Welcome to the "Facts" section. Here, you will find pretty much all you need to know on Eve. I think I even have some facts that even Eve's #1 fan doesn't know about. So, does that make me Eve's #1 fan? Well, as I try to figure that out, you can scroll down and read some facts that YOU might want to know on Eve.
Eve's LP is the first debut album by a female rapper to enter the Billboard albums chart at #1.
Best Of '99: Rapper Eve Finds Paradise On Albums Chart
Hip-hopper hits #1 with album Let There Be ... Eve — Ruff Ryders' First Lady; invited to record with The Artist.
Rapper Eve said she "thought it was a joke" when her manager told her The Artist formerly known as Prince had called saying he wanted her on his record. But it was nothing of the sort.
A few weeks ago Eve spent time in a studio with the R&B superstar recording a song called "Hot With U" for his next album, Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic.
"The song was already done, but he just let me work," the 20-year-old Eve said from Los Angeles on Tuesday (Sept. 28). "I wrote my own rap.
"It was a beautiful experience. I mean, I never thought I would be in the studio with The Artist. ... But then it happened."
But there were bigger surprises yet to come, namely her historic debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart last week. When it bolted above the Backstreet Boys into the #1 spot, her LP, Let There Be ... Eve — Ruff Ryders' First Lady, became the first debut album by a female rapper to enter the chart in the top spot.
"This is what I asked for," Eve said with conviction in her voice. "Some situations happen fast, but I'm taking it."
With fans like The Artist, her future success seems assured. "I just like Eve as an individual, and she just happens to be a genius poet," he said recently in New York, where he was promoting his upcoming album. "Eve is the flyest female rapper there is right now. She's not even thinking about it. She just is."
Eve is "as hot as it gets," said Joey Arbagey, program director at KMEL-FM in San Francisco, where both of her singles, "Gotta Man" and "What Ya Want," are among the station's most-requested songs.
"She's totally on fire," Arbagey said. "The way her music sounds is so today. It has that edge so the heads like it, and the mass appeal is just getting started."
"Gotta Man" (RealAudio excerpt), featuring Eve's confident rhymes and hard beats laid over a nursery rhyme hook, was the first song the rapper wrote for Let There Be ... Eve. She said the tune is about "loving your man and what you would go through to hold your man down — those little sacrifices you make when you in love.
"I think a lot of people can relate to it, especially people from the streets. It's a sweet song, but it's a ... thug love song."
For her solo debut, the Philadelphia-raised performer, born Eve Jihan Jeffers, worked primarily with producer Swizz Beatz of the Ruff Ryders rap collective. He adapted his signature style to suit her, she said. The pair spent seven weeks on the album, bringing in several guest artists, including DMX and Missy Elliott.
Eve, who has paw prints tattooed above her breasts to symbolize that she is the "b*tch of my litter," said certain songs on the album reflect the "trials and tribulations that helped build Eve." "Heaven Only Knows," for example, finds the rapper reflecting on her monthlong stint working as a stripper in the Bronx, N.Y. "I knew I could be so much more," she said.
She started singing at age 12 and began performing during her early teens in a five-girl singing group that covered such R&B acts as En Vogue. Eve got her big break when her managers hooked her up with Michael Lynn, who at the time was president of producer/MC Dr. Dre's label, Aftermath Entertainment.
That meeting led to Dr. Dre producing her song "Eve of Destruction" for the soundtrack to the Warren Beatty film "Bulworth" (1998). Dr. Dre also signed her to a one-year contract with Aftermath. She was dropped before she released an album on the imprint, however. "That was a bad situation, but it helped me grow," she said.
After signing to the Ruff Ryders' label, she appeared on the compilation Ruff Ryders: Ryde or Die Vol. 1, which topped the albums chart earlier this year. Eve credits the Ruff Ryders with helping her to build her confidence and cultivate her style. "They didn't try to come up with an image or anything," she said. "That camp is different from a regular record label. You have to build yourself."
The rapper also recently collaborated with Will Smith on a song for his upcoming album. "It was about a month ago," she said. "I can't remember what it's called, but it's a dance track for his album ... He's real cool."
Eve said she hopes to move into rap-rock territory on her next album. A fan of such rock-based acts as Limp Bizkit and Hole. Eve said she recently spoke with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst about collaborating in the future.
"I see rap going over to rock, combining with rock," she said. "I want to do songs with Limp Bizkit, Hole and Kid Rock. I like all type of music, not just hip-hop. ... I talked to Fred Durst about getting into the studio. ... We haven't worked out ideas yet. ... I'm just trying to take my music to another level."
She added that she also wants to pursue acting and modeling. But for now, she said her immediate goal is for Let There Be ... Eve to go platinum. "That's the top," she said. "I don't want to be obsessed with numbers, but I can't help but ask."
Eve's album is the second by a female rapper to reach #1 this year; the first was Foxy Brown's Chyna Doll.
Rap Newcomer Eve's First Lady To Debut At #1
The New York label behind DMX scored again with Eve, a 20-year-old female rapper whose first album, Let There Be ... Eve — Ruff Ryders' First Lady, sold enough copies in the week ending Sunday to debut at #1 this week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, according to figures released Wednesday (Sept. 22) by SoundScan.
Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, who has been in the news more for his run-ins with police than for his music in the past year, will chart at #10 with his second album, N*gga Please.
The Beatles, meanwhile, will debut at #15 with their 11th album, or more specifically a remixed and revised version of the album, their soundtrack to the animated movie "Yellow Submarine." Yellow Submarine Songtrack was released in conjunction with a digitally remastered version of the movie.
The Top 10
1. Let There Be ... Eve — Ruff Ryders' First Lady
2. The Backstreet Boys' Millennium
3. Christina Aguilera's self-titled debut
4. Dixie Chicks' Fly
5. Santana's Supernatural
6. Kid Rock's Devil Without a Cause
7. Limp Bizkit's Significant Other
8. Britney Spears' ... Baby One More Time
9. Lou Bega's A Little Bit of Mambo
10. Ol' Dirty Bastard's N*gga Please
Eve previously appeared on the compilation Ruff Ryders: Ryde or Die Vol. 1, which topped the chart earlier this year. The Philadelphia rapper also had a Dr. Dre-produced song, "Eve of Destruction," on the "Bulworth" soundtrack (1998). Before signing to Ruff Ryders, she had a one-year contract with Dr. Dre's label, Aftermath, although she never released an album for that label.
Let There Be ... Eve — Ruff Ryders' First Lady includes the single "Gotta Man," produced by 20-year-old Swizz Beats, who has also worked with DMX, Jay-Z and Noreaga.
It's the second album by a female rapper to hit #1 this year. Foxy Brown's Chyna Doll was #1 for a week in January.
"I'm going my own way," ODB said earlier this year of the album. "I'm the direction (of hip-hop). I'm gonna make hip-hop what it is."
Meanwhile, Bega, a German resident of Ugandan and Italian heritage, will crack the top 10 with his album, which include the international pop hit "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of Mambo)."
