Jill Scott: Tiny Desk Concert

We asked (and asked, and asked). NPR Music finally delivered. One of most requested artists of all time is finally at the Tiny Desk. “I thought about you so much,” Scott tells the audience. “I was, like, ‘One day, Imma be on Tiny Desk!’ ” In celebration of her new album, To Whom This May Concern, her first in just over a decade, the Philadelphia poet shares some new music along with the classics we’ve been yearning for.

Most Jill Scott fans know that her albums are gateways to the live show. For over 25 years, the stage has been where she displays her true artistry as a natural-born performer. Every note and every lyric is sold — sometimes powerful and sometimes gentle, but always with a smile. Which is why she stresses before and after the show that this is “live music,” and these mics aren’t for decoration. As a songwriter, her ability to write for Black women and to Black men has amassed a loyal following, allowing her to sell out shows, whether she has something new to sell or not.

Draped in a dress with patterns that match her colorful and limitless vocal ability, she starts off with “A Long Walk,” from her groundbreaking debut album, Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1, adding a subtle nod to the late D’Angelo. The new songs, “Beautiful People” and “Don’t Play,” are as soulful and sultry as anything in her catalog, but everything reaches a proper climax with a version of “The Way” that made the hair on my arms stand up. Jilly from Philly’s Tiny Desk is here, and it’s exactly what we’ve been waiting for.