Jill Scott: "Music is the way kids learn"

>>> along with our partner website, thegrio.com and its list of 100 history makers in the making. one name on the impressive list is the impressive jill scott , the globally known grammy winner . but tonight you get to find out why a singer is on the grio list in the education category. our own maumaraschavicampo caught up with her.

>> reporter: as jill scott returns her latest album, one thing is clear. her songs are as much about the meaning as the melody.

>> i enjoy making music that is more human than perfect, more soul-filled rather than soulful.

>> reporter: scott finds inspiration in life's ups and downs . raised in philadelphia by her mother and grandmother, who was affectionately called "blues babe" scott started writing poetry in the seventh grade. the young poet was also an aspiring singer, and got her start by working in a recording studio , restoring the wood in the lobby, waiting to be noticed.

>> every day i would stain and polyurethane.

>> reporter: needless to say, it worked. since her debut album in 2000 , she's sold four million albums, won three grammys, and expanded her reach from the stage to the shelves to the screen.

>> you are my past.

>> reporter: starring in two tyler perry films in the hbo series "the number one ladyagency."

>> you have come to the right place.

>> reporter: but scott is most proud of this. started in 2002 and named after her grandmother, the charity has given a quarter of a million dollars in grants and scholarships to students in the philadelphia area . like katherine morris, an honor student who was only able to graduate from temple university with an emergency scholarship from scott 's foundation.

>> i would never cross that stage. i would never be able to stand in front of my peers and just say i finally made it.

>> if everybody takes part and joins in in their neighborhood, where they grew up, where it was wonderful or terrible, we make a difference in the society.

>> reporter: using her voice to change lives just as it has touched them.

>>> there's more on jill scott 's story, including an extended interview with her and information on the entire and impressive group of the grios 100 history makers in the making. it's on the web at thegrio.com.