Album Review: Jill Scott - To Whom This May Concern

Jill Scott

To Whom This May Concern

**** out of *****

Jill Scott let inspiration come to her, she didn't rush the muse, and it took eleven years for To Whom This May Concern to form. The result is a record based in neo-soul, but not afraid to genre hop, stretch boundaries, praise those who need it while lashing out when called for. 

Working with twenty producers and a whole gaggle of guests may seem overwhelming, but perhaps the most surprising aspect of To Whom This May Concern is that Scott manages to fuse everything through her style/sound, resulting in a complete full album journey that is worth taking. Her vocals shine and are the focal point as she paints with broad musical strokes, working with hip-hop, soul, gospel, jazz, disco, funk, and R&B. 

The striking album cover artwork is by the Chicago artist Marcellous "Infinito 2017" Lovelace, as the record opens with a brief synthy-syrupy beat as "Dope Shit" (featuring Maha Adachi Earth)" finds Scott stating her intentions before really kicking up the jams with "Be Great" (featuring Trombone Shorty). The funky, upbeat number is an album highlight with layers of vocals, skittering beats, synths, brass and more as the joyful vibes flow. 

 

Scott's neo-soul roots are well represented here on a bunch of tracks like "Àṣẹ", "Sincerely Do" and "Beautiful People", all of which use smooth beats, poetic lyrics and soothing vocals. Some of the best of this style are "Liftin' Me Up" which sprinkles in a pinch of gospel flavor and "Offdaback" which uses piano and Vincent "VT" Tolan's fantastic bass work to set the tone while Scott shouts out her family and musical heroes including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Tina Turner and more. 

Not looking to play it safe, after a "Disclaimer" Scott drops into a 1920's influenced jazz tune that calls out her frustration explicitly. Her hip-hop outings are exciting as she partners with Tierra Whack for a north Philadelphia focused rhyme on top of a beat from DJ Premier while "BPOTY" calls out the biggest pimps of the year (fake preachers and big pharma) before Too Short arrives to do his thing.

While To Whom This May Concern can drag a bit at times ("A Universe", "The Math"), Scott seems fearless on the record as she dips into a P-Funk inspired get down jam that gets loose on "Don't Play" while "Right Here Right Now" straps on the roller skates for a disco fueled club ready party track. An effort like "To B Honest" (with JID) ties a bunch of Scott's styles together in a love song that touches on hip-hop, jazz and funk, all around amazing bass work from Paul "DW" Wright. 

The long playing album was well worth the eleven year wait as Jill Scott followed her muse towards success on the rich To Whom This May Concern. 

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