The sexy, bold, always soulful and never disappointing Jill Scott has taken over the charts this week with the release of her new album Woman. This is the fifth album for Scott and has been much anticipated by her fans worldwide. Though it has quickly made its way to the number one spot on the Billboard Top 200 Albums and Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums charts there have been some who have claimed that it is more of the same from this artist. I agree but I do not see that as being a negative in this particular case.
Jill Scott has long since proven herself to be a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. Her sensual voice is the perfect fit for her signature R&B style. No matter what she is singing she delivers a performance that seems to take one back to the roots of rhythm and blues. Critics claim that she keeps pumping out the same albums. Not true. Every album has different subject matter that she deals with. Has her sound changed? No. Her playful sense of humor and sexuality pour from her lyrics in every track. But Scott doesn’t need to change her sound to maintain her fanbase.
Part of what her fans love so much about her music is that she is able to give us fresh content with a classic ’90s R&B feel. She doesn’t have to shake up her sound from one album to another in order to remain relevant. Every time you press play on a Jill Scott album and her voice begins to fill the room it is like an old friend has come to visit. It’s not “more of the same”. It’s familiar and comforting in the best way possible. Her music plays like a story; a conversation that you want to listen to over and over again.
This particular album is, thankfully, exactly that. It is just what you would expect going in. It contains tracks like Prepared which focuses on those self talks that we can all relate to. She isn’t afraid to touch on the topics of relationships and sex throughout the album but she does so in a way that is both fearless and classy. She doesn’t need to shock anyone or be anything but the lady that she has always shown herself to be in order to get her point across. But don’t think that the whole album is slow R&B. Her track Run Run Run is sure to brighten any day and make you want to dance.
Woman is exactly what you would expect from Jill Scott. She doesn’t over or under do any work that she puts out and this album is no different. There are artists out there today who should be switching up their style in order to keep things fresh for their fans. I personally hope that Jill Scott maintains her own personal brand of music for years to come. It is not so much what fans have come to expect from her but what they have grown to love. This is not Jill Scott’s first time at the top of the charts and it surely will not be her last.
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