Jill Scott has called out narrow-minded ideals of beauty, amid growing concern over the media and fashion industry’s return to a fixation on thin bodies.
The renowned Grammy-winning US artist, 53, said the notion that people are not attracted to “buxom, curvaceous” women was “bulls***”.
“Walking with that level of confidence, taking up space and not apologising for it… they’re walking goddesses,” she said.
Appearing on the The Independent’s Good Vibrations podcast in the first episode of 2026, Scott continued: “They made a whole era about these women, they’re in museums around the world. I love to see it… I love it when I see a confident woman in any shape or size. It’s like, yes queen.”
In the same episode, the “Golden” singer spoke about why she took time away from releasing new music to raise her son as a single mother, and shared a brilliant anecdote about his unwitting celebrity encounter during a visit to the White House when he was six years old.
There was reminiscing about the time she spent with the late Prince, with whom she would dance for “hours”, share meals and enjoy meaningful conversation as the Purple One apparently followed her “from city to city” for about a year.
“He was everything,” Scott said. “He was everything that you think... we had moments where we danced together for four hours or so.... [He was] creative and interesting and very desirous of having meaningful conversation. It was a pleasure to make him laugh.”
She also discussed the impressive list of collaborators she worked with on To Whom This May Concern – her first studio album in 10 years – including DJ Premier, rappers Thierra Whack and JID, Ab-Soul and Adam Blackstone.
As she prepares to star in a new sequel to Tyler Perry’s 2007 comedy-drama Why Did I Get Married?, she reflected on the plot of the original film, in which her character, Sheila, loses weight after splitting from her husband and is portrayed as undergoing a positive transformation.
“It wasn’t a good feeling,” she said of playing the character. “Sheila wasn’t going through anything that I was going through, you know? But I knew that she was a victim in this situation… but I just wanted to make sure there was a spirit of, ‘I hope for her, I root for her.’
“People wanted her to win because she was sincere. She actually loved someone that was cruel to her.”
She continued: “I don’t think that Sheila lost so much weight that she became more beautiful. I think that she was already beautiful… and I don’t think being marginalised into something is going to benefit you, me, or anybody else.
“It’s [about] all of the person: their character, their softness, their strengths. Are they a learner? Is this someone who is curious about things?”
Diving into the themes of her recent single “Pressha”, Scott shared that some of the lyrics were influenced by societal issues, and others were more personal.
“Once upon a time I dated someone that I was absolutely crazy about, and he would play with my affection, you know, gas me up, tell me one thing, and then act completely differently,” she recalled. “It took me a while to get away from that.”
Years later, Scott learned who the man in question had married and realised “it was never going to be me… it wasn’t personal”.
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The full episode of Roisin O’Connor’s Good Vibrations with Jill Scott will be available on all major streaming platforms from Friday 23 January.
To Whom This May Concern, the new album by Jill Scott, is out on 13 February.
