Eve (rapper)
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Eve (born Eve Jihan Jeffers on November 10, 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an African-American rapper, singer, and actress associated with the Ruff Ryders crew. She adopted the name Gangsta in high school as part of an all-female group called EDGP (pronounced Egypt) and eventually went solo as Eve of Destruction.
After a period of working as a stripper, Eve returned to hip hop at the encouragement of pop superstar Mase; she recorded "Eve of Destruction", which appeared on the soundtrack to Bulworth in 1998 (see 1998 in music). Her label, Aftermath Records, found itself in financial trouble and Eve was soon without a record contract. She had, however, befriended DMX and appeared on a remix of his hit single "Ruff Ryders Anthem" from his multi-platinum selling debut album "It's Dark and Hell is Hot" along with other Ruff Ryders' compilations. Her single "What Ya Want", featuring Nokio of Dru Hill, soon became a hit, and she collaborated with The Roots and Blackstreet and Janet Jackson, further expanding her fanbase. Her 1999 debut, Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders First Lady, was an unprecedented success, the first hip-hop album by a woman to enter the Billboard 200 at #1. The follow-up, Scorpion, was released in 2001 to good reviews, and the second single, "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" (with Gwen Stefani of No Doubt) became a pop success, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Scorpion went platinum. Eve then appeared in XXX with Vin Diesel and in both Barbershop and Barbershop 2 with Ice Cube.
She released Eve-Olution, her third album, in 2002. "Gangsta Lovin'", with Alicia Keys, became another #2 hit and Eve closed out 2003 by signing to UPN for a television show about a fashion designer. In the summer of 2003, there were some nude pictures that surfaced online that were allegedly of Eve in a sexual pose with another woman, taken about eight years before, when she was a stripper. The owner tried to blackmail money from her with the pictures.
Eve is working on her fourth solo album on Aftermath Entertainment. Dr. Dre is the executive producer to the album. Officially, Eve is a part of Aftermath Entertainment, but she is still signed to the Ruff Ryders Records and to their management company.
In 2004 Eve appeared alongside Kevin Bacon in The Woodsman.
In 2005 Eve appeared on Gwen Stefani's top ten hit "Rich Girl", which peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March.
Discography
- Ruff Ryders' First Lady (1999)
- Scorpion (2001)
- Eve-Olution (2002)