Eve made her name as a rap superstar in the late 90s and early 2000s before expanding her career as an actress and media personality.
The 45-year-old Grammy-winning music artist — who recently revealed she suffered an ectopic pregnancy in 2006 — explained to Page Six that she struggled to be taken seriously in the industry before she earned success.
‘It was very much an uphill fight,’ Eve told the outlet while promoting her forthcoming memoir Who’s That Girl?, named after her 2001 hit single.
She elaborated, ‘Back then, you had to physically go out and build your audience [by] just going into these rooms, which were very male-dominated, completely male-dominated.’
The star, full name Eve Cooper, recalled, ‘I think because there weren’t as many female voices, and for us it was the old-school way of going out and having to build your audience one by one, show by show.’
Eve recently explained that she struggled to be taken seriously in the music industry before she earned success; pictured in March
The rapper told Page Six that gaining respect from music executives ‘was very much an uphill fight’; pictured in 2001
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Eve was known as the ‘first lady’ of her record label, Ruff Ryders, which was also home to rapper DMX.
While she had the support of her peers, she remembers getting ‘a lot of pushback when it came to the boardrooms and to the execs.’
She shared that ‘it was very frustrating.’
One particular clash came from her 2001 Gwen Stefani collab Let Me Blow Ya Mind, which earned her a Grammy.
‘I faced an obstacle because I wanted Gwen on that record, and I had a few people say, “That’s never gonna work. People are not going to believe this.” And I was just like, “Believe what? We are two artists,”‘ she explained.
Referring to the Southern California singer’s ska band, she added, ‘I was a fan of No Doubt, and we were also label-mates. So I was like, “Why can’t this work?” So I got pushback on that, and thankfully I won that battle.’
And Eve described her higher-ups in the music scene as ‘condescending.’
She said: ‘Sometimes you start feeling crazy when you’re pitching in these rooms and people are pushing back at you, and you’re like, “Do I suck? I didn’t think I sucked this much.”‘
‘It was very much an uphill fight,’ Eve told the outlet while promoting her forthcoming memoir Who’s That Girl?, named after her 2001 hit single
The star’s memoir is slated for a September 17 release
Her persistence paid off in the end.
‘They told me that urban radio was never going to pick it up, it’s too pop, it’s never going to work, it’s never going to blow up,’ she said to the publication.
Speaking about her triumph, she stated, ‘I won a Grammy [for] Let Me Blow Ya Mind, and Tambourine is still thankfully just one of those songs that [is] still being played. I never take that for granted. It’s also one of those “f**k you” moments to those people who were like, “Yeah, this is never going to work.” I love that.’
In contrast, Eve believes female rappers today have it easier.
‘It’s not like how it was for me where there had to be one female in a crew of dudes,’ she reflected. ‘Now you don’t even need a major label. If you build your own community on your socials, you’re fine. I think it’s much easier honestly to come out as a female.
‘One thing I’m really happy about is how many women you see on the landscape as opposed to when I was out. I am happy about that because I always felt like there was definitely not enough balance voice-wise between men and women.’
The multihyphenate has been promoting her upcoming literary effort on social media
Eve wrote recently on Instagram, ‘You can pre order an exclusive signed version over at www.evesignedbook.com now!’
The mother-of-one said years after she solidified her place in music, one A&R called her to apologize.
She shared, ‘One of my old A&Rs, who is not with us anymore, called me years later and just apologized to me and said, “I wish I would’ve listened to you a bit more. I just want to apologize to you that I didn’t.” And it actually helped me.’
Now, the raptress said she understands she ‘wasn’t crazy,’ noting, ‘This was just what was happening at that time.’
Eve’s memoir is due out on September 17.