October 22, 2026 |
The crowd loves Jill Scott. In fact, the crowd utterly adores Jill Scott. 26 years on from the release of her seminal album Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1, the American artist took to London’s Royal Albert Hall last week to tour her 2026 album To Whom This May Concern, and demonstrated the power of growing with your craft. Scott’s raw singing talent has always been there, as has her knack for penning her experiences of dating, romance and Black womanhood with equal parts rich emotion and wry wit.
But what made this performance particularly special was being party to her wisdom, acquired across years of dating, breaking up, sex and celibacy, that she dolled out with a deliciously large dose of cheekiness. Mid-way through the performance, she cackled through a steaming soliloquy about the joy of communicating your desires with a well-endowed lover who wasn’t quite sure how to play the hand he had been dealt. The crowd were locked in, laughing and cheering along with friends and strangers, each one pulled in by a magnetism that exudes off of Scott the moment she steps on stage.
Jill Scott is undoubtedly one-of-a-kind. It showed up in her look (a flowing, cobalt blue chiffon number she paired with various elaborate headpieces and ruffled cape), it showed up in her band (her flutist had the crowd in a joyous uproar when he played Chaka Demus and Pliers’ Murder She Wrote during her band acknowledgements) and it definitely showed up in the music.
To Whom This May Concern is a modern musical masterpiece. Across the evening, Scott seamlessly slid between the rousing instrumentals and peaking high notes of Be Great, to the softer textures of Beautiful People, to the swaggering, hip-hop sensibilities of Norf Side. The crowd was there with her on every beat, singing back to Scott with a viscerality only possible in a crowd that has a deep attachment and adoration for the person on stage. It was wonderful to see. I didn’t stop smiling all evening. Jill Scott has star power up to her eyeballs.
