Where Is Jill Scott?: The Significance of Cultural Mulattoes on Disrupting Class Identity Archetypes

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the occurrence and fluidity of cross-cultural exchanges exhibited through cultural mulattoes. Jill Scott serves as a working example of cultural mulatto characteristics, a person who can be a black urban, working-class person with middle-class aspirations and who navigates between working-class and middle-class. The framework contextualizes a qualitative critical, interpretive word based approach to the music of Jill Scott's first album, Who is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds, Vol. 1 as Scott navigates between classes. The position allows for further exploration on how a person obtains and executes social, political, and cultural capital--as in the case of cultural mulattoes--to increase a person's probability of having privilege and earning potential in real social settings.