I'm gonna give a shout out to Philadelphia musicians after watching Jill Scott's music video for her song "Shame," since she is "the magnificent." In the video, Jill elicits the help of some of her homegrown Philly comrades like Black Thought from The Roots and Eve to spice up her project. Director Devin Hampton does a good job of bringing the down-to-earth flavor of Philly to the video. For me, the big girls in red, referred to as The A Group, upstage everybody, including Jill and Eve. The two guys dancing behind Jill are energetically bringin' it old school style, and the idea of having the trumpet and trombone players jump up when they hit their notes is just special. The video was filmed in Philadelphia at the Cecil B. Moore Recreation Center, which is a special place for Jill, since she frequented the place as a child and decided to step in and save the center when it was scheduled to be torn down.
Jill's "Light of the Sun" CD debuts on June 28. I don't buy many CDs these days, but I might have to break down and purchase this one, since both Gigi and I love Ms. Scott's artistry. She's our girl.
Check out "Shame" and one of Gigi's favorite videos right now, "Proceed 2" by The Roots, featuring Roy Ayers. This version of "Proceed" is one of the most brilliant remixes of a song that I've ever heard.
"What if you could just -- just blink yourself away?"
