Jill Scott

Aired: 3/24/10 Episode 11017 "Disabled"

Jill Scott was born in North Philadelphia in 1972 and was raised by her mother and grandmother. A deeply loved and gifted child, she was talking at eight moths old and reading by the age of four.

Jill joined a local theater troupe during college and earned a spot in the Canadian cast of "Rent" and began to perform poetry readings. When she returned from Canada, she befriended big names in Philadelphia's artistic community and from there, her music career took off.

Kathy has supplied voices for characters on the animated series "Dilbert" and "The Simpsons," and she appeared in a dual role on the X-Files as well as in Eminem's video, "The Real Slim Shady," which was co-directed by Dr. Dre.

Encouraged by her mentors, Jazzy Jeff and Ahmir-Khalib Thompson from The Roots, Scott wrote several songs for a demo CD. One of her songs, "You Got Me" was performed by Erykah Badu and The Roots and resulted in a Grammy. During this time, Jill was also collaborating with Will Smith and Common and worked on soundtracks for "Down to Early," "Wild Wild West" and "In Too Deep."

After the release of her debut CD "Who Is Jill Scott? Words & Sounds, Vol. I" in 2000; Jill quickly became a household name. The album would go on to receive three Grammy nominations, three NAACP Image Awards and one Soul Train Award.

Jill Scott has since been concentrating on crossing over her music appeal to the acting world.