with my father,
so sort of like a mirror. You can stay, but
you know, Malick and all his running buddies and all
that stuff, they gotta don gotta go, right. So all
music is being tracted Sigma and then we send them

(58:55):
to Seventh and Calahill to the studio to be recorded.
So while that's happening, there's also a third factor is mixing.
So between mixing with Axel Nihas and Bob Power. So
in the morning, I'm tracking and then the evening I'm
mixing in New York. Suddenly I'm getting these tapes and
I'm hearing this girl like wait, and I'm calling Rich

(59:18):
like wait, who's this female voice on track fourteen doing
at lips? And he was like, you know that girl Eve?
That's her? And so I'm like, oh, man coome on
part in the Eve part of I don't know she was.
That's Kilo Kelo, that's Kilo No, that was riek mL

(59:40):
and and come on, And I mean look by this point,
and we're we're totally skipping over, like the jam sessions
that are happening at the house and everyone being at
the house. So Jill's the present. Jaguar is the presents.
The jazzy Fannacies are a present, news the present. Occasionally,
you know, ten year old Jasmine Sullivan is the presence

(01:00:03):
and at some point then suddenly it's like okay, Eve.
And at the time, you know, it was like her
and her girlfriends that she was stripping with or whatever,
like they come to the crib, Malex bringing over these dudes.
I don't know. They're putting their shipped out in my carpet.
I mean Beanie and and Chris and Ethan those guys,

(01:00:25):
but I don't know them from a Canic Paynton. They're
putting it out on my carpet. So I started aiding
the jam sessions. So once it hit me, wait, wait,
this is this is the stripper joint, the like the
joint with the short hair that's on this record, and
Rich was like yeah, And now I'm like, man, we're
about to do that, like come to the studio and

(01:00:47):
I'm like this is this is Like I don't know
how I feel about Like no one had a meeting
with me about people on the record. But so that's
what communications started getting bad. So that was eight saying
nothing new. So it's like, okay, I'll put her at
libs down because I'm just like, we're no one had
a conversation with me about it, so you got me time.

(01:01:11):
Now I'm like, wait a minute, who's this robbing on
the thing. And it was the same situation, and I
was just like yo, like y'all just putting people on
this record and not saying ship like this is our hit,
Like now we got we already have a voice on here,
and now what now another person is doing around like

(01:01:33):
this is our one chance to hit this ball out
the park? They're can only be one unknown and now
there's like four entities and like what do we do?
So that ship caused like a three week debate argument whatever.
So we get the song done, we we're playing, we're
playing it for m c A. And now they're like, okay,

(01:01:55):
we believe in the song, but you know, the girl
sings good, but we've like you should have a name
to really do that, and we're like no, like this
she's killing this ship. She's killing this ship. So then
it became a group meeting of like you got me
just started to be a nightmare to deal with. Trek

(01:02:17):
didn't have a third verse. Now it's like, wait, so
now we gotta or who's gonna tell Jill? Who told you?
No one, bitch, no, nobody told me? Wow told me

(01:02:39):
guys mumpet new flash. Communication. It wasn't the best. Wait
wait wait, I wann I wanna make an announcement. I
want to make an announcement. Communication was never the strong point.
And it wasn't even like a mean spirited thing. It
was more just like he'll do it, or he'll do it,
or I got others ship to worry about, asked Jill

(01:03:01):
when she heard it. I remember, all right, I'm just
saying that. Logic was like yo, you know I've heard
stories of like WoT she wasn't marketable, dada this to them,
it was like this, yeah, she sings great, but she's
unknown and burning hand beats two in the push and

(01:03:21):
Eric about to say yes and you gotta do it,
And then me and Bob power and took we flew
to Dallas, which at that point she was literally it
was still I think we did. You got me maybe
early because I know that Dre three thousand when we

(01:03:43):
got to the studio, Erica just finished whatever she was
singing on Outcast's Liberation, so a quick and I wasn't
out yet, so I feel like this is early. We
get there, we do it. It was cool, but I
didn't have the fire in my soul that I felt
with Jill's version. At one point midway, Erica stopped and said,
you know, her version is jamming, yo, Like why do

(01:04:06):
y'all just use her version? And I was about to agree,
and Richard was like, you know, Richard's whole thing is like, look,
let's let's say be it like just attempted a few
times in revenue you don't work or if it doesn't work,
but knowing good and well, like I'm not leaving here
without without your vocal, without this version, because and it
was getting play it ayor a miyror who gets to

(01:04:28):
play it this week? Who should get to play it
this week? On versus First of all, with this episode,
even be it does not matter, people will still want
to know. I just need to This is after this,
just yes, this will be afterwords, but still who gets
who gets the right to play? Well, there's two versions
of you got Me? So Erica can play her version
from Things Small Apart From Small Apart, I say, I say,

(01:04:53):
I would say it's because you did opera, jazz blues,
no anybody, that's that's a whole les. It's long. Jill's
version of You Got Me is also one of the
things Fall Apart Anniversary real, So I think that's rather cute.
I was gonna say, I think two things. One, I

(01:05:15):
think Jill should get to play it because she wrote it. Two,
I would like to offer my hot take that Complexity
Complexity is a far better song than You Got Me.
That's just me. Let's just start complexity, because I must
give Jill props for complexity because complexity is a very
hard word to sing, and you would not say that
that so well. And yeah, complexity is my joint. That's

(01:05:41):
like my favorite roots Jill joint. I love that song,
you know that often like fifteen minutes. I remember it's
knocking out very quickly and me actually thinking like wow,
this was not the like thank god, this wasn't the
drama that You Got Me? Was? Was there Complexity? When

(01:06:03):
I came in, I don't remember, no, but it just
hit me. So it just hit me. You were one
of the fourteen for the youth. Oh my god, we
did you know what? Complexity was so easy. It made
me forget the drama that was that you got me,
not you got me to break you off? And you

(01:06:28):
know what's weird, this is so weird to say this
on the air. Jill, you wrote that bridge break you Off?
I forgot she wrote that. Did she get that? That's
what I'm thinking about that right now? Wait a minute,
now is your time for all apologies? That? Wait? I

(01:06:50):
could actually I could do a whole episode alone on
the drama that was break you Off. By the time
he got to Jill, it wasn't even break you off.
It was magic faucet whatever it was, uh your metaphorical Yeah, wait, Jill,

(01:07:14):
you don't remember it like old Jill Scott poem. Okay,
so you know the second part, you know the second
part that the second part of the song that music sings, right,
he changed the words, but that was that was Jill's course,
and it was like it was it was some sort

(01:07:37):
of metaphorical uh definition of whatever, like i'll you know,
I'll stroke something and then your turntaphor. I wrote that.
The only part they kept was the baby, baby baby,

(01:07:59):
and then you're it were different. But I think I
think carbon that sounds foreign to you, Joe. I think
magic Fawcett, it sounds elementary. No you you break you off?
Started with weird enough. Kicky Wyatt cut to reach all right,
Who's who's the guy that invented the King of Comedy? Uh?

(01:08:21):
Oh no, no no, but uh the guy that that
promoted the other Black Marvey, not Al Hayman, but whoever
that guy is that, I mean he's the Will Packard

(01:08:44):
of kind of Al Hayman Jr. For the comedy. He's
the reason why Harvey, Steve Harvey and Mack and and
all those eccentric the entertainers are the stars they are now.
He's the one that through the Kings of Comedy that
Spikes shot. He had an idea to have a black
SNL and we shot that, uh that pilot in two

(01:09:08):
thousand and one, and it was like the Roots were
the house band, think of SNL. We shot a full
blown up with the earthquake and whoever the black comedians
were that were popping at the time shot this thing,
and the Roots with the house band and Kiki White
and music were sitting in with us and just sucking around.
That's how Breaking Off gets birthed. And it was like, hey,

(01:09:29):
that song we didn't sound check. That was pretty cooler
and let's let's do it. And so then it went
for music too. I think Alicia had stowed us up
seven times, and then Gerald LeVert did his version. Who
had he technically did the best version I want. Then
Jill wrote it and then that didn't work out, and

(01:09:51):
then I think, yep, that was my plan. That was
my plan. It was also Frankie Beverly, no, no, no, no,
I had three George Benson, Gerald LeVert, does he make it?
And Frankie Beverly. I don't know that. That was when

(01:10:12):
I was twelve. That was my list. That mustache. Okay,
maybe I really was fabulous because I wasn't twelve years
old thinking about Aretha Franklin ship when I was right,

(01:10:34):
right right, yeah, but yeah, that song went around the world.
Then then it went to Blow's version was the most
curious because he was crying on his version, like and
then somehow just wound up back to break you off.
But yeah, it's so by the time all that was
done then yeah, complexity was done in like ten minutes.

(01:10:54):
So I love that song. I love that song. I
like it when it's it's easy like that, when it's
you don't even think about it, it's just happening. That's
so fun, and then you go on to the next thing.
So how did I hear about it? I was on street.
I was in North Philly. I think I think I
was probably headed to my theater job. I don't know,

(01:11:18):
I'm not sure, probably, and it was coming out of
one of the hair beauty supply places. It was, you know,
it wasn't on the radio yet. It was on the
radio when I heard when radio. When I heard it
for the first we are horrible, we trash. Wait wait

(01:11:40):
she We played the record on the radio on the
game out of the stores on Street. I was coming
to get probably a perm or something, and I was
walking from the beauty supply place. It was coming out
of every store and I heard the beginning and I
got all excited. I was like, oh, ship, my my

(01:12:04):
inner you know, my inner self. I'm just so pleased,
and nobody knows. And I was like, oh my god,
even when it comes on, nobody's gonna know it's me.
I'm so excited. And then I heard a voice that
was not my own and I was like, motherfuck, that's Erica,
my dude, and I'm looking there's nobody to talk to.
I don't know anybody, you know, I don't know anybody.

(01:12:26):
I can't share this story with anybody. I mean, I
were cell phones. I just think. I think. I just
walked to the end of the block. And by the
time I got there, I was like, ericaby do singing
my song? Okay, no, no, I I as a writer

(01:12:48):
to to go from ZIP to a Grammy Award winning
singer singing your song like I was like, I'm in,
I'm in. I can't even deny that. And then you
guys were like, well, let's take her on the road.
And then I had that horrible lawyer who tried to
gank you all for all of this money. It was horrible.
Luckily we were able to work that out. Oh it

(01:13:12):
was terrible. She was just trying to bleed you dry
to sing a hook to one song. I didn't do
anything else but sing one hook. And then you took
me on the road and and treated me like a
newbie and left me in Paris. Wow. Wait wait wait,

(01:13:32):
wait wait wait wait. That came through. I don't know
if you heard that they left. They left, there was
a ticket at the desk for me to go home. Luckily, luckily,
I got the ticket and had to figure out how
to get to the airport, because you know, the French,

(01:13:54):
they don't like if you don't speak French. And they
have found a way to get to the airport through
the airport. At the time, they didn't have English translation
on anything in the French airport. In the in the
Paris airport, you could. You could left my ass in Paris,

(01:14:18):
and I learned everything. I learned everything from you. I'm
gonna say I'm mayor, but from the roots. I learned
how I don't want to travel. I learned how I don't.
I don't know about how you are now. But they

(01:14:40):
put me in a hotel that it was across the
street from their hotel. I think we were in Detroit,
and they said, your hotel is over there, and I
was like over here. They were like, yep, right across
the street. Clearly, the smell of cigarette smoke was so strong.
When I walked in the front door, I was like,

(01:15:00):
I gotta take a shower. I gotta take a shower.
I'm on a bus full of dudes. I can't. I
gotta take a shower. So I go in the room
and and it's you know how, it's when the woodworks
have been painted again and again and again again. Yeah,
the bad eye question. I was like, okay, I can't

(01:15:22):
do that. So I took all the towels and I
put them in tub, and I showered and dried off
with my clothes and got out of there. But while
I was in the shower, I had my luggage up
against the door because on the outside they were like,
I told you back my money on so let me

(01:15:45):
understand it. So this was a hotel. This is a motel.
Like you opened the door and it led to outside.
It led to crazy house. It was a small house
with winding steps that they called the hotel that I
think they used prostration. That was a damn halfway house.
But that's where I was staying. Yes, yeah, it's explains

(01:16:08):
a lot because I bet you on that tour in
Switzerland and I was like, man, she showed it short
with the hello nice okay she was, Yeah, damn y'all
had Jill in the lack of Wanna blues house. I
feel like everybody has to have they have to be
haze to a certain degree. It's a writer. It was

(01:16:32):
the same way with theater, is the same way with
this business, is the same way with touring. Y'all will
do this. This is my favorite. You never you didn't smoke.
But the guys would be like, yeah, yeah, man sounds
so oh. Trek is good for that. Trek don no
he is admittedly so he don't. It was it was everybody.

(01:16:55):
The only person that was nice to me. Come all
was nice to me, and m Kamal was nice to me.
And Hub would occasionally hub okay, okay. There was a
gentleman there. Yes, he would tell me you're doing okay

(01:17:20):
and I was saying okay. Other than that, that was it.
I learned so much. I learned so much. Thank you.
Did I ever tell you thank you? That I ever
tell you? Thank you so so so much my life.
I feel like if we had the sound bite of
Miss Sophia saying, woman ain't chafe in the house full
of me, bail Yeah, that's the roughest tour I've ever

(01:17:48):
been on, and maintain that from that whole tour that
that throw was beautiful. It made Bahamada go, wait, somebody
sucking with me? Like, yeah, my barber had my hair
looking like it was gorgeous. Man, remember barber's Oh man, Yeah,

(01:18:11):
thank you, So Jill, damn it. It's okay, Okay, it's okay.
I mean I've done everything. Happens for a reason, nothing
but none of this would have happened if not for
the other thing. So right, it's like our first real
extended conversation is lasted more than an hour in our
twenty years of knowing each other. And now I understand

(01:18:33):
why she ended up working with jazz jail ladies and gentlemen.
You hate to hear it. I hate to say it,
but you know, hey, it is what it is. That's
only part one, Part two part interview with Jill Scott.

(01:18:54):
Next week. We promise you, promise you more, more and more, Jill,
I know, I know it was cool, right and then
I had to come in and I know anyway, q
l s. We We'll see y'all next week with part
two of Jill Scott. Thank You. What's Love Supreme is

(01:19:19):
a production of my Heart Radio. More podcasts for my
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