(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHO'S THAT GIRL?")
EVE: (Rapping) They want to know - who's that girl? Yeah. Yeah. Come on. Come on. Eve's that girl - yeah. Yeah.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
She sure was and still is - rapper, actor, fashion designer, and occasional fashion model Eve burst onto the scene in the late '90s. And by the early Aughts, she was a bona fide star, the first lady of Ruff Ryders, chart-topping hits and collabs all over the place. You might recognize this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET ME BLOW YA MIND")
GWEN STEFANI: (Rapping) If I had to give you more, it's only been a year. Now I've got my foot through the door, and I ain't going nowhere.
RASCOE: But the path to start them was rocky. Eve's got a lot of tea to spill, and she's doing it in her memoir, "Who's That Girl?" co-written with Kathy Iandoli, Eve, the multi-platinum-album-having, Grammy winner, and I got to say, pit bull in a skirt herself joins us now from London. Welcome to the program.
EVE: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for that intro (laughter).
RASCOE: I'm so glad to have you here, and I want to get started because what I love about the book - it's a lot of stories. So I want you...
EVE: Yeah.
RASCOE: ...To start us off with a little bit of a story time. It's the late '90s. You're a young, hungry artist. You were just dropped from Dr. Dre's label. This is a major setback. You get a call from your manager. This crew from Yonkers, Ruff Ryders - they're interested in signing you, but you got to audition.
EVE: Yeah, that was one of those moments where, you know, it's crazy because obviously, when I first got signed to Dre, I thought that was the moment. That was it. And to be dropped and be sent back home and have to sleep at my mom's house back in Philly. When I got this call that, like, listen, this could be a opportunity, I was like, OK, cool, this is it. I knew I basically had to battle for my life. And I did what I had to do. I showed up thankfully. I showed up, and they liked it. And the rest is history.
RASCOE: In the book, you talk a lot about what it was like for you being a female rapper, what was it like for you operating in such a male dominated industry?
EVE: On one hand, I feel very lucky that the crew that I was with was Ruff Ryders, because they really were my big brothers. You know what I mean? Like, I was really, really protected and respected and celebrated. On the other hand, when it came to execs, when I had to walk into these meetings into these boardrooms, these offices. That was a different story because there was a lot of eye-rolling or a lot of just, oh, yeah, that's cute. And that part of it was very frustrating.
RASCOE: What gave you the confidence in that moment to battle all these men?
EVE: I don't know what gave me the confidence, to be honest. You know, I call it, you know, young stupidity and blind confidence, I guess. You know, And you know that I don't can I say this on NPR, that little bit of f***-you-ness? I'm sorry. Boop boop boop. But, you know, we all have that thing in our life, I think.
RASCOE: Now, you talk about how you had this great relationship, obviously with your crew. But there were some rivalries with other female rappers at that time, you're a little coy about it in the book,
EVE: (Laughter).
RASCOE: ...About naming names. What do you think drove those tensions with the other female rappers in the industry?
EVE: I think it was the industry itself. I think it was the people behind the artist. I think it was very much that there has to be the one female. There's only enough light for one for each crew, which is ridiculous because look how many men share the spotlight, share the stage, and have always done it. I do love, though, right now where we are, when you look out in the landscape, how many females there are out now.
RASCOE: You know, today, women in hip hop. They're really running things.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TAMBOURINE")
EVE: (Rapping) E-V-E come through in a Maserat - throwing it big like I live in the Taj Mahal. Talk shit, I don't get into blah-zy blah. That's why they loving, uh...
RASCOE: Like, at least chartwise, pop-culture-wise, you know, you look at Megan Thee Stallion, GlowRilla, Cardi B., Latto, more - look, what do you think of this current crop of artists?
EVE: I love them as a collective, and as what we need. All those voices - we need all those bodies, all those women, all those opinions, because this business has been so male-dominated, not just behind the scenes, but in front of the cameras. It's so annoying over the years where you, you know, watch a BET Awards, and there's nothing but dudes on the stage.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TAMBOURINE")
EVE: (Rapping) Ladies, put your hands in the air. It's all right now. People keep you up on your feet the whole night now. Pop them bottles and drink that up, man. Got you feeling crazy...
RASCOE: Do you feel like they have more freedom than you had because I mean, you know, now you have people like Cardi B. She was a stripper, that's celebrated if it's mentioned at all. And the book you talk about very briefly, doing exotic dancing for about two months. And it seemed like back in the day you had to really explain that, defend yourself. It was a whole thing, but now people don't even think about stuff like that.
EVE: They don't. I think there is a lot more freedom for the girls who are out now. I think the culture is different. I think the culture is seen differently. Back then, I just don't think we were as open and honest.
RASCOE: Now, you're a wife and a mother. You're married to this multimillionaire British businessman, Maximilian Cooper. But in the book I was interested, you pushed back against those who would call you a kept woman. Why do you think that's the narrative around you a lot now (laughter)?
EVE: It is. And people will be like, ooh, must be nice...
RASCOE: Yeah.
EVE: Or does he have a this or that? And I'm like, yes, it is nice, 'cause he's great. But the frustration is, Have y'all not seen me work my ass off my whole life that y'all known me? You know what I mean?
RASCOE: (Laughter).
EVE: And that - please don't take away the things that I have done just because I've moved to another country. He would support me in whatever I want to do. If I did want to work, fine. But we do for each other. We plan with each other. We do things for each other. And listen, no shade at all to anyone who is kept. It's just not my thing.
RASCOE: That is Eve. Her book, "Who's That Girl?" is out on Tuesday. Thank you so much for speaking with us.
EVE: Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SET IT ON FIRE")
EVE: (Rapping) Uh, yeah, E-V-E if you came to play our game. Make me say a lot of things I never faced. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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