I’ve been reading poetry publicly for 20 years, and this is what you do – you express, you sometimes dig a bit to get a conversation started. That’s the point of poetry. You’re supposed to go, ‘Hmmmm,’ and ‘Woooh!’ – Jill Scott
All I have to do is be me on stage. But acting, I have to be someone else, and walk how they would walk and blink how they would blink. I used to talk about it bad like, ‘Aw man, that person made $10 million a movie?’ But now I understand why they do. I get it now. – Jill Scott
At my aunt’s funeral, I promised myself that I wouldn’t be bound by the belief that I’m supposed to stay in anything – whether it’s a relationship, a job, a house, or a circumstance – if it makes me miserable. She gave me the courage to find my own happiness. – Jill Scott
Heartbreak was the impetus to me writing poems and music in the first place. Over the years, I had my heart broken so badly that if I didn’t find a way to get all the pain out, I was going to lose my mind. I was crazy! Like, wanting to slash tires and smash car windows. Crazy! I was so hurt that I had to write. – Jill Scott
Power doesn’t have to be on such a big scale for powerful things to occur. Within your own home, you can be a powerful woman as a mother, influencing your children’s lives. – Jill Scott
One day, I just got up to read a poem and started singing. I looked around – the reaction was great. And I said, ‘Oh, boy. I like this.’ – Jill Scott
When you get a jean for a larger girl, you have to have them tailored for you. Tailoring is indeed everything. – Jill Scott
I chose ‘No. 1 Ladies’ Detective,’ or I’ll say it chose me, and it was an absolute blessing, for the experience of being in Africa for seven months and learning so many different things, from languages to foods to greetings. On so many levels, it was an incredible experience. – Jill Scott
I truly loved being pregnant and feeling what was going on inside my body and watching it change. It’s difficult to recoup, but still amazing nonetheless. I would have another one. – Jill Scott
I was backstage at the House of Blues in L.A where I was about to perform, and Stevie Wonder and Prince turned up at my dressing room together! Stevie started beat boxing and Prince started singing one of my songs, all of a sudden it was like I was in a cypher with these incredible artists. – Jill Scott
Being a mom, it feels like I did something so powerful and amazing. It’s such a gigantic blessing, and a confirmation that the Creator exists. And all of that has made me feel sexier and stronger. I call it ‘lava in my spine.’ – Jill Scott
The best gift I was ever given was the arts. My mum gave me those on a silver platter. Growing up, her and my grandmother would take me to ballets, classical concerts, even smoky jazz clubs I wasn’t supposed to be in! – Jill Scott
A nutritionist has told me to have very little butter and very little spices, but I can’t live like that. – Jill Scott
There are black marriages that are still going strong 40 years later. You hear so many myths that there aren’t any people making it, but there are. As long as there are some, there’s hope. – Jill Scott
There’s something really magical about having a child – it’s like permission to begin again, start over, reevaluate some things, check yourself. Recognize yourself. – Jill Scott
I’ve done a lot of fighting in my time, and I’m down to do some more. I don’t want to, but you know, there’s just certain things that you can’t sit down and take. – Jill Scott
Sometimes I feel like a Buddhist and I need to chant; sometimes a Baptist and I need to holler and shout; and sometimes I need to be a Catholic and need to purge my sins and confess. It just depends on where I am. – Jill Scott
I am a huge Prince fan. It’s a very rare thing for him to have people open for him. It’s been the Time and Sheila E., and that’s about it. Building a relationship with him has been like a dream come true. I’ve been looking for a mentor, and I feel like I have that in him. – Jill Scott
I’m excited about turning 40. I’ve been an adult for a long time, but there is a difference between being an adult and being a grown-up. I’m someone’s mummy now and I’m enjoying that. I feel as if I’m about to hit my peak. – Jill Scott
When I sing, I have to live in that moment, so my audience can feel that. That is my reason for doing art. – Jill Scott
Common is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and to describe him as a vile rapper because he has an opinion… just says a lot about the state of America. You are allowed to have an opinion in the United States – he’s never harmed anybody, he just has an opinion about a president that wasn’t good for our country. – Jill Scott
I’m the girl that waits for the director to say, ‘I like that,’ or ‘Can you boost it up?,’ or ‘Can you pull it down?’ I’m that kind of actor. I started in theater, so that’s the feedback that I’m accustomed to. It’s the feedback that I really thrive off of. – Jill Scott
For anyone who feels they are overwhelmed by their job, or maybe they take their job too seriously or are working too hard, I say go to a safari, particularly the Okavango Delta, and just be humbled. – Jill Scott
People is, I think, it’s their nature – some people’s nature, in a way, to be angry or jealous or just spiteful about somebody else’s blessings. – Jill Scott
We all get angry and jealous sometimes, none of us is perfect, but we should not try to be different. – Jill Scott