William Scott: Press

William Scott Interview
From Ramon Johnson,
New York Times/About.com

Who's Afraid of William Scott?

I'm an idealist when it comes to positive movements in the world and I wholeheartedly believe one person can be the catalyst for change. One such foot soldier is up-and-coming recording artist William Scott. Humble beginnings never stopped this artist from spreading his "positive poison" to the masses through freesoul lyrics and a movement of his own. Between The Lines contributor Chris Azzopardi says of Scott, "With his rich, velvet voice, Scott's album, Who's Afraid of William Scott? melts together traditional and modern R & B, hip-hop and soul music with introspective lyrics that examine our social path."

I had an opportunity to speak with William Scott about his music, his movement and (in true Gay Life style) his advice for other young gay men trying to make it in a world saturated with negativity. Here's what William Scott had to say in this exclusive interview.

-Who's Afraid of William Scott?

There's always hope in a world saturated with negativity and violence. Underneath all the pain lies an expanding light, a message and a movement the circumvents all adversity through the lyrical message of love and self-affirmation. One of the leaders of this positive wave is openly-gay freesoul recording artist William Scott. What is freesoul? According to William Scott, it allows for an expression that is influenced by many different genres from gospel to rock. And who is William Scott? He's the product of influences from Prince, Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye; he's the self-affirming result of a painful beginning; and the hopeful future of the gay African-American community.

I had a few words with William Scott about his music, his movement and his advice for turning positive visions into reality.

When did your music career begin?

I started singing for my grandmother at age 6 in her living room.
I'd perform Kenny Rogers and Ray Charles for her. I was in several music groups in middle and high school music groups up until college. I left college early to come to New York City and pursue a career in music. I was in the closet at first because that's what I thought I had to do. My personal beliefs and understandings hadn't evolved to see that there was an alternative to what everybody else was doing. Now, I'm happy with every aspect of myself- being a man; being an African-American man and a homosexual.

I feel a lot of pain in your music, which then shifts to an affirming message. Is this pain yours or what you absorb from the world?

It's a collage of all of that. There is definitely pain in my music from me. I've dealt with a lot of family pain. Just being a black family in America is painful. Seeing my family struggle to get to work; seeing my mother as a battered wife; seeing my brother as a black man trying to survive. There aren't enough alternatives presented to us [black people]. We're still striving to meet the white standard.

There is also pain in my music directly from my struggle as a same-gender loving man coming to terms with his spirituality. We [gays] run the black churches yet we're still not welcome there. I'm trying to present an alternative to the pain in my music. I want to show the younger generations that despite hardship, I can be a strong black man who cares about himself and others. We need a lot more alternatives and role models. I needed to see strong black homosexual male figures growing up. If could have seen black role models such as this, my journey would have been a lot less painful.

What are your feelings about the down low in the African-American community?

When so many of us hide behind the down low, it leaves no alternative for sexuality in the community. That doesn't work for all us, which is why self-identity is so important. Until we stop hiding we'll never be seen or respected.

On your web site, experiencewilliamscott, you talk about the Scott Free Movement. Tell us more about this movement.

The Scott Free Movement is about uniting [African-American] people, making us more aware of our divides, then finally bringing those divides together to build a community. African-Americans need to unite again like we did in the 60s and 70s. I think people have gotten too comfortable with the present situation.

My music inspired the movement. There is a way to make massive change. When I discovered the inspiration for this album, I was also inspired to make physical changes in the community. While my music is more of a sub-conscious movement, The Scott Free Movement allows people to physically become involved in their community.

Are people tired of hearing fluffy positive messages?

There are many people who think positive messages are corny, but there's so much negativity in the world today I feel a need to present a self-affirming message through my music. People that try to do good and positive things should be appreciated. I think music and entertainment arts are integral in spreading a new positive poison that touches the masses.

What are the tools same-gender loving people need to make their positive vision a reality?
Be present in life and engage in something that's a hugely important catalyst for change.
Be yourself and affirm who you truly are at every opportunity.
Seek the truth despite your fears. In truth comes greatness and empowerment.
Join the movement and experience William Scott at www.experiencewilliamscott.com.

Jazz-not-Jazz.com

William Scott Who’s Afraid of William Scott?
reviews soul — Wednesday, 26. April 2006



Regular readers of jazz-not-jazz certainly know my desire for music that moves more than your body, for music with a political message. And an album that offers more than one political alibi track these days seems to be as rare as humane working condition in Chinese sweatshops. Well, Who’s Afraid Of William Scott is one of these rare albums that combines a message with a fresh blend of soul, R&B, hip hop and pop which at its best evokes memories of soul music’s halcyon days and Stevie, Curtis, Donny or Marvin.
William Scott labels his music as FreeSoul. Maybe it’s free because he’s proud to be black and gay and he isn’t afraid to mention this in his songs (namely Invisible Man). As most fans of black music may know there are quite a few gay singers/musicians but most of them are still in the closet and can’t be seen like invisible men, because they think they may lose their fans, sell less records, lose their record contracts, lose their friends (the term friend is used very loosely here because a real friend would of course stay through thick and thin) or whatever when they’s come out of the closet. So the late Sylvester is still the first who comes to people’s mind when talking about gay black artists. Maybe it was/is still easier these days to be open with your sexuality in the disco/dance music genre. It’s certainly harder in the more homophobic world of hip hop.
However, with the recent announcement that Sony Music launches a gay record label it looks like someone told them that gay people have a lot of money to spend. And with the rootkit desaster we all know how devoid of scruples Sony BMG Music is when it comes to making money. Maybe if CBS/Columbia would’ve come up with a gay label in 1969 (there was no Sony record label back then) it would’ve been innovative and maybe helpful for gay liberation. But in 2006? This is just a silly move from an almost dead dinosaur to make more cash.
Anyway, William Scott has released his debut album Who’s Afraid of William Scott? independently and thus had not to have meet any obligations but could decide freely what he wanted to sing about (another reason to call it FreeSoul).
The album starts with the soulful and pleading Mr. President. As a German, who doubts that just a change in the government without replacing the head himself is sufficient, I guess I rather don’t comment the line “Dear Mr.President we need a real change in the government/ Cause too many lives are spent on war please listen to my two cents“. All About Love is an inspiring uplifting soul song with a message straight out of the 70s (”If we are the higher species then/ Why is it boggling me that/ We can’t see what they see we can’t find a way to love/ Forget all the trivial stuff and/ Love whats inside of us/ So we can spread love to all man“). Act Like is a funky and catchy longing for the good ol’ days when black music actually had soul. In some way this is the musical translation of the article What the F**k Happened to Black Popular Music? by Kenny Drew, Jr.
You Are A Star is a soulful uptempo song with a slight house flavour and an uplifting message. William wrote this song in the awareness “that many people, minority groups such as African Americans and Homosexuals have not been affirmed by society [and] to give us that affirmation and self worth.”
Songs like Revolution or Do It with their hip hop/R&B sound show that William Scott is musically really versatile and don’t want to be pinned. Although musically these songs miss the point for me (and the readers of jazz-not-jazz certainly know about my general problems with rap, urban and today’s R&B). But luckily things get deeper and soulful with tracks like Soul II Soul, Repetition, a beautiful song with just William and an acoustic guitar, or the midtempo delight More To Life. The albums closer, the downtempo soul/rock of Death To The Poet, is another winner and wouldn’t be out of place on an album by Carl Hancock-Rux.
All in all Who’s Afraid of William Scott? is an impressive and musically diverse debut and finally a much-needed album with a political message.

Tracklisting of Who’s Afraid of William Scott?: 1. The Dedication/ 2. Mr. President/ 3. All About Love/ 4. Act Like/ 5. Invisible Man/ 6. You Are A Star/ 7. Revolution/ 8. Little Drum and The Devil/ 9. Do It/ 10. Soul II Soul/ 11. Repetition/ 12. Hold On/ 13. More to Life/ 14. Death to the Poet/ 15. Freedom | released 2005 William Scott Davison

William Scott: No longer 'Invisible'
By Chris Azzopardi
Originally printed 6/1/2006 (Issue 1422 - Between The Lines News)

When Detroit-native William Scott recorded his Web-released debut he avoided all references to "bling bling" and "phat asses."

Instead, the singer-songwriter's progressive political music is modeled after socially charged tunes from soul-masters Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

"We [black gay men] have a hard time being visible on many levels and I think that fight's a constant one," Scott says from his Brooklyn, N.Y. apartment. "It's one of the most poignant thoughts and inspirations for me."

But with bubblegum pop and meaningless tunes dominating mainstream radio, Scott, a fan of culturally progressive music like Donny Hathaway and Lauryn Hill, struggles with the carelessness he hears in today's music. "I honestly don't even listen to the radio anymore because I'm so disappointed with the messages," he says.

It's not like Scott is an old closet-case out of touch with popular culture. He's 26.

"I don't feel that's far away from the target audience [of mainstream radio]," he says. "African-Americans have forgotten a lot of things that have been an influence to our culture in the past and have traded those things for more mainstream and materialistic ideas."

Scott's contributed to four songs on Bell Biv Devoe's 2001 album, "BBD," wrote a song for the soundtrack to "Two Weeks Notice," a film starring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, and has worked with Next, Monifah and producer Doug E. Fresh.

With his rich, velvet voice, Scott's album, "Who's Afraid of William Scott?" melts together traditional and modern R & B, hip-hop and soul music with introspective lyrics that examine our social path.

On "Invisible Man" Scott scrutinizes, through personal experience, a social structure where gay men are hidden beneath a facade, where they're oppressed and not acknowledged by society. "We want the same equality as everyone else does," Scott says. "Our love and our passions and our desires are just as valid as anyone else's."

Even with his move to Brooklyn, Scott feels invisible. Not only is he gay; he's also black. And while the stigma of gays showing public affection still lingers in communities, he says it's different for him.

"We still have issues showing our love and our affection in public places," he says. Even in areas where the black population dominates, like Brooklyn and Harlem, Scott feels shut out because "no African-American homosexuals would be able to walk around the street holding hands no matter how openly gay New York is."

Scott's not afraid, though, to use his music as a platform for his sexuality - even if he publicly outs himself. "In the last five or six years I've really opened up as someone that's very proud of who he is," he says. "People won't respect you until you give them a reason to."

Being out as a gay black man is Scott's reason, and he gives people an ultimatum: either accept me or don't. He says, "That way you know who's really on your team."

While his album is picking up momentum after Out magazine featured him as one of six top gay musicians, Scott relishes releasing his music independently, but wouldn't be closed off to a record deal that would allow him to continue his "FreeSoul," a musical tapestry that spans genres and ideas.

"What I want to do is find a label that understands my struggle," he says. And with his newfound fame he's getting emails and letters left and right. "People write in saying, 'You really inspired me,'" he says. "It lets me know that what I'm trying to do is really happening and really affecting people."

Podcaster: Ramble Redhead's exciting interview w/ William Scott!

OUT Magazine

The Music Issue!

The Five Best Queer Acts…

(William Scott featured as top R&B act!)

…that you may never have heard of. From pop and rock to hip-hop and R&B, here’s a quintet of people you should know right now.

No Label? No Problem!
Some of the coolest bands don’t have major record deals. Who cares! We’re happy to introduce you to a few of the ones to watch.

OUT Magazine

William Scott
Who’s Afraid of William Scott?
ARTIST RITES

Don’t be fooled by the title of William Scott’s new CD, Who’s Afraid of William Scott? A big teddy bear of a man with a voice so smooth you can skate across it, Scott doesn’t intimidate easily, but he is hard to ignore. The Detroit singer-songwriter-producer’s soulful songs about erasing racism and homophobia have such rich melodies and progressive vibes that it’s virtually impossible not to get drawn into his musical social activism. Scott’s versatile vocals echo Luther one minute (“Mr. President,” “All About Love”) and, with a switch to rhythmic rap and funky falsettos, Prince the next (“Act Like”). As with most of the 12 other tracks—a tapestry of tunes Scott calls “FreeSoul”—“Act Like,” a hip-pop ode to the Soul Train era of the ’80s, is an instantly likable jam about a time when Jheri curls and learning how to “pop” and “lock” were our biggest concerns. Even more impressive is “Invisible Man,” which experiments with unconventional melodies to create one of the most original, catchy pro-gay anthems to come along in quite some time. Though the between-tracks sociopolitical skits on his eclectic disc are commendable, their impact pales in comparison to the one made by his songs. (Available for purchase at (www.cdbaby.com/williamscott)