“I realized I tried to manipulate and control people, and I harbored resentment,” Lauryn Hill explains to best-selling author Pearl Cleage, whom interviewed her in Atlanta for the piece, entitled “Looking For Lauryn.”

“I had to come to terms with some things about myself.”

The five-time Grammy award-winning mother of three breaks her silence after a near-four year hiatus away from the “scene” in the loose Q&A; session. In the five-page feature, Hill talks about her new spiritual understanding of herself, the world and God.

A lot about God.

“In order to find out what God had for me I had to be just me,” says Hill. “God has always given me what I needed, even though it wasn’t what I wanted at the time. I trust that whatever God wants me to do, He’s going to provide,” she adds.

With a bare-bones look, Hill is not the glamour-puss of yesteryear. Taking her new “acoustic” aura to the next level, she looks striking with a white tank-top and a denim applejack hat that she adorns on the cover of the best-selling, widely-circulated magazine for Black women. “I’ve Been in Emotional Rehab,” she is quoted as saying on the magazine’s cover. The cover-line sums up the nature of the story.

For the 32-year-old “ESSENCE,” the Hill interview is a major coupe. The new-found, anti-media darling reportedly only agreed to work with the magazine and dealt with the staff directly, cutting out the middleman --her overprotective record company handlers. “ESSENCE” usually feature singers on their covers months after other magazines like “VIBE” and “HONEY” take a shot at them.

But “ESSENCE” scored big this go round. Lauryn Hill is the magazine’s fourth cover this year featuring a music artist. Jill Scott, Alicia Keys and India.Arie have graced the magazine in recent months. And that’s not a coincidence. It seems to be a proven formula that works for the magazine.

Not necessarily so, says the magazine’s entertainment editor, Elayne Fluker: “Truly, there's no formula for including music artists on our covers. Instead, we include individuals who are of great interest to our readers--women to whom the reader relates and who she wants to know more about.”

“The connection between the artists you mentioned is not just that they are singers, but that they are young women who are strong, unique, true to themselves and delivering a positive message. What Black woman wouldn't be attracted to such wonderful individuals, especially in a world where we're bombarded with such negative and degrading images?”

Insiders tell The Ru Report that Hill and her camp –which has been pared down to a small circle that includes her “husband” Rohan Marley and an un-named spiritual advisor—was very careful of the images that were available, and purposely only conducted a photo shoot with fashion photographer Daniela Federici, exclusively for “ESSENCE.”

"It's a wonderful thing for ’ESSENCE’ that Lauryn Hill trust us enough to make ‘ESSENCE’ her first cover and intimate print interview,” editorial director Susan L. Taylor tells The Ru Report. “She opened her heart for Black women in a way that she has not in the past."

“I am no longer going to become a fictional character to please people,” Hill states. “That’s too much work. Reality is easy. It’s deception that’s the hard work.”

In its trademark style, “ESSENCE” magazine has packaged a classy and non-confrontational feature that will surely get people to take notice. It’s not bawdy in any shape or form. Lauryn Hill did not discuss having three children out of wedlock with Marley, who is reportedly already married to a Miami-based woman who already has two children for him. And she didn’t talk about her widely-rumored nervous breakdown which resulted in this new-found spirituality. The murky details about her estrangement from her former musical partner and lover Wyclef Jean didn’t come up. And the reported riff with her mother, Valerie Hill, and the settled multi-million dollar copyright infringement lawsuit against her wasn’t broached either.

That’s not to say that readers didn’t or wouldn’t want to know the details about the abovementioned turmoil. It’s just that the magazine didn’t take that approach.

“We’re all looking for ways to keep it real, do our work, love our families, tell the truth,” Cleage comments. “We forget that famous folk struggle with the same issues”

“Eventually I was forced to reexamine myself…I want to have a real relationship with the audience, and the only way that can begin to happen is if I’m doing my part and present my real self.”

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STAGES: Tony award winning actress Leslie Uggams is set to sizzle on the New York stage once again. On June 20, the beloved thespian of marvelous works such as “Roots,” “The Old Settler” and “Hallelujah! Baby,” headlines the bill for the new musical, “Thunder Knocking On The Door,” which opens at the Minetta Lane Theater in Greenwich Village. The off-Broadway show also features Tony award winner Chuck Cooper (“The Life”), Peter Jay Fernandez and R&B; singer turned actress Marva Hicks. Written by Keith Glover and featuring original music from Grammy award-winner Keb Mo, “Thunder Knocking On The Door” is a drama set in 1966 rural Alabama. It’s about a family who has the rug pulled from beneath them by a mysterious stranger with amazing powers. Hicks plays a blind woman who is overwhelmed by the mystic wonders of what the antagonist has to offer. ”Thunder Knocking on the Door,” originally commissioned and produced by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, has since been produced around the country at various theaters including Yale Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Baltimore Center Stage, The Guthrie Theatre (Minneapolis), Arena Stage, and the Cincinnati Playhouse…Rootsy rapper Mos Def gave an untapped audience a taste of his singing chops on the “2002 Tony Awards” telecast. Now, a broader audience will get to hear what he and his co-star, Jeffrey Wright, of the critically-acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Topdog/Underdog,” has to offer musically when MCA Records release the companion soundtrack on July 30. Def and Wright perform the songs “Three Card” and “Lincoln’s Blues,” respectively, on the 16-track collection, which also features music from James Brown, DMX, Muddy Waters, Wu Tang Clan, Wayne Shorter and Howlin’ Wolf, among others… While we’re talking about Tony awards and albums, we must make mention of this year’s big winner, “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” This season’s most awarded new show--six 2002 Tony Awards, including Best Musical—“Thoroughly Modern Millie,” is now immortalized with its very own original cast recording. This week RCA Victor released the companion disc to the runaway Broadway musical, loosely based on the 1967 movie of the same name. Starring the incomparable Sheryl Lee Ralph, Tony Award winner Harriet Harris, Marc Kudisch and introducing Sutton Foster, in the title role, the play features 15 songs, including two from the 1967 film, four standards from the 1920s and nine new songs by Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan. And so does the soundtrack…Although acclaimed actor John Lithgow won a Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award for his portrayal of J.J. Hunsecker, the most powerful gossip columnist in America, in the musical “Sweet Smell of Success,” the show will shut down this weekend. The stage spectacle –based on the 1957 movie of the same name and featuring music by Marvin Hamlisch-- played 19 previews and 108 regular performances. Before it played at Broadway’s Martin Beck Theater, the show —which also stars Brian d’Arcy James, Kelli O’Hara, Jack Noseworthy and Stacey Logan-- premiered at Chicago’s Shubert Theatre last winter. According to a production rep, sales for the show were not strong enough. “Sweet Smell” takes its final bow on Saturday (June 15)…And lastly. All star baseball player Mike Piazza (of the New York Mets) set off a media frenzy a few weeks back when his announcement of “not being gay” splashed across front pages of major newspapers. What perfect timing for the folks over at George C. Wolfe’s New York’s Joseph Papp Public Theater. Those crafty theatrical wizards are rolling out a new vehicle, aptly titled “Take Me Out,” chronicling the fall-out of the ripples that are caused when a young baseball icon star decides to call a press conference that results in his "coming out" to his adoring media. Directed by Joe Mantello (“The Vagina Monologues”) and starring Kevin Carroll, Dominic Fumusa, Gene Gabriel and Neal Huff, “Take Me Out” is set to open on September 5, with previews beginning on August 23.

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J. LO NUPTIALS A NO-GO? OH, HELL NO!: How long did we really think the marriage between Twelve Million Dollar Latina Jennifer Lopez and dancer Chris Judd would really last? I know folks at an entertainment magazine who had an office pool going on to predict how long it will be. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Poor gal. Just shy of 32 years of age and her second marriage is on the brink after just nine months.

To hell with what her flacks are saying, wasn’t the writing on the wall regarding this “affair to remember” a long time ago?

I’ve gotten a flurry of correspondence asking me my opinion. And my loyal readers know I shy away from these stories that other me outlets can’t seem to get enough of (i.e. R. Kelly, Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopez, Sean “Puffy” Combs, etc.). But J. Lo has come a long way, baby. And she’s so lovable and cute, too.

Well, so I thought.

She may have sung the pop ditty, “My Love Don’t Cost A Thing,” but J. Lo is no easy customer. And her “love” with the Judd-ster may cost her her credibility.

Only a cold bitch would dump a flossy Negro on Valentine’s Day, while he’s on trial and could face serious prison time. Right? Well, that’s what I’ve been heard saying at various watering holes around town.

But then I just thought with her L’Oreal contract and its strict morality clauses, and her high-grossing pay-day in jeopardy wouldn’t anyone get the hell out of dodge? In this day and time of tomorrow not being promised to no one, we gots to get while the getting is good!

But then a funny thing happened on the way to the box –office:

Lopez became cuddly with Judd. Hmmmm.

I can’t front, I was suspect about this “arrangement” from jump.

A high-ranking music industry veteran and I shared some thoughts: Why would you have your engagement party at Morton’s steakhouse on Melrose Place. The venue is a popular Hollywood haunt where many “deals” are made in tinseltown. Also, with Jennifer being a trend-setter and tastemaker from the Bronx, why in the hell would she marry in the “secret location” of Calabasas in California, especially when beautiful Malibu is right over the mountains. We also found it suspect that there were no paparazzi circling the wedding site and there were no invited celebrity guests (like there was a gang of them who came out for her restaurant opening). What about J. Lo’s manager, Benny Medina, posing as Judd’s “best man?” Judd had reportedly only been dealing with Lopez for 8 months or so before the wedding. So, how in that short period of time did Medina become that “close” with Judd to be his best man? Did he not have any other friends who could stand up for him? And what if I did buy the Benny Medina/Chris Judd kinship? If high-powered Benny Medina was my best friend –and good enough to be my best man at my first wedding—would I really be dancing in videos –shucking & jiving for the new millennium-- for a living before the wedding? And what’s up with the honeymoon at Donatella Versace’s villa, where Lopez just had to attend a fashion show? What a way to spend your honeymoon. If you’re being that secretive, or fabulous, why not disappear for a while to a real secret and exotic locale like the Fiji Islands, Capri or somewhere in Greece. Versace’s villa? And then only one photo of the wedding nuptials surfaced. Same pose. Same shot. Same media servicing. Not even a candid shot from a family member came to light in the tabloids.

Go figure.

J. Lo must’ve saved a pretty penny on this role. I mean, this marriage and all of its “trappings.”

And then with her beloved singing “I Need A Girl,” while she’s bellowing “Ain’t It Funny,” it doesn’t add up. Or does it?

I tell you, this whole thing smells like fancy publicity maneuvering. But are we really buying it?

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STUFF: This Father's Day, more than 1000 men in 10 cities will roll up their sleeves and put on chef gear and cook for over 10,000 people as a part of “The 13th Annual Real Men Cook for Charity Event.” The “Real Men” will donate their time, culinary talents and delicious dishes to raise money for deserving non-profits focused on families, health, education, culture and the community. This year’s line-up of distinguished gents include celebs such as Irvin “Magic” Johnson, my favorite nationally syndicated radio personality Doug Banks, NFL All Pro defensive end Joe Johnson, BET news anchor Ed Gordon, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Bad Boy Records crooner Carl Thomas, along with radio personality host Doctor Dre, “Showtime at the Apollo” host Rudy Rush and Michigan Congressman John Conyers. For the third consecutive year, “Real Men Cook” will be held in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Primarily sponsored by State Farm Insurance, Lawry's and Showtime, “Real Men Cook” celebrations also include a variety of elected officials, entertainment, media and sports celebrities… Former “Oz” actor Adewale Akinnouoye-Agbaje, who played the menacing and muscular bad guy Adebisi for four seasons on the hit HBO prison drama, is off on his own. The 35-year-old, London-born actor and former international model has scored another meaty part in a big Hollywood vehicle. In Universal Pictures’ “The Bourne Identity,” which opens this weekend, the tall, dark and strapping Adewale portrays a powerful, corrupt African ruler named Nykwana Wombosi. His role is pivotal to the plot of the espionage thriller, which stars Academy Award winner Matt Damon and is directed by Doug Liman. The film is based on the international best-selling book of the same name, written by Robert Ludlum. A versatile actor, Adewale is fluent in English, Italian, Yoruba and Swahili. His past film roles include “The Mummy Returns,” “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls,” “Congo? and ”Delta of Venus”…Rootsy rapper Mos Def is on board to start shooting his next big film role as the lead in Jerry Lamothe’s highly anticipated feature film “From The Outside Looking In” -- the follow up to the writer/ director/ actor’s critically acclaimed debut, “Amour Infinity.” The film, a coming of age story about a young man who chronicles the last twenty years of his life growing up with his friends in Brooklyn, will also star Isaiah Washington, Monica Calhoun and Wood Harris, who is currently featured on HBO’s “The Wire”…New York city shock-jocks Wendy Williams (of the Black-owned WBLS) and Troi “Star” Torrain (of the White-owned WQHT) will square off with each other at Tanqueray’s “Distinctive Dialogue” session on June 27. The “Inside The Actor’s Studio”-styled session will benefit StyleWorks, a free comprehensive grooming service for women who are moving from welfare to work founded by Chris Rock’s wife Malaak Compton-Rock. A rep for the event promises that Williams will dish the dirt on everything from the personal lives of names in the headlines to her very own private domain. The ‘no holds barred’ probing questions will be fired at her by the equally outrageous colleague, whom she hand-picked to do the interview…World renowned trumpet player, composer, arranger and educator Jon Faddis was honored with the distinguished Jazz Medal of Honor, on June 13, by The National Arts Club. The black tie dinner was held at the historic Tilden Mansion in Gramercy Park. Faddis, musical director of the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band for the past decade and Artist-in-Residence at the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College, is the fifth honoree to receive the jazz award, joining pianist Dick Hyman, the JVC Jazz Festival, pianist George Shearing and saxophonist Benny Carter in taking home the coveted medal. Founded in 1898, the National Arts Club is set to stimulate, foster and promote public interest in the arts while educating the American people in the fine arts. Faddis will headline a bill at Carnegie Hall on June 21, as part of New York’s JVC Jazz Festival… The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will cross the pond and embark on a long-overdue five-week tour of Europe on June 24. Under the artistic directorship of Judith Jamison, the beloved dance troupe will perform in London, Vienna, Innsbruck, Berlin, and Italy. A spokesperson for Ailey, tells The Ru Report that the London engagement, originally scheduled for September of last year, was postponed after the tragic events of September 11 out of concern for the dancers, crew and staff member s safety…The folks over at Def Jam really are striking while the iron is hot. The Russell Simmons’-founded hip-hop label’s newest multi-platinum-plus selling star, Ashanti, is set to publish her own tome due out this fall via Disney’s Hyperion imprint. Following in the footsteps of other platinum-selling, chart-topping radio friendly singers cum scribe –Britney Spears, Destiny’s Child, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins—Ashanti’s book, “Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections On Love,” will feature original poetry, thoughts on love and relationships. The 21-year-old suburban-bred princess, who currently graces the June/July issue of “VIBE” magazine, has more irons in the fire. She will be the face of Candies footwear this fall, and she will have a role on the WB series, “Sabrina, The Teenage Witch” come this fall. And ya don’t stop!

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A SCOTT ‘FREE’ ZONE: I may be out of a job real soon…if someone has their way. A lot of us scribes --or whatever us writers are calling ourselves these days-- may be put out to pasture if multi-platinum-selling Neo Soul “it” girl Jill Scott has her way.

The Ru Report has learned that while the Philadelphia-bred soul sister has been keeping a relatively low profile, she’s been toiling away at the keyboard. Scott has upcoming features in three major magazines. And she’s writing them, not being the subject of them. She recently penned a piece on Divafied Diva Patti LaBelle for “Philadelphia” magazine, after putting to bed her cover story on rapper Common for the fall issue of Russell Simmons’ One World mag. The Temple University alumna also landed the dream writing assignment writing for “O: The Oprah Magazine.” In the August issue of the best-selling periodical, Scott writes about American porches.

Hmmmm. I’m going to come after her with a stick next time I see her.

On the music front, Scott has copped the lead single and the title track for the upcoming Black romantic comedy, “Brown Sugar,” which stars Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Queen Latifah and “Soul Food” stars Nicole Ari Parker and Boris Kodjoe. The movie hits theaters in mid to late September. The soundtrack is due to arrive in stores on September 24.

On July 18, Scott will also join television pioneers Don Cornelius and Arsenio Hall in Los Angeles to announce this year’s nominees for The 2002 Lady of Soul Awards, which she will host on August 24 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

Scott will also join a motley crew of Black Entertainment for The Second Annual BET Awards, live from Los Angeles’ Kodak Theater on June 25. She will serve as a presenter.

She will also be featured in a two-page spread for the special “Women In Rock” issue of “Rolling Stone” magazine.

And of course, her videoclip for “Gimme” is in rotation on the video channels.

How’s that for a low-key?

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Just Wondering: No dice on the whereabouts on Tracy Camila-Johns. I guess she’ll turn up soon. Just when we wrote off another Spike Lee discovery Theresa Randall, after a three year absence, she showed up in 2000 playing Natalie Cole in the NBC biopic. Now her fame has fleeted—once again. Moving on: I’m dying to find out what’s going on with one of my all-time favorite singers, Cheryl Lynn. As I continuously use her energetic dance cut, “Star Love,” as the soundtrack to my cardio-vascular workout, I wonder what happened to the plus-sized diva who delivered such 80s classics as “Encore,” “Shake It Up Tonight,” and “Got To Be Real?” Does anyone know?

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Notable Quotable Of The Week: “You know who has a real back? Shakira. That girl got an ass like a painting” – early 90s rap star Sir Mix-A-Lot on the Columbian starlet’s derriere in “Entertainment Weekly.”RU

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Got Something To Say? Email Karu F. Daniels Directly At TheRuReport@aol.com.