Jill Scott Scores First #1 on Billboard 200 - Tops U.S. Album Chart

LOS ANGELES (Billboard)- R&B singer Jill Scott celebrates her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as her fourth studio effort, "The Light of the Sun," debuts atop the list with 135,000 sold according to Nielsen SoundScan.

She's been notching hits on the chart beginning with her 2000 debut, "Who Is Jill Scott?," rose to a No. 17 peak the following year. Since then, she's released three more studio albums, a live set and a collaborations collection.

-Jill Scott: The Billboard Cover Story A word that captures Jill Scott's vibe of late? "Free."

"That's the word I've been using," Scott says with a laugh. She's calling in from Baltimore, one of the stopovers on a promotional tour in support of her new album, "The Light of the Sun." With its June 21 release, Scott -- singer, songwriter, actor, poet -- not only ends a four-year hiatus from new music, but her fourth studio album is the first project under a recently minted distribution partnership between her Blues Babe Records and Warner Bros.

"It's exciting, because it's on my own terms," Scott says. "I feel like my eyes are going to bulge out of my head. It's like starting all over again. Music shouldn't be a chore or feel like any kind of burden. It's free and alive. And that's where I am."

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