*This was my first ‘GuideLive’ cover story and my first interview with Jill Scott: she was warm, sweet, open and I hated the fact that our chat was condensed so tightly for space (maybe I’ll spin a remix version, a sister got DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP). Enjoy and learn the story behind one of her most affecting songs, keep it fly Ms. Jilly, much love!!!*

For the record, poet- turned-performer Jill Scott assumes many roles: daughter, wife, homegirl, artist and community activist. One she refuses to play, however, is diva.

Even as her powerful pipes and poignant prose have packed venues, sold millions of albums and earned her a Grammy, Ms. Scott, 32, still considers herself an everywoman.

“Don’t put me on no pedestal, because I don’t fit,” she says modestly by phone from her native Philadelphia during a rehearsal break for her national “Big Beautiful” tour. “There’s no man greater than me, and no man is lesser than me, either.”

Her second studio release, last August’s Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2, is a voluptuous follow-up to 2000’s 2 million-selling debut, Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1.

Who Is earned three Grammy nominations and had fans instantly clamoring for an encore. But after releasing 2001’s live album, Experience: Jill Scott 826+, Ms. Scott took a breather to marry her longtime love, Lyzel Williams.

“I took some time off to experience my first year of marriage. I’m noticing the difference between us being friends, to being girlfriend and boyfriend, then fiancés, then being married. My whole personality changed.”

She also offers no apology for taking four years to release Beautifully. “I just let it come as it’s supposed to come, I can’t force it. We ended up creating 60 songs, and when it was done, I could just tell. I’ve got a great source of support in the people who purchase the music; they’re listening to the lyrics, and that’s where the strength of this album is.”

Beautifully retains the same whimsical warmth of her first album, with songs that speak of society (“Rasool”) and family ties (“Family Reunion”). In a soul-searing love letter to the black man, “The Fact Is (I Need You),” a sister drops her superwoman cape to reveal vulnerability. Ms. Scott says the plea was so universal that she had to convey it.

“I feel that black men definitely don’t know their worth to us, and I don’t know if black women know their worth to us as well. Not just to kill the spider or carry the trash out, although I’m hoping that you would. And I don’t mean just any male, one who sits around the house, doesn’t make any effort and waits for you to do everything. I’m not talking about him, because nobody needs him.”

Judging from the brisk sales of Beautifully and the Grammy award she received Sunday, the eloquent Ms. Scott doesn’t have to worry about being misunderstood.

“If I put my heart and my spirit first, the music will do well. If I mean what I do, instead of doing it because of the means it can incur, then I will succeed. I talk to my audience and I share with them, and I make friends through the music, as well.”

And she’ll certainly stay busy.

In addition to the tour, Ms. Scott will release her first book of poetry, The Moments, The Minutes, The Hours this spring. She also works with the Blues Babe Foundation, a community group that she created in her hometown two years ago to help the area’s disadvantaged youth.

“We help where it’s needed. If you have a community center and it needs tennis nets, we get them. If the elementary school library has closed down from lack of funds, we open it back up. We send kids to college, the ones who are really trying to do the damn thing and have B’s instead of the straight A’s that normally get the scholarship,” she says. “I feel like I’ve been so blessed, there’s no reason not to help others.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McMsaLb8Fgw