January 31–February 7, 2002

cover story

She’s Due

With an album out and a baby on the way, Philly soul singer Jaguar Wright is ready to deliver.

by Ainè Ardron-Doley

Catpower: Jaguar honed her rambunctious, freewheeling style at the Five Spot’s weekly Black Lily showcase. photo: Monica Hoover

It’s a cold night in New York City and Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall is packed to capacity. Philly hip-hop stars The Roots are the headliners, but the stage is frequented by special guests looking to swipe some spotlight for themselves.

Sporting a head full of freshly done braids and decked in a stoplight-red maternity tunic, up-and-coming Phily soul singer Jaguar steps onstage, her belly leading the way. Lending her vocals to "What You Want" with The Roots, it isn’t long before Jag commands all eyes on her.

Standing front and center as The Roots pump up the volume, Jag plays call and response with the audience before launching into "Ain’t Nobody Playin’."

Whatcha think this a game
Ain’t nobody playin’
Thought I told you before
Don’t you come knocking on my door!

Jag bellows with no-nonsense authority. Spinning around in her stilettos, she swings her bootie to the crowd for some classic Jag ass-shaking.

A little later, Ms. Wright stalks the stage with Jay-Z as they kick a fiery version of "Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)," reprising their duet from MTV’s Unplugged in January. The scattin’ power of the Philly newbie rivals the superstardom of Jigga as they prowl the stage, trading improv verses. She was not brought here just to sing hooks between rants from her motor-mouthed male counterparts. Jaguar has no problem switching gears from soul singer to MC.

It’s just about noon at Larry Gold’s The Studio, the hit factory on the third floor at Seventh and Willow. In the lounge, the phones are ringing, musicians and artists are ordering take-out and the warmth of the radiators is perfect. It’s a cold, wet, snowy day and Jaguar Wright’s outfitted in a cozy earth-toned poncho and cap. The burgeoning singer/songwriter is in full bloom, six months pregnant with her second child and calmly awaiting the release of her debut album, Denials, Delusions & Decisions (which finally got released last Tuesday). It’s stacked with Wright’s knock-you-on-your-ass vocals and live instrumentation from The City of Brotherly Love’s top talent.

These days, Jag’s busy breaking in her first pair of non-high heel boots, listening to classical music for the baby and balancing last-minute promotions for Denials. Nestled in a deep cushioned chair, she munches on bits of her Phoenix chicken, spring roll, brown rice, veggies and curry potatoes. Gerald Levert and Musiq Soulchild drop past on their way to recording sessions. Jag’s doting husband also makes several calls to check in. Earlier in the day, Jag tripped over her telephone cord and fell. It was a scare, of course. She speaks softly into her cell phone. "Yes honey, I’m OK, [the baby’s] all right. He settled down. I’ll call you, love you too."

Who’s Jaguar Wright? She’s The Roots’ No. 1 protegee, firebrand, mother and wife. This 24-year old rookie is poised to be the next great lady of bold, old, hip-hop soul. With big expectations on the horizon, the past isn’t that distant for Jag.

In February 1999, Jaguar the recording artist didn’t fully exist yet. "I was working at Wawa [in New Jersey, where she lived at the time] and I said, ‘What the fuck am I doing here? This is so not where I belong.’ So I quit!" she bellows.

It was about this time that her vocal coach let Jag in on a little industry secret: "Part-time artists don’t ever become full-time stars." February ’99 was also the drop date for The Roots’ breakthrough album, Things Fall Apart. At the record release party at Brave New World (on Seventh and Arch streets), Jag would link up with Leslie Arnette-Pina and producer Scott Storch, landing her an opening slot at Black Lily, Philly’s esteemed women’s live performance platform. The first time Jag graced the stage at the Lily she deep-moaned the words to what would become the first track on her album, "The What If’s," a saucy ode to the haunting complexities of a relationship. The performance turned the right heads. Soon after, Jag moved back to Philly, became a headliner at Black Lily and criss-crossed the nation with The Roots on the Okayplayer Tour.

"New Jersey was never my home. Philly is my home. This is where my family came from, this is where my friends are, where my work is," she says of her precious city roots.

Jag’s childhood — back when she was known as Jaquelyn Wright — didn’t offer too much space for her choice of music. "We had to sneak to listen to secular music," she says. "I wouldn’t say that I’d call [my upbringing] strict — I wasn’t so easy to deal with, I had a mind of my own, I always have. Growing up in that household really taught me a whole lot. My father really made me a great writer. The reason why I pursue music with such a conviction is because of him. It was something that I loved so much and it was something that he tried to keep me from so tough. I became like a soldier for it, in a weird way. My father has yet to come to any of my shows; he’s seen me on television. My mother came to one of my shows. She came to Unity Day [WDAS’ shindig on the Parkway last summer], she had a good time. My mom knows more about what I do."

Jag remembers dear old dad’s attempt to suppress Jag’s music by throwing her notebook of lyrics into the fireplace many years ago. Her current situation with MCA gives her a sense of déjà vu — with the record label in the suppressive, fatherly role. As scheduled released dates in June, August, October and November came and went, Jag continued to put her time in onstage. She laughs and calls the head of the label, Jay Boberg, a "part-time idiot." MCA’s Michelle Joyce, VP and marketing director at MCA insists, "We chose to release Denials, Delusions and Decisions after Jaguar’s national showcase run, since her live performance is such a big selling point."

With her live rep creating fans at each gig, MCA’s decision just might prove to be a lucrative one. Her over-the-top onstage antics have garnered tremendous critical acclaim from the likes of the Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Newsweek and the New York Times.

Stemming from weekly practice at Black Lily, Jag Wright’s mic-clutching, face-making, all-over-the-stage booty-shaking performance is explosive. And don’t get caught talking to your friend at the show — you just might find yourself in the midst of an R-rated verbal beatdown.

In fact Jag started her career not as a songstress, but as a fast-talking MC. While growing up, singing wasn’t special; everybody could sing as far as she was concerned. "I sang in church, I sang in school — I did it all." Rhyming was more interesting. "That’s how I fell in love with writing. Your lyrics had to be sharp. Hip-hop brought me to poetry and [song] writing."

Jaguar wrote the hook for "What You Want" from The Best Man soundtrack and the first single from Nigerian Afrobeat star Femi Kuti’s latest release. "Nobody every really gave me credit for the hook for The Best Man. [But] I wrote that!" Laughing, she adds, "I know I did — I get the royalty checks."

She also penned all of Denials, Delusions & Decisions, with the exception of her cover of Patti LaBelle’s "Love, Need and Want You." "I don’t want people listening to this records like it’s just a bunch of songs. I want people to hear that’s there’s a story — the same story that’s inside of all of us."

Jaguar is the first "R&B chick" to be tagged with the infamous Parental Advisory sticker. Jag balks, "I make cussin’ sound natural. I’m not vulgar. I make grown-folks music; I don’t make music for kids. It’s grown language, talking ’bout grown shit for grown people." She doesn’t even want people under 16 at her concerts. "I am a mother, I don’t let my son listen to my music."

Jag’s been attracting heavyweight musical comparisons: She can scat like Ella Fitzgerald; vamp across the stage a la Nina Simone; and deliver raw, at times sexually graphic, rappin’ outbursts like Millie Jackson in her prime.

"People compare me to really wonderful people, that’s great. The truth is, it makes sense because I’ve studied all of those women. I grew up listening to them. It’s old soul, it’s everything that I’ve admired and I’d loved that is part of my being, it’s coming out through me."

As far as being smacked with the popular "Neo-Soul" label, Jag mocks the method of categorization, making a face and laughing. "Yeah, I’m black and I wear braids sometimes. I’m more neo-soul than Blu Cantrell or Faith Evans or Usher! Those motherfuckers sing R&B — they don’t sing soul music," Jag complains, referring to the artists who grace the cover of this month’s Vibe magazine.

Jag doesn’t listen to any of those folks, anyhow. "Most of the records I listen to are before 1982," she says. "Everybody’s gotten so caught up in the paper chase, they’ve forgot what’s important — that’s making good music that means something, that’s worthy of some kind of praise."

That sentiment is the basis for Philadelphia’s "Next Movement," the resurrection of the live music aesthetic in soul and hip-hop spearheaded by the Roots, and practiced by Jill Scott, Bilal, Kindred, Alma Horton and Jazmine Sullivan. With the exception of Pino Palladino, the production and talent on Denials is all Philadelphians: James Poyser, Scott Storch, Vikter Duplaix, Larry Gold and, from The Roots, Amir "?uestlove" Thompson, Kamal Gray and Leonard "Hub" Hubbard. "It’s a family record and I think it shows," a proud Jag makes very clear.

With so much emphasis placed on her live performance, recreating the intensity in the studio was a major concern. When mapping out the album, executive producer (and Roots manager) Rich Nichols asked Jag, "How do you take what you do live and put that on record?"

"We knew it had to start with live instrumentation," Jag recalls. "Very few things are programmed on the record, [but] I didn’t want to give too much of my live [show] away."

On the first single, "I Can’t Wait," Jag duets with super-sexy soulman and Germantown native Bilal. Over a lush Sign of The Times-era drumbeat, Thompson and Poyser recreate the exotic, erotic feel of Prince in his heyday as Bilal and Jag wax on about a forbidden, lustful affair. Jag enlists Roots frontman Black Thought to pile on the drama with "Ain’t Nobody Playin’." In this slick, confrontational Black Lily anthem, Jag targets a jealous ex-friend while Thought offers some timely advice.

Like her wild namesake, Jag’s vocals, personality and essence pounce out at you from the stereo system. With her complex vocal gymnastics, she stalks each track with the fire and authenticity missing from pre-packaged radio-ready R&B. "I am a storyteller. That’s what songs are supposed to be, miniature declarations of something," Jag explains. The result is 12 sexy, brutally honest tracks with daring vocals and scatting reminiscent of soul’s earlier eras.

On the very personal, "Lineage," Jaguar galvanizes the mind and the spirit. "I changed the melody — because every time I would sing that melody it would make me cry. It took me five months to write this song." Over sweet, country-feeling rhythms, Jag issues the call to "remember your family":

"I’ll always remember what mama taught me
Always take the bitter with the sweet
I’ll always remember what Auntie taught me
Even when it’s hard to be a lady baby
I’ll always remember what granddaddy said
You’ve got to lay in the bed you made….
And you got to remember everything they taught you
And you got to hold on to what is true
And you got to never forget where you’re coming from."

Thinking back a few years, Jag recalls that she was almost a replacement for Amel Larrieux in the group Groove Theory. "[Producer] Bryce [Wilson] offered me a $20,000 advance check. I had no money. The Roots said ‘we’ll offer you an opportunity to make your own money.’ So, I made the right decision ’cause you ain’t heard shit about Groove Theory. But I’m here."

Even when delays made it seem like her album might be shelved entirely, Jag remained hopeful and confident. "God does things in his own time," she states. If success weren’t imminent, she adds, "I wouldn’t have the Coke commercial [starting to air Feb. 4] to back it up. I wouldn’t have the Jay-Z live to back it up. I wouldn’t have all this great press."

Some people wait their whole life for stardom; Jag’s been waiting for the precious family she’s surrounded by today. "My husband was a very big surprise," she pauses. "My son saved my life and this new baby is completing it. So I have three amazing men in my life. We’re getting our first house and we’re all excited. We’re gonna have a home. I like being mom and I like being wife. I like the idea of family. If I didn’t have ’em, I’d be crazy or I’d just be drunk."

Ending her debut with the soulful epic "Self Love," Jag croons, shouts and advises. "When you get to the end of the record and you hear ‘Self Love,’ I want you to understand that that was the point of the whole album — learning how to get through all this shit. Learning how to love yourself. I appreciate the struggle."

Jaguar Wright will perform live on Soul Train on Feb. 9. Her album, Denials, Delusions & Decisions, is in stores now.