Dear Hidden Beach Family…

We just want to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and all the best during the Holiday Season. Congratulations to Jill Scott for 3 GRAMMY Nominations in addition to her critically acclaimed new album, The Real Thing.

Stay tuned… great things are coming to Hidden Beach in 2008.

Enjoy the holidays and we wish you a warm holiday season…

The Hidden Beach Family

The Nominations are in and Jill Scott has received 3 Grammy Nominations!!!

Best R/B Album
THE REAL THING: WORDS AND SOUNDS VOL. 3

Best Female R/B Vocal Performance
“HATE ON ME”

Best Urban/Alternative Performance
“DAYDREAMIN” Lupe Fiasco featuring Jill Scott

To find out the ticket dates and locations, click below:

more coming soon… stay glued to jillscott.comTo see the entire tour dates visit: http://www.jillscott.com/tour

VOTE NOW - Click On The Banner Below

Jill’s nominations include:

Album of the Year - R&B/Soul,

MVOKP of the Year

MVP of the Year - R&B/Soul

OkayArtist Album of the Year.

Okayplayer has nominated this years best, compiled from their community and staff, and the winners will be 100% chosen by the fans votes. Please support Jill Scott and click the banner above.

Jill Scott Brings The Real Thing
by Lili Ramirez

The first time I listened to Jill Scott’s second studio album, Beautifully Human, Words & Sounds, Vol. 2, I felt a wave of emotion so fierce it nearly toppled me over. I’ll be honest - I cried myself a river that day. Jill was rejoicing about love and I grieved the loss of the love I had cherished, which had recently fallen to shambles. Beautifully Human was clearly Jill’s love album at the time.

You could hear it in her honey- melon voice: joy, passion and promise were aglow. I had to bury that album deep and couldn’t listen to it for a long time. But once I healed and emerged stronger, myself more beautifully human, I came back to that album and cranked up the volume, ready to sing about love again at the top of my lungs. That’s one of the amazing things about humans: the resilience of our hearts. We love, at times, we lose… but then one day, it’s as if a flame finds its way back inside to fire the embers of our hearts and there we are - ready to love again. Regardless, Jill’s lyrics resonate so deep within us, they shake us up and give us the feeling that we know her: maybe she’s our sister, or best friend, mother, daughter, our personal prophetess, or maybe our favorite poetess…a glowing beacon to our universal experience.

The Real Thing, Words & Sounds, Vol. 3, Jill’s latest studio project re- leased in late September, is a continuing exploration of the question and title to her ground-breaking 2000 album, “Who is Jill Scott?” One facet of that answer is, a woman who ce- lebrates who she is and doesn’t allow the judgment or criticism of others to dim her shining spirit. “Hate on Me”, for example, is Jill’s poignant response to all “haters”, whether they be relatives or strangers.

In part, the song’s lyrics were provoked by a website she found late one night where hundreds of strangers were criticizing and “hating on her.” Jill’s response? To continue walking her own path with her head up high…without making any apologies for who she is. No song says this better than the album’s title track, “The Real Thing”. This is the anthem of the album, similar to what “Golden” was to Beautifully Human, except here, Jill crosses over into a rock-n-roll goddess. She’s fierce, but not angry; strong but not belligerent; confident but not ultra-cocky. Notice I don’t rule out cocky entirely. Sure there is some cockiness, however, it’s on a level licensed by her awesome talent.

The Real Thing represents a new phase in Jill Scott’s life. Having suffered through the agony of divorce after a twelve-year relationship, Jill said in a recent interview, “I never thought that I would be single. I married my best friend. But I can say that this career, this life path can be detrimental.“ We witness her mourning this loss in songs like “My Love”, which is about discovering the person you still love has moved on. “Insomnia” describes the frustration of a relationship that is in the thick of falling apart and making you crazy. Jill continues, “To be a black woman who is mov- ing forward and growing. There is some- thing not exactly attractive about that; I don’t know what that is, but I choose not to change.” With these powerful last words, Jill is acknowledging that we make choices in life, so we must accept accountability as well. She’s not playing the victim. She’s in charge of her destiny and takes us along on her path, exposing to us her wounds, her pride, her pain, her confidence, and her own resilient heart.

Jill Scott’s creative path has led her into acting as well. Watch for her in Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? in theatres October 12th. Jill Scott plays Sheila, a woman who is married yet alone inside of the marriage. In light of her own divorce, I can imagine that this was a role that Jill was able to get inside of all too well. The movie covers the marriages of eight former-college friends and speaks to the difficulties of maintaining a solid marriage in modern times. Jill will also star in Anthony Minghella’s production of Ladies Number One Detective Agency. It’s currently in production, but be on the look out for its release in 2008.

Perhaps more than any other singer today (R&B or otherwise), Jill Scott manages to turn the spectrum of real-life drama into poetry and art; her powerful pipes and universal themes will resonate with fans and new converts alike. The Real Thing is a work-of-art record that finds Jill in a highly fertile phase of her artistry, where there are no boundaries: funk, gospel, jazz, classical, R&B, poetry, acting, directing…she can do anything. One of the things that Jill does best is to express herself as sensual being and sultry-voiced siren. A few of the cuts on The Real Thing are just downright sexy. Silky jams like “Crown Royal on Ice” and “All I” send our minds into the bedroom (or into the bathroom for a cold shower if you’re single like me). In “All I” she half-sings-half-whispers, “I can’t even think at night. All I dream about is making love…to you. I’m in the shower, above the kitchen sink, lay me where you wanna’, make my knees weak.” Hello! And while its always sexy to hear Jill sing about sex, I’m sure she would agree with me, there’s nothing like…the real thing.

Jill hits the UK, check out the interview. Click the banner below or click the link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/gillespeterson/?focuswin

Check out the latest coverage on NPR’s All Things Considered.

To Listen To Audio Interview Click Here & Then Click “Listen Now” or you can click on the image above.

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Jill Scott’s Evolution Is ‘The Real Thing’
By Robert Christgau

All Things Considered, November 7, 2007 - Never doubt Mary J. Blige’s soul, Macy Gray’s voice or Beyonce’s ambition. Don’t assume Rihanna and Ciara won’t grow up, and don’t underrate the up-and-coming Keyshia Cole. But above all, be sure of this: In the sometimes bewildering plethora of R&B heroines, the solidity of Philadelphia’s Jill Scott remains unmatched.

The Real Thing is Scott’s third solo album and first in three years. Scott did put out a duets album called Collaborations in January, where she siphoned off her strong interests in hip-hop, jazz and even gospel, half the time on songs she didn’t write. That left her free to make the new one the most purely pop record of her career. For the most part, The Real Thing is a murmured, whispered piece of work that at first I took for a retreat.

After listening to “Family Reunion” on 2004’s Beautifully Human again, I realized that the new album had its own kind of integrity. I remembered that I love Scott for the brains, heart and class she brings to the commonplaces of African-American culture, from hip-hop and gospel to the game of spades they’re playing at that family reunion. This pop album is just another example. The conceit, and maybe the reality, of The Real Thing is that it chronicles the end of one relationship and the beginning of another. But Scott smartens up that formula in a way that even Beyonce could learn from.

Early on, the eroticism of such songs as “Epiphany” puts the average bootylicious babe to shame. And right after “Celibacy Blues,” at the end of the album, Scott is ready to break through to another epiphany. Alone, it might seem like pandering, and I’m sure some sobersides will think it is pandering. Coming where it does on the record, however, it’s pure life force, every bit as sane and well-observed as “Family Reunion.” The title is “All I,” and Jill Scott puts her all into it.

By Ray Anderson

Instead of dragging myself out to Amos’, standing in line for 3+ hours after already spending a hard 9 hours at work and getting further behind in my writing, I did something different. I decided to pass the baton to some devoted Jill Scott fans (or “Jillians”, as I’ve decided to call them) and have them share their experiences from the free concert. I figured it wouldn’t be fair for you to read “yeah, the show was good until she started doing the new stuff”, which is probably what I would have written (fair reporting is fair reporting, but bad music is bad music). So, here it is…reports from the front line from the Jill Scott concert. Thanks to those who decided to volunteer and help out.

“I went in with the idea that I would have to stand in line for an hour or so before getting into the venue. Little did I know the hour would turn into two, three, or maybe even four for some? I was definitely one of the lucky ones. I was able to push to the front of the line and force my way through. However, I still had to get past two individuals with a list, checking to see if each RSVP was valid. That process in itself was long, tedious and inconvenient, yet, individuals who did not have RSVPs were able to get in….SO REALLY, WHAT PURPOSE DID THE LIST SERVE????? That would explain why it was taking so long for the line to move. The “VIPs” were in line just as long as everybody else, and to top it off, VIP was still standing room only on the balcony, so what was the point? We were all in VIP….we were all standing (smile) in the midst of Ms Jill Scott, and once the concert began, all frustration left and she made us all feel Very Important.

So….Who Is Jill Scott???? She is an awesome performer, that’s who. Who would have thought a free concert would last almost two hours. She came out represented. She is classy songstress who knows how to entertain the crowd. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert”

Chalona Johnson

“Who is Jill Scott? Big hair, big earrings, big voice…little dress? Last night she was all those things and much more. She was Beautifully Human…The Real Thing. That girl can sang! The concert last night was wonderful. That was my first time seeing Jill Scott perform in person and I was impressed. AND it was free. Thanks Bailey’s! Everybody can’t sing live, but Jill Scott was blowing. Her melodic sounds resonated through the crowd and they were loving it. People were singing the old familiar tunes and the new ones too. How did people learn all the words so fast? Anyway, it was hot and Ms. Scott was sweating all over the place, but nobody seemed to mind. She is a little nasty and a little freaky and the men definitely didn’t mind. Her poetic storytelling identified with women everywhere. After standing in line for over an hour, waiting for the show to start for another hour, my dogs burning (that would be feet), I still enjoyed the Experience…Jill Scott, The Real Thing. “

By Monica Nail

WOW!!
OK let me say that again WOW!!!!

That is the only way to describe the Jill Scott experience in one word.

Although parking was like finding a needle in a haystack, and you ran the risk of paying the tow man or the city of Charlotte for parking illegally just to go to a free concert after you left Amos’ feeling the high that the show provided it wouldn’t even matter, you still would do it all over again!

Walking up to Amos’ in a sea of afro’s and locks and neo soul heads you just know that you are truly in for a treat. Lines on both sides of the building for blocks down the street on some sides, all just to get a glimpse of the lovely Ms Scott herself. Now flats were my shoes of choice for the night since we knew the venue was standing room only. However, you could still see some sistas’ in stilettos and knee boots sacrificing comfort for cuteness just to wait in line for hours while Amos’ did what all Charlotte clubs are famous for doing, which is hold the line. Once the line did get moving you could see people come out of no where and jump to the front causing some to almost grease up their cheeks, kick off their heels, and tell the person next to them to “hold my earrings”. Thank heavens it was all smoke screens though, because I would have hated to miss what we were in store for. Upon reaching the front of the line you were greeted by Bailey’s reps in fitted brown dresses with what looked to have been a mechanical rolodex signing you in which was a bit time consuming and redundant since you had already registered you and your guest on-line but whatever. Especially considering you just waited in line for almost 2 1/2 hours and it was now well after 8:30 and the concert was supposed to start at 8:00pm but CPT was configured into that so we understood.

Once inside you knew to hurry and get your drink, rush to the rest-room, check your hair, and empty your bladder because once your feet were planted you were not moving unless you got a text saying the house was on fire or there was a tow truck aiming for your car. Once the basics were covered you got in where you could fit in and still see the center of the stage while the DJ kept welcoming you to the event even though he said it three times and each time he pronounced the name Bailey’s as Bally’s, but to each his own. Then after having meaningless conversation with the person next to you who you just knew was gonna be nestled next to you for the rest of the night with her purse in your back and/or side, it happened. The lights dimmed, the band came out, the crowd faced forward and you knew that this was it. This was the moment you used the last of your PTO at work just so you could get off work early for. This was the reason you obligated yourself to watch you sister’s kids this weekend just so she could watch yours tonight. This was the reason you risked bouncing a check just so you could buy an outfit for tonight knowing your direct deposit hadn’t hit your account yet. This was the moment you would formally be introduced to the lady of the evening, the one, the only, MS Jill Scott

She stepped out and the crowd lit up like Times Square on New Years Eve. She entered in her black baby doll mid thigh length dress, sheer fishnet stockings showing those “lets take a long walk” legs, and black ankle boots, feeding you sexiness and confidence all at the same time. Curly hair afro thick, makeup flawless, accessories none the less elegant. And then she looked up as she approached the mic, her eyes glistened as they reflected the light and she did it. She did the one thing that connects you to who she is on the inside, that lets you know anytime you see her that this sista’ is real she is genuine, she is the epitome of the strong black woman. She smiled. It even made the stage lights look dim and take a back-seat compared to her pearly white radiant smile. As the crowd responded in waves of yells and screams and applause it was confirmed at that very moment, Who is Jill Scott? Well she is the force that was gonna sweep you off your feet, pick you back up, dust you off, and knock you back down again for the next hour and 45 minutes.

She opened up with the first track off “The Real Thing” simply titled “Let It Be” and the fans, myself included, sang along like this song had been out since we were still wet behind the ears. It was like we were right there with her when she wrote it because we knew every note, every key, every run better than the back-up singers. Hell, she could have sent them home because we had their job in the bag for the night. She followed up with the guitar taking lead, teasing your senses letting you know “The Real Thing” would be the next track on the ride you were now full steam ahead on. Throughout the night she touched on some of her older material that is still in heavy rotation in my CD player with tracks like “A Long Walk”, the go-go hip swaying banger “Its Love”, “Whatever”, “Golden”, and oh my God what a version of “He Loves Me (Lyzel in E flat)”. Don’t tell anybody but I almost cried when she did the opera insert, her runs are sick! However the new tracks were represented and welcomed as well with mesmerizing performances of “Crown Royal” with a lil tongue action on an imaginary cup at the end, “My Love” that spoke to every woman that has ever been the other woman, “Celibacy Blues” that made you end your celibacy strike right then and there, “Whenever You’re Around” , “Hate On ME” which put ALL the haters on blast in the building, though I don’t think you could hate on the beautiful Ms Jilly from N Philly, and Lord what a version of “All I” remixed with bed that had me scrolling thru my phone when it was over to see who I could call up for the night if you know what I mean. The night ended with of course a full introduction of the band and a lil two step from Jill before making a graceful exit off stage leaving behind a building of onlookers in awe at what a woman she really is.

Afterwards, we all piled out the two exits drifting, not walking because we are all still on cloud nine form the spell binding, orgasmic, uplifting, empowering experience that we all just shared together. Now thank the Lord my car was still there even though I had just parked in front of a “we will tow your car” sign. it didn’t even matter I could have came outside to no car at all and paid to get it out of the garage for what I had just took part in. So as i sit here at work now and reflect on what felt like my first real orgasm last night I leave you with this:

For anyone who may still be skeptical and have lingering reservations about the new change brought about in the new style that Ms Scott exudes in her stride and her music now-a-days, it was truly confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt. No questions asked, no second guessing, she is truly the exquisite, the undeniable, the truth, “THE REAL THING”

Most of you all in Atlanta and around the world are itching to see Jill Scott in your area. We bring you Front & Center with her live performance in Atlanta. Enjoy and stay tuned to her full blown tour in 2008.