The rapper who supplied the “blueprint” for Eve

A number of feminine rappers have etched themselves into the hip-hop historical past books, and Eve is undoubtedly an emcee who profoundly impacted the tradition. As a part of the Ruff Ryders collective alongside DMX and The LOX, Eve first exploded onto the scene in 1999 when she launched her debut challenge, Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Girl.

The debut challenge spawned numerous hits corresponding to ‘What Ya Want,’ ‘Love Is Blind’ and ‘Gotta Man’ and debuted at primary on the Billboard 200 and by 2000 was licensed double-platinum by the RIAA.

Nonetheless, most know Eve for her sophomore effort Scorpion, which boasted the Dr Dre-produced anthem ‘Let Me Blow Your Mind’. The single earned the Jersey lyricist a Grammy for ‘Best Rap/Sung Collaboration,’ and likewise landed the rapper and singer a VMA.

In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of hip-hop, final yr, Eve took half within the BBC documentary First Ladies of Hip-Hop to acknowledge the influence of her feminine friends within the style. Whereas it recognises lyricists corresponding to MC Lyte, Rah Digga and Lil Kim, it additionally celebrates the brand new technology of artists corresponding to Ice Spice, Little Simz, and Doja Cat.

Talking about Lauryn Hill, Eve (actual identify Eve Jones) exclaimed, “I love her to death. The Fugees as a whole were amazing, but having Lauryn there took them to higher heights, for sure. She rapped about things outside the normal, [subjects like] heartbreak and resisting peer pressure, and for a lot of us coming up with Lauryn, we felt like she was a big sister, pulling us to one side and going ‘Hey, girl, watch out, you shouldn’t be doing this!”

Nonetheless, Eve additionally praised one among her predecessors, Queen Latifah, explaining, “Words have always been something that I’ve loved. From the time I was eight years old, I would always write poems. And that obviously turned into rapping. Rhythm and poetry – that’s what rap is.”

She continued, “Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and Salt-N-Pepa – those were the women who showed me I can do this. Any time I saw them, I felt, ‘Yeah, that could be me.’ But I always felt a particular closeness to Queen Latifah, maybe because she’s from Jersey and I’m from Philly, but also because I was a tomboy when I was young. She had such a presence. Her career has been a blueprint for me in terms of longevity and versatility.”

You possibly can take heed to Queen Latifah’s most well-known hit ‘U.N.I.T.Y’ within the video under.