Ever since Eve broke on the scene in 1999 she’s had a knack for making stardom look easy. Grammy Award winner. Check. Starring in blockbuster films. Check. Achieving elite status as a fashion icon. Check. The «blonde bombshell» is a triple threat entertainer in the truest sense of the term. And one of the reasons you can’t take your eyes off of her is your ears. In an era when success in hip-hop is built on the portentous hype of saving the genre from imminent gloom and doom or testosterone driven beef, Eve remains a bankable star who grabs your attention with her consummate talent for crafting infectious hits. She’s proof positive that hip-hop doesn’t need to be saved or resurrected; it just needs a woman’s touch every now and then.
Hence, following a successful four-year takeover of the Hollywood and fashion scene, Eve is set to drop Here I Am, a more mature and adventurous album, one she calls her best effort to date. «This is the album I’ve always wanted to make," she says. «In the past my albums have had a heavy male influence. Not this time. This one represents the woman I am today." And there’s no doubt that the woman who brought us hits like «What Ya Want," and «Let Me Blow Ya Mind," is supremely confident that a mass variety of music lovers not just the hip-hop faithful will appreciate were she’s coming from this time around. «I didn’t just cater to a rap audience with this album," she says. «I can go to the Pop Top 40 with this because it’s far more universal than anything I’ve done. You’re going to pay attention to me because it’s different.»
