Eve (rapper)

Eve

Eve Jihan Jeffers (born November 10, 1978), is an American recording artist and actress. Her first three albums have reached a total of over 5 million albums sold worldwide. In 2003, she became the star of her own TV show, Eve, which lasted for 3 seasons. The rapper/singer/actress has also achieved success in fashion as she started a clothing line titled "Fetish." She ranked number 48 on VH1's "50 Greatest Women Of The Video Era" show list.

Early life

Eve was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Julia Wilch-Jeffers, a publishing company supervisor, and Jerry Jeffers, a chemical plant supervisor. She adopted the name Gangsta in high school as part of an all-female group called EDGP (pronounced Egypt), and went solo as Eve of Destruction.

During her early years in Philadelphia, Eve's first musical interest was singing. She sang in many choirs and even made an all-female singing group (Dope Girl Posse or D.G.P.) with a manager. This group covered songs from En Vogue and Color Me Badd. After the group's manager saw the rap group ABC, they suggested that the group should rap, and Eve stuck with it. She then went on to form a rapping group. After the group split, Eve began working on a solo career under the name "Eve of Destruction." She spent the better part of her days perfecting her craft, much to the detriment of her education. She stopped attending class and barely graduated high school. After her mother remarried, Eve moved to New York and began working as a dancer in a Bronx strip club. It was as a stripper that Eve met rapper Mase. Mase encouraged her to stop disrobing and start rapping on a professional level.

Eve is featured (along with Erykah Badu) on the song "You Got Me" by The Roots, from their 1999 album Things Fall Apart. She also provided background vocals on the song "Ain't Sayin' Nothin' New" from the same album. In the album's liner notes, she is referred to as Eve of Destruction.

Career

1998-1999: Ruff Ryders' First Lady

Eve first appeared on DJ Clue's The Professional, along with other Ruff Ryders' compilations. Her next single, "What Ya Want", featuring Nokio of Dru Hill, didn't do so well on the charts, so she collaborated with The Roots, Blackstreet and Janet Jackson, which further expanded her fan base. Her 1999 debut, Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders' First Lady, was an unprecedented success, becoming the second hip-hop album by a woman to enter the Billboard 200 at number one (the first was by Brooklyn rapper, Foxy Brown).

2000-2001: Scorpion

The follow-up to Ruff Ryders' First Lady, Scorpion, was released in 2001. Its first single, "Who's That Girl" guaranteed the rapper first international success. The second single, "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" (with Gwen Stefani of No Doubt) and produced by Dr. Dre co-written by Stevie J.), became a pop success, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and Eve eventually went platinum.

One of the record's strengths, cited in several reviews, was Eve's exploration of her singing voice in addition to her rapping skills. "I was a singer before I started rapping," Eve said in a Ruff Ryders press release, "so on this album I wanted my audience to hear more of my vocal skills".

2002-2004: Eve-Olution

Eve's third album, Eve-Olution, was released in summer 2002 (see 2002 in music) and peaked at number six on the Billboard 200. In the meantime, the album's first single, "Gangsta Lovin'", with Alicia Keys, became another number two hit. The second and final single, "Satisfaction", only saw moderate success again. Eve-Olution went gold and became Eve's lowest selling album to date. One high point for her during that year, was her recording the song entitled "All Grown Up" for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) personality Stephanie McMahon. Nonetheless, by the end of 2003, Eve was starring on her own hit sitcom, UPN's Eve, which she starred as a budding fashion designer. The series lasted three seasons. Eve starred in Barbershop 2 with Ice Cube and was also featured on Mary J. Blige's hit song "Not Today" from the Barbershop 2 soundtrack.

Guest singles

In 2005, the rapper appeared on Gwen Stefani's cover version of Louchie Lou & Michie One song "Rich Girl", which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in March. The same year, she appeared on the remix of Amerie's number one U.S. R&B hit, "1 Thing" the Hitch soundtrack. Eve also was featured in Keyshia Cole's song Never as on the Barbershop 2: Back in Business soundtrack and The Way It Is along with the official remix for Teairra Mari's second single No Daddy.

In 2007, she appeared on Kelly Rowland's single "Like This". The Punk Cabaret band One On None covered Eve's 1999 song "Love Is Blind". In July 2007, Eve made a guest appearance on Maroon 5's second single Wake Up Call on Live @ 45th at Night, it is unknown if this will be an official remix or if it will even be recorded. In late 2008, she sung the song "Set It On Fire", which was featured on the credits for the movie Transporter 3 and is available on the Transporter 3 soundtrack.

2007-present: Here I Am to Flirt to Lip Lock

Eve at the premiere of Whip It at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

In 2007, Eve began work on a new album title Here I Am. In May 2007, XXL magazine profiled six recorded tracks from Here I Am. Five of them were produced by Swizz Beatz, including singles "Tambourine" and "Give It To You" (featuring Sean Paul). Pharrell Williams produced "All Night Long". In contrast to most of the tracks, Eve sings rather than raps on "All Night Long". XXL published a review of the original Here I Am in July, rating it an L in its "shoe size" rating system ranging from S to XXL. However the album ran into a series of delays due to corporate change at the record label and discontent with the lackluster success of the first and second singles, "Tambourine," released in April 2007, and "Give It to You" (featuring Sean Paul), released later on.

The project was delayed to September 11, 2007 and then October 16 but was never released, according to Eve in an interview with the New York Post in February 2009 the problems at Geffen Records were responsible for the pushbacks. Since then the project has been retitled Flirt but remains unreleased/unfinished. It is believed that Eve is still working on the delayed project. In the meantime she is featured on the debut single from the Paradiso Girls titled "Patron Tequila". The song was released in April 2009. It has been revealed that she will release the album in 2010, under a new title of "Lip Lock" without Interscope Records.

Acting career

Eve appeared in xXx with Vin Diesel, both Barbershop and Barbershop 2: Back in Business with Ice Cube, The Cookout with Queen Latifah and Meagan Good, and The Woodsman with Kevin Bacon in mid 2004. She voiced Major Jones in the video game XIII, as well as one of the villains of the short-lived show Spider-Man Animated Series on MTV. She also featured in the 2008 movie Flashbacks of a Fool alongside Daniel Craig.

In 2003, Eve starred in the UPN television sitcom, Eve, as a fashion designer named Shelly. The show lasted three seasons until it was cancelled May 2006. She was a guest star on an episode of Numb3rs in 2009.

In 2009, she had a role in the movie Whip It! as Rosa Sparks, opposite Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore, who is also the director of the film.

Eve guest starred on two episodes of Glee, appearing as rival glee club coach Grace Hitchens. She joins previously announced guest stars Kristin Chenoweth, Victor Garber and Josh Groban.

Discography

Main article: Eve discography

• Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders' First Lady (1999)
• Scorpion (2001)
• Eve-Olution (2002)
• Lip Lock (2010)

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2002	Barbershop	Terri Jones
	xXx	J.J.
2003–2006	Eve	Shelly	TV Series
2003	Third Watch	Yvette Powel	Television drama (Episode - Second Chances)
	Spider-Man: The New Animated Series	Cheyenne Tate/The Talon	Voice Role (Episode - Keeping Secrets)
	XIII	Major Jones	Voice role
2004	The Woodsman	Mary-Kay
	Barbershop 2: Back in Business	Terri Jones
	One on One	Ida	(Episode - It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Hip Hop World)
	The Cookout	Becky
2008	Flashbacks of a Fool	Ophelia Franklin
2009	Whip It!	Rosa Sparks
	Glee	Grace Hitchens	Episode 11 (Hairography), Episode 13 (Sectionals)
	Good Hair	Herself

Awards and nominations

• BET Awards
  • 2001, Best Female Hip-Hop Artist (Winner)
• American Music Awards
  • 2003, Favorite Female Hip-Hop Artist (Nominated)
• NAACP Image Awards
  • 2000, Outstanding New Artist (Winner)
• Black Reel Awards
  • 2005, Best Actress (Independent): The Woodsman (Nominated)

• Grammy Awards
  • 2003, Best Female Rap Solo Performance: "Satisfaction" (Nominated)
  • 2002, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" w/ Gwen Stefani (Winner)
  • 2002, Best Rap Album: Scorpion (Nominated)

• Image Awards
  • 2005, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series: "Eve" (Nominated)
  • 2004, Outstanding Music Duo or Group (with Mary J. Blige) (Nominated)
  • 2003, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Barbershop (Nominated)

• Lady of Soul Awards
  • 2001, Best Music Video: "Who's That Girl" (Nominated)
  • 2000, Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist: "Gotta Man" (Nominated)
  • 2000, Best R&B/Soul Female Solo Album of the Year: Let There Be Light (Winner)** 2000, Best Music Video: "Love Is Blind" (Nominated)

• MTV Movie Awards
  • 2003, Best Female Breakthrough Performance: Barbershop (Nominated)

• MTV Video Music Awards
  • 2007, Best Choreography: "Tambourine" (Nominee)
  • 2001, Best Female Video: "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" with Gwen Stefani (Winner)
  • 2001, Viewer's Choice: "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" with Gwen Stefani (Nominated)
  • 2001, Best Hip-Hop Video: "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" with Gwen Stefani (Nominated)
  • 2000, Best Rap Video: "Love Is Blind" (Nominated)

• MOBO Awards
  • 2001, Best Hip-Hop Act (Nominated)

• Soul Train Awards
  • 2000, Best New R&B/Soul or Rap Artist: "Gotta Man" (Nominated)
  • 2000, Best Music Video: "Hot Boyz" with Missy Elliott, Nas, & Lil' Mo (Nominated)

External links

• Official website
• Eve at IMDb