Jill Scott’s long-awaited return to music has finally arrived with the release of her fourth studio album, The Light Of The Sun. In recent years, Scott has been primarily known for her acting chops, transitioning with ease from the small screen (HBO’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) to the big screen (Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?). Scott’s latest effort picks up where she left off nearly four years ago as she explores familiar themes of love, relationships and personal growth.

“Blessed” is a lyrical reflection on what matters most to Scott now: “My grandma almost lived to see 92, I’m so blessed/My son was born healthy and beautiful, I’m so blessed.” The arrangement of the song parallels with the direction of her career and personal life as she is the proud new mother of a baby boy. Scott opens with a flowing freestyle, which she spits like a seasoned emcee, and though there are touches of hip-hop (i.e., record scratching,  staccato-like play on the words “blessed” and “yes”) that remain throughout the song, it eventually evolves with Scott’s mature and fluid vocals.

“So In Love,” featuring the soulful crooner Anthony Hamilton, is possibly one of the first duets that I recall hearing from Scott in her decade-plus long career. The song takes on a refreshing “less is more” approach with its simple, laid back groove and a wonderful vocal collaboration between Hamilton and Scott. Hamilton’s signature gravel-tinged, “old-soul” quality coupled with Scott’s sassy, attitude-laden lyrics makes for an instant classic. Perhaps this could be the beginning of another beautiful “marriage” in black music (e.g., Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell).

“All Cried Out (Redux)” offers yet another surprise collaboration on this album. The human beatbox master Doug E. Fresh starts things off with his signature “vocal percussion” just as Scott enters the room. While the first minute or so is a powerful lament over lost love, the following half of this (brief) song not only includes the welcome addition of ragtime piano, but it also shifts into a completely new direction: “No more tears for you, no baby, it’s all over/I’m moving on now, I’m taking over.” Again, the arrangement coupled with the choice of instruments not only changes the overall sound (from a classic hip-hop mixtape to swing era jazz), but it’s a wonderful marriage to Scott’s shift in attitude that transforms this song from a dirge into to a female empowering anthem.

While the first half of The Light Of The Sun possesses a nostalgic quality that’s familiar in Scott’s arsenal of hit songs, she takes more risks in the latter half of the album by choosing more contemporary sounds to mesh with her poetic and often insightful lyrics. And the gamble definitely pays off on songs like “Some Other Time” and “So Gone (What My Mind Says),” as she embraces this shift with a bold statement in the beginning of the song: “You’re gonna hear the pages turn.”

Her latest album has definitely turned a new “page” in music for it is not only an amalgam of her musical influences (hip-hop, R&B, jazz, blues, spoken word) but it also shows off her range as a vocalist (feisty one moment, vulnerable the next) and as an artist who knows how to choose the right music that best compliments her overall sound.  Though the first half of the album is quite strong, it is (much to my surprise) the second half of The Light Of The Sun that will hopefully move black music ahead and out of stagnancy.

Jill Scott – Shame by missjillscott