'Black Girls Rock 2015' Jill Scott Talks Musical Inspirations & "Afromation of Hard Work"

One of Sunday night's biggest performers at Black Girls Rock was the fabulous Jill Scott! MStars News reporter, Star Connor, joined BET on the white carpet to chat with her as she joined celebrity women including Black Girls Rock host, Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish), Regina King (American Crime), Tatyana Ali and more.

This year FLOTUS, Michelle Obama joined the number of presenters while legendary stars including Neo Soul singer, Erykah Badu, Jada Pinkett Smith, Selma director Ava Duvernay and Cicely Tyson took home awards.

Scott stopped by to reveal her inspiration for her music and what Black Girls Rock means to her. As a child, she probably dreamed on moments like last Sunday's. The singer who grew up in Philly said: "Being from North Philadelphia there were some scary times and there were some amazing times. There were some mean times, me times." She continued, "But to be here, it's more than a dream come true. I couldn't have put this together in any way, shape or form."

When it came to her education and growing up as a black female, Jill Scott said: "I was happy to go to school. I was head over heels to be in a apprentice program theater company." The school wasn't cheap as the songstress added, "It was $150 a week, I was thrilled to work demolition, because I could eat."

"I was thrilled to be a maid for a theater company just so I could get free classes. All of this is really the afromation of what hard work can do," Scott noted. The Why Did I Get Married star continued, "I'm looking around and I'm standing near Lalah Hathaway, who's one of my favorite singers of all time."

For the record, Hathaway also performed Sunday night as well as did Fantasia, Ciara and Faith Evans.

Scott added, "I'm kicking it with MC Lyte who I grew up listening to, and who I have lunch with at the mall sometimes. I'm looking around at all the women," Jill says, as Ciara walks by. She continues, "There's Ciara with her beautiful self, I mean who gets to do this?" Scott asked with a happy look on her face as she appeared to be thankful.

"When I look around I'm seeing journalist. Black women journalist, and camera women, and I'm seeing makeup artist, and I'm seeing stylist, I'm seeing hair stylist and I'm looking around at all of us....it takes a village and sometimes we don't get the jobs that we should but tonight we are."

Scott, a powerful woman by herself, represents a "Black Girl that Rocks," but when MStars News reporter, Star Connor, asked the songstress what does that actually mean to her, Scott said, "It means a moment to celebrate us. To really authentically celebrate us without competition, without any level of funk attached to it. We're all here celebrating each other and I love this feeling."

When it comes to inspiration, Jill notes that she is inspired by Jazz. She named some women that influenced her musical skills like Sarah Vaughan "because she floats on air like a leaf in the breeze. Ella Fitzgerald because she's perfection. Rachelle Ferrell, who can do any single thing with that voice, Lalah Hathaway because it's smoke, it's chocolate and it's sweet and it's rough and passionate," Scott said as she got overwhelmed naming famous inspirations that were African-American females.

Scott continue naming artists after claiming that she was forgetting a lot of notable artists. She noted that "Jazz is the inspiration for everything. It's how you don't fall in the traps of other music." Jill explains, "Of course I sing R&B but I also sing Blues, and I also sing Funk, and I also sing Classical, but Jazz is to me the mother of everything."

Beverly Bond, Black Girls Rock founder, created an event that celebrates black women in one night, honoring their success in the career fields of entrepreneurship, education and entertainment.

#BLACKGIRLSROCK encore airs Tuesday night on BET at 7 pm. EST.