A Writer and Composer, Jean-Baptiste has recorded an album of blues songs and composed the musical score for Leigh's 1997 film Career Girls. In 1999, she performed in Paris in a French-language production by Peter Brook of The Suit (Le Costume), a one-act play by Barney Simon and Mothobi Mutloatse, based on the short story by Can Themba. She was also acclaimed for her role as Doreen Lawrence in The Murder of Stephen Lawrence (1999).