September 17, 2024 • 32 mins
Eve made her mark in the rap scene in the late ’90s as the first lady of Ruff Ryders. And over the past decades, she’s had platinum albums, hit singles, and a Grammy Award. She was also one of the first female rappers to have a sitcom, launch a clothing line and co-host the daytime talk show, “The Talk.” Eve joins the Bright Side to share how she’s navigating life in London with a blended family and she’s spilling all the details in her new memoir, “Who’s That Girl?”
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey, besties, Hello Sunshine. Today on the bright Side, let
us blow your mind because we're joined by the Grammy
Award winning rapper Eve. Her new memoir Who's That Girl
is out today. She's spilling all the details on raising
her kids in London, as a Philly girl, navigating life
with a blended family, and the surprising call she got
(00:23):
from Jay Z when her first album dropped. It's Tuesday,
September seventeenth. I'm Danielle Robe and.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I'm Simone Voice, and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together to
share women's stories, laugh, learn and brighten your day.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
All right, First things first, we want to give a
warm welcome to all of you new listeners out there
who found us on Apple Podcasts. Yeah, we're so excited
that you're here, and we have a great episode for
you today and honestly every day. We pour so much
love into this show. So if you're new to the
bright Side, dig into the feed and check out some
(01:02):
of our recent episodes. I feel like you'll be a
bright Side bestie in no time.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And if you like what you hear, take a moment
to rate and review the show and share it with
someone you think needs to hear it.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
We also have to give a huge shout out to
the whole team at Apple Podcasts for selecting us as
one of their Spotlight Picks. It's so major. We're so
honored and thrilled to be on their list of the
most exciting vital voices and personalities working and podcasting today.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
We started this podcast to lift women up, so thank
you Apple podcast for lifting us up.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
You know, we have Eve here today, who's a Grammy
Award winning artist. This is like our Grammys, and if
you know Eve at all, you know she's gonna get
real and even maybe use some colorful language. So if
you're listening around kids, you might want to put some
headphones on for this one. So some moan, we got
to get into it.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
We have the Eve, the Eve, the let Me blow
your mind, the tambourine Eve. I mean, her music is
like a sonic passport or a timestamp. For me, it
takes me right back to being in middle school and
just like dancing with my.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Friends acting a fool.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Ough.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
She just has the best vibes. So I love that
you said the word vibes because that's what I feel.
I've always loved her vibes. I don't know if it's
her strength that inspires me, but like she makes me
want to growl, Like she just has this oh about
her that I want to embody and I always did
and I didn't see a lot of women like her
(02:30):
when I was growing up, and so I just I
love that we're getting to talk to her today.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Maybe it's the iconic pawprint tattoos that make you want
to growl.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Maybe that was the point, the subliminal messaging that could
be it, or like the rough rider's tie. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, I'm really excited to get to know Eve a
little better. I mean, so much has changed, right, She's
now a mom to a toddler, a step mom to
four kids, and over the past ten years she's spent
more time in the UK than she has in America.
And she says she's a different person and from that
young girl that we all know and came up with,
who was hustling like her life depended on it twenty
(03:06):
five years ago. And something I've always wondered about is
the origins of her name Eve, because it's not just
your average name, like Eve is a very meaningful name.
I mean, it's biblical, it's biblical, it's historical. And this
theme of her name really emerges as one of the
more prominent through lines in her new memoir, as she
(03:27):
wonders whether she's blessed or cursed to share a name
with such a controversial figure. So she collaborated on this
book Who's That Girl, with writer Kathy Ian Dolly.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
You know, when I think about part of that Girl
and that hustle that I respect so much, I think
it's also because she was one of the first women
to find success in the rap scene. I mean, she
began her career in the late nineteen nineties, and she
made history with her debut album. It reached number one
on the Billboard two hundred and then her two thousand
(03:58):
and one platinum album Score featured hits like Who's That
Girl and of course the Grammy Award winning song let
Me Blow Your Mind, And throughout her career she's always
just been a boundary breaker. She was one of the
first female rappers to have a sitcom, the other one
was Queen Ladifa. She launched a clothing line called Fetish
before celebrities were even doing that. Since then, she's released
(04:22):
more albums she's co starred in films. She co hosted
the CBS Daytime Emmy nominated talk show The Talk, and
then she recently starred in the critically acclaimed series Queens.
And that's all her resume, right, which is super impressive.
But this book really highlights her personal life, the behind
the scenes, and the more recent version of Eve that
(04:42):
we see is the one that fell in love and
moved to London and started a family.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, it was really interesting to hear her reminisce about
the early days and what it was like to be
one of the founding females of hip hop. She says
that she was constantly fighting for an ounce of the
same respect that her male colleagues enjoy, which is funny
because that is such a huge recurring theme on our show.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
We talked to a lot of our guests about that.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
And then coming back to that theme of her name,
Eve writes that in those gritty early days, she often
felt herself leaning on the legacy of her name for strength.
This is one of my favorite quotes from the book.
She says, I realized that if the music industry wasn't
going to let me be the first woman of their universe,
then I had no choice. I had to leave and
go build my own. So that's that ferocity that you
(05:27):
were talking about, Danielle. It's clear that she's someone who
sees rejection as a challenge and not as a setback.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
You know what. We could go back and forth all day, Simone,
but she's here with us, Eve, Welcome to the bright side.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
We're so happy to have you.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
So you're out with a brand new memoir. Before we
get into it, it's called Who's That Girl? And I
want to tell you that I read it in one night.
Oh no way, Wow, so good.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Thank you, so so good.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Thank you for keeping me company on my Saturday night.
It was much better than any date I've been on
in a while.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Do so much. That honestly means a lot. That means
a lot.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
And my my co writer as well, Kathy, will appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
She's amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Well. You share so many moments from your illustrious career,
and you recently told People magazine that having your son
wild actually has a lot to do with feeling like
you can talk about your past. Yeah, I didn't understand
what you meant by that.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Why so I mean like I kind of, I guess,
did a little dive into being vulnerable, being honest and
truthful and talking about things that I feel like, I
guess I needed to heal when I was on the talk,
So that was like my first little toe in, and then,
you know, I continue to kind of work on my vulnerability,
(06:46):
work on opening up about things. One of the biggest
things for me was my journey with fertility and trying
to have a kid. And once I had him, I
was like, oh wow, like it's almost like one.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
He just gives me this courage.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I know how this little boy just gives me this
like courage and I definitely feel so much more whole.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
He definitely was.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
A missing piece in my life. Everything is about him.
I want him to have the best life he could
that I could dream of for him. That a lot
of me writing this book and putting things in this
book and being honest and open is kind of shedding
old shit that I don't want to bring into how
I raise him feelings that he feels for me. I
(07:28):
really believe in things like that, energetically, familial ties, things
like that.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
So yeah, I think it was just it was a lot.
It was a lot. He brought up a lot of things.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
I will say childbirth and having the kid opens a
whole other canon worms of things.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
So yeah, Simone actually always talks about that on the
podcast I'm not a Mom Yet, and she says that often. Yeah,
what was your process in terms of trying to shed
some of those past things?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Are you a therapy girl, I'm like, off and on
do therapy. I'm a crystal healing, acupuncture, meditation, breath work, reiki.
I'm like, listen, whatever the modality I feel I need,
I will go towards it. I also, I just, yeah,
(08:19):
I try everything.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
I do.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Believe therapy helps a ton. I'm grateful that I started
therapy and then I tried different kinds of therapy. But yeah,
I feel like from my friends that had kids, I
didn't hear about the other the breaking open as such,
and no one talked about that a lot to me.
(08:41):
I feel like, so I actually wasn't prepared for that
of like bringing up past childhood things, which makes total sense,
of course, but it's just not something I ever thought about.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, it's kind of like this giant new mirror in
your life that just reflects everything back to you. Everything
you've been trying to run away from. Yes, it's crazy,
it's my experience.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
No, it's true.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
It's crazy, like you cannot go anywhere. Like you said,
you can't run from it, you can't ignore it. I
had been asked a few years ago while I was
on the Talk, probably my second year on the Talk,
I had been asked by someone if I wanted to
write a book, and I just definitely wasn't ready. But
I think when I met Kathy, because of being broken
(09:26):
open in a new way the kid everything, I was like,
you know what, yes, because I kind of want to
get this shit out, Like I.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Feel like I need to let it go.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
I need to say it so I can release it
physically as well, heal whatever needs to be healed. Shed
that part and be ready for the I mean it's
so cliche to say, but be ready for the next
chapters of my life with this kid.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I also feel like marriage cracks you open in a
way too.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And also.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Because once you start, I mean just I'll just speak
for myself, like realizing how I am in arguments and
then tracing that back to you know, the wounds and
the patterns and just those deep rooted grooves in my
brain and then thinking about, okay, how do I undo
those patterns so I can a be a good wife
(10:13):
and a healthy wife, yeah, and then be model a
healthy marriage for my kids.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
It's like it's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
It's a lot of it's a lot of pressure as
I come from a family that wasn't very lovey dovey.
We didn't say we weren't really great communicators. We didn't
say I love you or I hate you, so if
things went bad then we screamed. So with my husband
and it's funny because you know he's very British, but
I will say I found the most touchy feely I
(10:41):
love you British family on the freaking planet. And also
you know I gained four bonus kids as well, so and.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
They are very to this day, they are very I
love you.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
They don't leave that they could be going to the store,
they will not leave the house without saying I love you,
or if they're going away for a weekend, they will hug.
And it took me, it's so sweet, but it took
me years actually to be comfortable enough to be like,
oh yeah, hug you back, I love you. And then
also being a step parent now being on mine, it's
(11:12):
just like so much.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, that mirror, that mirror, don't.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Ever get tired of itself. Chah, that mirror be up.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
So you write in your book pretty early on about
where you grew up in Philly, and there's this moment
where you talk about how your house was dark and
it wasn't like there weren't a lot of windows, but
it felt dark. And you would go to friends' houses
and realize that their houses were lighter. And I'm sitting
here wondering if you always had this want for a happy,
(11:41):
light family because of that one memory. Is there a
tie there?
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah? I think so. I think.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
You know, as you become an adult, you realize the
shit adults have to deal with, whether that is their
own addiction, their own ties to their familiar shit, their
own sadness, depression, whatever that is, right, I of course
didn't know it was that. As a kid, I grew
up a class clown. I always wanted to make people laugh.
I always wanted to make my mom laugh. I always
(12:09):
felt like that was something that I should be doing.
I was a performer. Clearly, this is why I'm in
the business. I always needed attention, and I think it
does come from that. I think it comes from trying
to find happy moments like be happy, laugh.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Like you know, performing one. I definitely think that's what
it came from for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Eve My half brother lives in Philly and my dad
went to school in Philly, so I have a real
soft spot in my heart for Philly people. Philly people,
they're just the realist, the warmest. What do you think
is the most Philly thing about you? Oh my god,
I am a Philly girl, true and through. I'm definitely
(12:52):
I do think.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Yes, Philly people are warm and they're down on earth,
but they are feisty and I think that has what
carried me far in life is the Philly feistiness.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
And I'm proud of it. I am proud of that.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Like I'm real nice until i'm not, and I think
Philly people are.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Good at that.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Here's the question, though, after living in London for ten years,
what's the most British thing about you? Now?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
I talk about the fucking weather all the time.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
I am so concerned about the weather that it lives
to me.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Now.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
I get it though, because on Sunday it was beautiful
walking around sunshine.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Now I am freezing. It is cold. It is great.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
So I get now while they're obsessed with the weather
because it could change like that.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
You know what's funny though, is all these interviews like
with Ebro and the Breakfast Club that you did, none
of them can believe that you moved to London. Like
they're all like why, how why? And it was like, dush,
she moved for love. I get it.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Yes, yes, And it's not like it's London. It's not Siberia.
It's not like freaking it's londoness dough.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
London is dope. Also, it's not.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
That far like from the east coast. I mean it's
quote as far from the west coast, but is not that
far from the east coast. Yeah, I did it for love.
I would have probably been here anyway, even without my husband.
It was something in my life that I always said
I would move to. I thought I was going to
move to Paris. Of course, I was like, I'll live
in Paris or London at some point in my life.
(14:22):
But obviously having love made it easier, and I honestly love.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
It's a great city. It's a great Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
So I'm really interested in that chapter of your life
when you ended up moving across the world for your love.
You moved countries, got married, gained four step children all
at once, and then you.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Had a baby.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Like that's a lot of change and a short amount
of time.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Eve.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Yeah, yes it is. I sometimes think I am a masochist.
I swear because oh, when I take it on, I
take it on. When I jump in, I jump in
and both feet, eyes wide open. But I'm also one
of those people that's like, fuck it, let's see.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I have always been like that.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
I just believe that God forbid, if it hadn't worked
out or whatever, I could always move back. It is
a lot, but I am happy, of course, clearly that
did it.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Okay, we have to take a quick break, but we'll
be right back with more from Grammy Award winning artist Eve.
Stay with us and we're back with Eve.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Okay, we're gonna turn the clock all the way back. So,
coming up as an MC in the nineties, you talk
about how everything was heavily gendered, that anytime you were
mentioned in an article or impressed, it was prefaced with
female rapper, and also that people had a lot of
low expectations for what a woman can do when you
take a look at the landscape today, how do you
(16:01):
process how things are now compared to when you were
coming up.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
I love that there are so many women, so many
female voices in the landscape because we needed. You know,
how many freaking award shows can you have where all
these dudes are on stage celebrating each other, you.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Know what I mean? So thank you, gosh. I am
very happy.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
The other thing that females have that I feel like
when we were coming up, there's none of that. The
one girl and the crew and the men have to
co sign her. Yes, it was a great era, but
at the same time, like, no, it's not necessary, and
I'm so happy that that seems to be in the
past a bit.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
I think, just for context for everyone listening, it was
like you were the first lady of rough Riders. So
as DMX, it was all the boys, and then you
and even Gwen Stefani had no doubt in all the guys,
and then it was her. We saw that a lot,
so you're right, you.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Know, and I was like Kim with Bad Boy and
like so it was just kind of like that thing,
right that was yeah, the girl and the crew, the
one girl of the crew, the token with the token girl. Yes,
so yeah, thank god is not like as much like
that anymore.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
So you said in interviews that the industry really never
made space for women who wanted to rap and be mothers.
And you and I both share a love you probably
in a different way because you know her for Lauren Hill,
and you saw how her career was impacted when she
had a child. Yeah, did that make you feel like
(17:31):
you didn't have an option to be a mom?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Like?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Did that delay things for you in any way?
Speaker 3 (17:35):
It did?
Speaker 4 (17:36):
I think I just didn't think I could do both,
to be honest, And I think it was that it
was definitely Lauren when she put out that song Zion,
and she literally talked about it in Zion and how
people were discouraging her from that. I mean I would
go in meetings sometimes and be discouraged for having a boyfriend,
Like literally, in meetings that was supposed to be about music.
(17:58):
I'd have execs being you know, you really shouldn't be
in relationships for too long. It takes away your focus.
I'm like, would you say that to these guys that
come in here.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
And has like twelve girlfriends by the way, exactly, that's
exactly what I was thinking.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Danielle literally twelve girlfriends and six baby mamas. Yes, yeah,
so it was always weirdly talked about. And then I
think the delay also just came from I think the
more and more I got busy, the more and more
I kind of was in this my own space of
kind of self sabotage and what is happening and what
(18:32):
is going on? And then I kind of was just like, not,
I can't bring a kid into this at all right now,
and also thinking and taking for granted that it would
just happen when I meet the guy that I love,
because that's what they tell you, like, you get married,
you have a baby.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
That's it. I think I actually took that for granted
as well.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
I'm gonna admit something embarrassing. Twenty seventeen, Cardi came out
with Bodak Yellow, huge hit. It put her on the map,
and the next year she got pregnant and I was
doing a morning show like reporting on the news, and
I remember thinking like, oh, her career is over. Why
would she do that? And thankfully it wasn't, but to
(19:12):
me that felt like the turning point. What do you
think changed?
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Oh my god?
Speaker 4 (19:16):
I one hundred percent what you thought. We all thought
that is the realest thing, because she was the one
who did it. And you're like, oh, but how amazing,
how beautiful, How I was so happy and proud to see, Like, damn,
I was inspired by her, you know, like, oh man,
(19:38):
we really have moved on, you know what I mean. Nah,
it's a great, amazing, beautiful thing. Definitely, there's moms in
all industries, very high stress energies that have kids all
across this world.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Why can't it be music as well? You know what
I was just thinking about as you were talking about CARTI.
Male rappers have had babies, lots of them since the
dawn of hip hop, and it's never been an issue
for them. But now suddenly a mother can't be publicly
mothering and rapping at the same time.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Yeah, it's insane, but that's all societal bullshit.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, all societal bullshit.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Okay, I'm going to ask you something that everyone's going
to ask you in an interview, So I'm sorry if
this is annoying, but it is interesting. So you released
your first album in nineteen ninety nine. It's called Let
There Be Eve, and you're Rough Riders. Quote unquote first lady,
you go on to be double platinum, you sell two
hundred thousand records in your first week, which is insane.
(20:36):
And Jay Z called you the day the album was released. Yes,
will you share what he said?
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Yes? Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
He basically was like, you know, congratulations, which I was
like thanks, but it was like he was like, well,
you know, don't be too disappointed because female rappers really
don't sell that well usually so and I was just like, okay,
you know, thanks for the congratulations. And I didn't feel
And it's funny because and I put it in the
(21:06):
book because I do. It was such a big moment,
like it didn't stop anything, it didn't steal my scheme
in any way. Jay went on to be a friend
and a supporter and I vice versa whatever. But it
was just one of those moments where it was like, wow,
that's crazy, and thankfully the album did what it did,
but it became a theme in my life, I feel like,
(21:28):
and in the book it feels that way even for
me once I wrote it, of the underdog syndrome of
being questioned of the would they say this to a man?
Speaker 3 (21:37):
No, they would not like.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Why that was one of those moments where you're just like,
oh wow, it was a bit shocking, but it didn't
take any steme away or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
If anything, it was more of the.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Okay, I'll show you don't no worries.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I feel like that underdog spirit is so intrinsic to Philly,
maybe partly because of Rocky.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
It's true, I think so too. We are very much that.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
You know, The thing is, Philly is one of those
places that has grown and grown and grown. But back then,
you know, musically it was New York, New York City.
If it's hip hop is New York. If you're from Philly, okay,
there is Listen, there's a rich, huge, rich musical history
of Philadelphia, but it's still not New York. So when
(22:20):
I used to go to New York and like try
to rap, well give out my demos and stuff, people
be like, oh, you sound so country, I'm like.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
I'm fucking Philly. It's an hour thirty five minutes.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Excuse me, it's not that far. Like, I don't.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Sound that country.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
So yeah, you know, I think back then it was
just still just having to prove yourself, which I get,
which I get.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Okay, we're gonna talk about your second album. So, despite
the success of your first album, you write that you
were still underestimated for your second album, Scorpion, and you
have this megahead. Of course, this banger we all know,
let me blow your mind with Gwen Stefani. It wins
a Grammy, But you said that your team originally didn't
I want you to work with Gwen on that track?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Why not?
Speaker 4 (23:04):
It's funny because she was the only person I heard.
I didn't hear anyone else. I heard that record. I
was like, it has to be Gwenn, and everybody else
was like, it's just not gonna work. Nobody's gonna believe this,
And I'm like, why, we're both We're just artists making
music and seems where Also, she was a label mate
at that time, so it took me a while to convince.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
I've had since then. I've had an.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
Old exact that I saw years ago that was like,
you know, it was me too, that was like, this
is gonna work. I'm like, of course, of course, yes,
of course, of course. But back then I kind of
had to fight for it, and I'm so glad that
it happens. I think Jimmy Ivan probably was the one
the catalyst because Jimmy gets it. He's a genius when
(23:48):
it comes to stuff like that, So I think he
helped to make that happen.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah, was it that people thought Gwen was to pop
and like the it was a juxtaposition that was too harsh.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
Yes, And I would say to them like, look at
Aerosmith and run DMC like that happened in eighty four
eighty five. Come on, that's a classic fucking record. And yeah,
I think also because I was the new girl in
hip hop, I think on the hip hop side, people
were probably like, oh shit, nah, like this is too
fast of a transition. You need to stay in this lane,
(24:22):
you need to stay here, which I also understand. But
I was just like, come on, y'all, this is a banger,
like Dre is producing, like I'm.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Rapid, Like it's fine, Like it'll be fine.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
And I remember when we when we showed up to
the BET Awards on the red carpet, it was definitely
like okay, oh oh, you brought your little friend, your
love friend into wards.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
But you know what, it fucking worked out. It worked out.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
It was that was a fun time because I had
gone into spaces I'd never been in and when was
in spaces, she had never been in.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Well from the outside looking in, like y'all do have
like this same energy piece that I think worked so well,
Like she's got that SoCal Orange County edge tour you
bring in the East Coast flavor, like there's some that
synergy was obviously just a match made in heaven.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
I thought so too. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
We need to take another short break and we'll be
right back. We're back with Eve.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
When you say fight for it, you talk about what
you fought for with your music, with your fashion line,
with all of it throughout the book. But now talking
to you, I'm guessing the way you fight for things
has changed.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
You know.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
The idea of not having your voice or your ideas
heard is so prevalent. Simona and I interview women every
single day, and it is a theme that we hear
over and over again. It just is what have you
learned about getting your point across, getting your ideas heard?
Throughout all these years.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
I think back then it really used to hit me
in a way that made me very sad. I will
say that it really took a lot of my self esteem.
I have been apologized to from a director from an
old A and R person about my ideas and just
(26:31):
saying you know which, I'm so grateful that that happened
because that normally never happens. But it helped me know
that I wasn't fucking insane, because what happens is you
start questioning yourself about your instincts Okay, maybe I'm not
supposed to be doing this, where it's really people who
are intimidated or just don't want to champion you, and
(26:53):
that is really sad and it sucks. Like you said,
you guys talk to these women and it's still happening,
and that they feel like this, that is horrible. I
have learned now that and it's hard sometimes, but you
have to trust your gut, trust your instincts, and if
you really feel like that's what it is, you can
(27:14):
put your foot down without screaming if you don't want to.
But also to be like stand in your truth of no,
this is what it is, or I'm sorry, and that
has a lot of power and that takes a lot
of courage.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
It took me a long time to get to that place.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Because then the business sometimes you would have management or
an agent that's like, oh no, you have to take
this opportunity because if we say no to them, you
won't get another opportunity, and like you become paranoid. But
I think it's just about standing in your truth and
knowing like you just have to put your foot down.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
You just do.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
And now I don't have any issues with it. I
don't have any issue saying no. I have zero issues
saying no now, which is so nice. It's a nice
place to be.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
It takes time, though. I loved reading about that because
I felt that and still feel that sometimes. And it's
like you're such a tough person externally that to hear
that it affected you. Oh yeah, I think was really
nice to hear no.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
I think I had to build this toughness though to
be heard like it served me. The toughness, the wall,
the fuck youness is served me. And then you get
to a point where you're like, oh shit, I don't
need that anymore. So now how do I voice myself
voice my opinion without using you know, stuff from the past.
(28:39):
And that takes time too, and I do sometimes still
get a little ek of course, because we're human. I
do sometimes I'm like, oh man, I feel bad I
should maybe, and then it's like, but you know what,
if it can't happen, it can't happen if they're not
respecting where I'm at, then sorry, Because also it goes
both way, like respect me and I will respect you.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
I know that we got to wrap up your time here.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
You have truly done it all.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
I mean, you've hosted the talk, You've got upwards of
fifty acting credits. I loved you and The Woodsman, and
even still I feel like we are barely scratching the
surface of Eve the actor and what you're capable of.
And I see you nodding your head, and I feel
that you feel that too. So what kinds of roles
(29:24):
do you crave these days? Or do you like, do
you crave getting back into the acting game at all?
Speaker 4 (29:29):
I think I am. I mean, I will say this,
My dream role of all time is like, because I
love conspiracy shit, So if I could be like.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
An agent that's so east coast of you by.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
The way, forty eight hours, no, like anything that's kind
of like government, I'm an agent.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
He's amazing. Any type of action, I'm jumping on it.
Speaker 4 (29:56):
But I would love to be on the producer creative side.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
That's kind of what I'm working on right now.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
I'm thinking Bond Girl. You're in London. I think you
should push for that one.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
I'm gonna put it in the universe.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
Let me go squat and crunch my way home the
whole time because I gotta get the body right for that.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Leave the Bond girl. Okay, here's what I really need
to know. Are we ever bringing fetish back?
Speaker 3 (30:21):
I love you for that. You know what's funny.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
I just found a bunch of old fetish shit that
I cleaned out some stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
And I was like, oh, fetish in what it was? No,
but I would actually love to do something new.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
I would love to get back kind of into fashion
maybe in some way, don't know how, but oh yeah,
not fetish as it was.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
I thought that was one of the coolest things you've
ever done. That was pre anybody having a fashion line
that was pre j Low, pre all of this. I
just think you had so much artistic vision always I
had fetish pieces, So I'd like a reboot.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Thank you, Eve, Thank you so much. This has been
just the greatest joy of my life. Speaking to you
is wonderful.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Eve is the multi Plotnam, Grammy Award winning rapper, singer, songwriter, actor,
philanthropist and entrepreneur.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
That's it for today's show. Tomorrow, it's Wellness Wednesday. We're
joined by Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of
fair Play and find Your Unicorn Space. She'll be sharing
groundbreaking insights from a brand new study on the truth
behind the mental load and how to reclaim your time.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect
with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram
and at the bright Side Pod on TikTok Oh, and
feel free to tag us at Simone Voice and at
Danielle Robe.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
See you tomorrow, folks, Keep looking on the bright side.
Hey, besties, Hello Sunshine. Today on the bright Side, let
us blow your mind because we're joined by the Grammy
Award winning rapper Eve. Her new memoir Who's That Girl
is out today. She's spilling all the details on raising
her kids in London, as a Philly girl, navigating life
with a blended family, and the surprising call she got
(00:23):
from Jay Z when her first album dropped. It's Tuesday,
September seventeenth. I'm Danielle Robe and.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I'm Simone Voice, and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together to
share women's stories, laugh, learn and brighten your day.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
All right, First things first, we want to give a
warm welcome to all of you new listeners out there
who found us on Apple Podcasts. Yeah, we're so excited
that you're here, and we have a great episode for
you today and honestly every day. We pour so much
love into this show. So if you're new to the
bright Side, dig into the feed and check out some
(01:02):
of our recent episodes. I feel like you'll be a
bright Side bestie in no time.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And if you like what you hear, take a moment
to rate and review the show and share it with
someone you think needs to hear it.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
We also have to give a huge shout out to
the whole team at Apple Podcasts for selecting us as
one of their Spotlight Picks. It's so major. We're so
honored and thrilled to be on their list of the
most exciting vital voices and personalities working and podcasting today.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
We started this podcast to lift women up, so thank
you Apple podcast for lifting us up.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
You know, we have Eve here today, who's a Grammy
Award winning artist. This is like our Grammys, and if
you know Eve at all, you know she's gonna get
real and even maybe use some colorful language. So if
you're listening around kids, you might want to put some
headphones on for this one. So some moan, we got
to get into it.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
We have the Eve, the Eve, the let Me blow
your mind, the tambourine Eve. I mean, her music is
like a sonic passport or a timestamp. For me, it
takes me right back to being in middle school and
just like dancing with my.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Friends acting a fool.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Ough.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
She just has the best vibes. So I love that
you said the word vibes because that's what I feel.
I've always loved her vibes. I don't know if it's
her strength that inspires me, but like she makes me
want to growl, Like she just has this oh about
her that I want to embody and I always did
and I didn't see a lot of women like her
(02:30):
when I was growing up, and so I just I
love that we're getting to talk to her today.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Maybe it's the iconic pawprint tattoos that make you want
to growl.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Maybe that was the point, the subliminal messaging that could
be it, or like the rough rider's tie. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, I'm really excited to get to know Eve a
little better. I mean, so much has changed, right, She's
now a mom to a toddler, a step mom to
four kids, and over the past ten years she's spent
more time in the UK than she has in America.
And she says she's a different person and from that
young girl that we all know and came up with,
who was hustling like her life depended on it twenty
(03:06):
five years ago. And something I've always wondered about is
the origins of her name Eve, because it's not just
your average name, like Eve is a very meaningful name.
I mean, it's biblical, it's biblical, it's historical. And this
theme of her name really emerges as one of the
more prominent through lines in her new memoir, as she
(03:27):
wonders whether she's blessed or cursed to share a name
with such a controversial figure. So she collaborated on this
book Who's That Girl, with writer Kathy Ian Dolly.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
You know, when I think about part of that Girl
and that hustle that I respect so much, I think
it's also because she was one of the first women
to find success in the rap scene. I mean, she
began her career in the late nineteen nineties, and she
made history with her debut album. It reached number one
on the Billboard two hundred and then her two thousand
(03:58):
and one platinum album Score featured hits like Who's That
Girl and of course the Grammy Award winning song let
Me Blow Your Mind, And throughout her career she's always
just been a boundary breaker. She was one of the
first female rappers to have a sitcom, the other one
was Queen Ladifa. She launched a clothing line called Fetish
before celebrities were even doing that. Since then, she's released
(04:22):
more albums she's co starred in films. She co hosted
the CBS Daytime Emmy nominated talk show The Talk, and
then she recently starred in the critically acclaimed series Queens.
And that's all her resume, right, which is super impressive.
But this book really highlights her personal life, the behind
the scenes, and the more recent version of Eve that
(04:42):
we see is the one that fell in love and
moved to London and started a family.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, it was really interesting to hear her reminisce about
the early days and what it was like to be
one of the founding females of hip hop. She says
that she was constantly fighting for an ounce of the
same respect that her male colleagues enjoy, which is funny
because that is such a huge recurring theme on our show.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
We talked to a lot of our guests about that.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
And then coming back to that theme of her name,
Eve writes that in those gritty early days, she often
felt herself leaning on the legacy of her name for strength.
This is one of my favorite quotes from the book.
She says, I realized that if the music industry wasn't
going to let me be the first woman of their universe,
then I had no choice. I had to leave and
go build my own. So that's that ferocity that you
(05:27):
were talking about, Danielle. It's clear that she's someone who
sees rejection as a challenge and not as a setback.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
You know what. We could go back and forth all day, Simone,
but she's here with us, Eve, Welcome to the bright side.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
We're so happy to have you.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
So you're out with a brand new memoir. Before we
get into it, it's called Who's That Girl? And I
want to tell you that I read it in one night.
Oh no way, Wow, so good.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Thank you, so so good.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Thank you for keeping me company on my Saturday night.
It was much better than any date I've been on
in a while.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Do so much. That honestly means a lot. That means
a lot.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
And my my co writer as well, Kathy, will appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
She's amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Well. You share so many moments from your illustrious career,
and you recently told People magazine that having your son
wild actually has a lot to do with feeling like
you can talk about your past. Yeah, I didn't understand
what you meant by that.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Why so I mean like I kind of, I guess,
did a little dive into being vulnerable, being honest and
truthful and talking about things that I feel like, I
guess I needed to heal when I was on the talk,
So that was like my first little toe in, and then,
you know, I continue to kind of work on my vulnerability,
(06:46):
work on opening up about things. One of the biggest
things for me was my journey with fertility and trying
to have a kid. And once I had him, I
was like, oh wow, like it's almost like one.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
He just gives me this courage.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I know how this little boy just gives me this
like courage and I definitely feel so much more whole.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
He definitely was.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
A missing piece in my life. Everything is about him.
I want him to have the best life he could
that I could dream of for him. That a lot
of me writing this book and putting things in this
book and being honest and open is kind of shedding
old shit that I don't want to bring into how
I raise him feelings that he feels for me. I
(07:28):
really believe in things like that, energetically, familial ties, things
like that.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
So yeah, I think it was just it was a lot.
It was a lot. He brought up a lot of things.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
I will say childbirth and having the kid opens a
whole other canon worms of things.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
So yeah, Simone actually always talks about that on the
podcast I'm not a Mom Yet, and she says that often. Yeah,
what was your process in terms of trying to shed
some of those past things?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Are you a therapy girl, I'm like, off and on
do therapy. I'm a crystal healing, acupuncture, meditation, breath work, reiki.
I'm like, listen, whatever the modality I feel I need,
I will go towards it. I also, I just, yeah,
(08:19):
I try everything.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
I do.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Believe therapy helps a ton. I'm grateful that I started
therapy and then I tried different kinds of therapy. But yeah,
I feel like from my friends that had kids, I
didn't hear about the other the breaking open as such,
and no one talked about that a lot to me.
(08:41):
I feel like, so I actually wasn't prepared for that
of like bringing up past childhood things, which makes total sense,
of course, but it's just not something I ever thought about.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, it's kind of like this giant new mirror in
your life that just reflects everything back to you. Everything
you've been trying to run away from. Yes, it's crazy,
it's my experience.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
No, it's true.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
It's crazy, like you cannot go anywhere. Like you said,
you can't run from it, you can't ignore it. I
had been asked a few years ago while I was
on the Talk, probably my second year on the Talk,
I had been asked by someone if I wanted to
write a book, and I just definitely wasn't ready. But
I think when I met Kathy, because of being broken
(09:26):
open in a new way the kid everything, I was like,
you know what, yes, because I kind of want to
get this shit out, Like I.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Feel like I need to let it go.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
I need to say it so I can release it
physically as well, heal whatever needs to be healed. Shed
that part and be ready for the I mean it's
so cliche to say, but be ready for the next
chapters of my life with this kid.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I also feel like marriage cracks you open in a
way too.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And also.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Because once you start, I mean just I'll just speak
for myself, like realizing how I am in arguments and
then tracing that back to you know, the wounds and
the patterns and just those deep rooted grooves in my
brain and then thinking about, okay, how do I undo
those patterns so I can a be a good wife
(10:13):
and a healthy wife, yeah, and then be model a
healthy marriage for my kids.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
It's like it's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
It's a lot of it's a lot of pressure as
I come from a family that wasn't very lovey dovey.
We didn't say we weren't really great communicators. We didn't
say I love you or I hate you, so if
things went bad then we screamed. So with my husband
and it's funny because you know he's very British, but
I will say I found the most touchy feely I
(10:41):
love you British family on the freaking planet. And also
you know I gained four bonus kids as well, so and.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
They are very to this day, they are very I
love you.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
They don't leave that they could be going to the store,
they will not leave the house without saying I love you,
or if they're going away for a weekend, they will hug.
And it took me, it's so sweet, but it took
me years actually to be comfortable enough to be like,
oh yeah, hug you back, I love you. And then
also being a step parent now being on mine, it's
(11:12):
just like so much.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, that mirror, that mirror, don't.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Ever get tired of itself. Chah, that mirror be up.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
So you write in your book pretty early on about
where you grew up in Philly, and there's this moment
where you talk about how your house was dark and
it wasn't like there weren't a lot of windows, but
it felt dark. And you would go to friends' houses
and realize that their houses were lighter. And I'm sitting
here wondering if you always had this want for a happy,
(11:41):
light family because of that one memory. Is there a
tie there?
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah? I think so. I think.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
You know, as you become an adult, you realize the
shit adults have to deal with, whether that is their
own addiction, their own ties to their familiar shit, their
own sadness, depression, whatever that is, right, I of course
didn't know it was that. As a kid, I grew
up a class clown. I always wanted to make people laugh.
I always wanted to make my mom laugh. I always
(12:09):
felt like that was something that I should be doing.
I was a performer. Clearly, this is why I'm in
the business. I always needed attention, and I think it
does come from that. I think it comes from trying
to find happy moments like be happy, laugh.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Like you know, performing one. I definitely think that's what
it came from for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Eve My half brother lives in Philly and my dad
went to school in Philly, so I have a real
soft spot in my heart for Philly people. Philly people,
they're just the realist, the warmest. What do you think
is the most Philly thing about you? Oh my god,
I am a Philly girl, true and through. I'm definitely
(12:52):
I do think.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Yes, Philly people are warm and they're down on earth,
but they are feisty and I think that has what
carried me far in life is the Philly feistiness.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
And I'm proud of it. I am proud of that.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Like I'm real nice until i'm not, and I think
Philly people are.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Good at that.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Here's the question, though, after living in London for ten years,
what's the most British thing about you? Now?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
I talk about the fucking weather all the time.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
I am so concerned about the weather that it lives
to me.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Now.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
I get it though, because on Sunday it was beautiful
walking around sunshine.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Now I am freezing. It is cold. It is great.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
So I get now while they're obsessed with the weather
because it could change like that.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
You know what's funny though, is all these interviews like
with Ebro and the Breakfast Club that you did, none
of them can believe that you moved to London. Like
they're all like why, how why? And it was like, dush,
she moved for love. I get it.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Yes, yes, And it's not like it's London. It's not Siberia.
It's not like freaking it's londoness dough.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
London is dope. Also, it's not.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
That far like from the east coast. I mean it's
quote as far from the west coast, but is not that
far from the east coast. Yeah, I did it for love.
I would have probably been here anyway, even without my husband.
It was something in my life that I always said
I would move to. I thought I was going to
move to Paris. Of course, I was like, I'll live
in Paris or London at some point in my life.
(14:22):
But obviously having love made it easier, and I honestly love.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
It's a great city. It's a great Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
So I'm really interested in that chapter of your life
when you ended up moving across the world for your love.
You moved countries, got married, gained four step children all
at once, and then you.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Had a baby.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Like that's a lot of change and a short amount
of time.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Eve.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Yeah, yes it is. I sometimes think I am a masochist.
I swear because oh, when I take it on, I
take it on. When I jump in, I jump in
and both feet, eyes wide open. But I'm also one
of those people that's like, fuck it, let's see.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I have always been like that.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
I just believe that God forbid, if it hadn't worked
out or whatever, I could always move back. It is
a lot, but I am happy, of course, clearly that
did it.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Okay, we have to take a quick break, but we'll
be right back with more from Grammy Award winning artist Eve.
Stay with us and we're back with Eve.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Okay, we're gonna turn the clock all the way back. So,
coming up as an MC in the nineties, you talk
about how everything was heavily gendered, that anytime you were
mentioned in an article or impressed, it was prefaced with
female rapper, and also that people had a lot of
low expectations for what a woman can do when you
take a look at the landscape today, how do you
(16:01):
process how things are now compared to when you were
coming up.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
I love that there are so many women, so many
female voices in the landscape because we needed. You know,
how many freaking award shows can you have where all
these dudes are on stage celebrating each other, you.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Know what I mean? So thank you, gosh. I am
very happy.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
The other thing that females have that I feel like
when we were coming up, there's none of that. The
one girl and the crew and the men have to
co sign her. Yes, it was a great era, but
at the same time, like, no, it's not necessary, and
I'm so happy that that seems to be in the
past a bit.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
I think, just for context for everyone listening, it was
like you were the first lady of rough Riders. So
as DMX, it was all the boys, and then you
and even Gwen Stefani had no doubt in all the guys,
and then it was her. We saw that a lot,
so you're right, you.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Know, and I was like Kim with Bad Boy and
like so it was just kind of like that thing,
right that was yeah, the girl and the crew, the
one girl of the crew, the token with the token girl. Yes,
so yeah, thank god is not like as much like
that anymore.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
So you said in interviews that the industry really never
made space for women who wanted to rap and be mothers.
And you and I both share a love you probably
in a different way because you know her for Lauren Hill,
and you saw how her career was impacted when she
had a child. Yeah, did that make you feel like
(17:31):
you didn't have an option to be a mom?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Like?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Did that delay things for you in any way?
Speaker 3 (17:35):
It did?
Speaker 4 (17:36):
I think I just didn't think I could do both,
to be honest, And I think it was that it
was definitely Lauren when she put out that song Zion,
and she literally talked about it in Zion and how
people were discouraging her from that. I mean I would
go in meetings sometimes and be discouraged for having a boyfriend,
Like literally, in meetings that was supposed to be about music.
(17:58):
I'd have execs being you know, you really shouldn't be
in relationships for too long. It takes away your focus.
I'm like, would you say that to these guys that
come in here.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
And has like twelve girlfriends by the way, exactly, that's
exactly what I was thinking.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Danielle literally twelve girlfriends and six baby mamas. Yes, yeah,
so it was always weirdly talked about. And then I
think the delay also just came from I think the
more and more I got busy, the more and more
I kind of was in this my own space of
kind of self sabotage and what is happening and what
(18:32):
is going on? And then I kind of was just like, not,
I can't bring a kid into this at all right now,
and also thinking and taking for granted that it would
just happen when I meet the guy that I love,
because that's what they tell you, like, you get married,
you have a baby.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
That's it. I think I actually took that for granted
as well.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
I'm gonna admit something embarrassing. Twenty seventeen, Cardi came out
with Bodak Yellow, huge hit. It put her on the map,
and the next year she got pregnant and I was
doing a morning show like reporting on the news, and
I remember thinking like, oh, her career is over. Why
would she do that? And thankfully it wasn't, but to
(19:12):
me that felt like the turning point. What do you
think changed?
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Oh my god?
Speaker 4 (19:16):
I one hundred percent what you thought. We all thought
that is the realest thing, because she was the one
who did it. And you're like, oh, but how amazing,
how beautiful, How I was so happy and proud to see, Like, damn,
I was inspired by her, you know, like, oh man,
(19:38):
we really have moved on, you know what I mean. Nah,
it's a great, amazing, beautiful thing. Definitely, there's moms in
all industries, very high stress energies that have kids all
across this world.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Why can't it be music as well? You know what
I was just thinking about as you were talking about CARTI.
Male rappers have had babies, lots of them since the
dawn of hip hop, and it's never been an issue
for them. But now suddenly a mother can't be publicly
mothering and rapping at the same time.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Yeah, it's insane, but that's all societal bullshit.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, all societal bullshit.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Okay, I'm going to ask you something that everyone's going
to ask you in an interview, So I'm sorry if
this is annoying, but it is interesting. So you released
your first album in nineteen ninety nine. It's called Let
There Be Eve, and you're Rough Riders. Quote unquote first lady,
you go on to be double platinum, you sell two
hundred thousand records in your first week, which is insane.
(20:36):
And Jay Z called you the day the album was released. Yes,
will you share what he said?
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Yes? Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
He basically was like, you know, congratulations, which I was
like thanks, but it was like he was like, well,
you know, don't be too disappointed because female rappers really
don't sell that well usually so and I was just like, okay,
you know, thanks for the congratulations. And I didn't feel
And it's funny because and I put it in the
(21:06):
book because I do. It was such a big moment,
like it didn't stop anything, it didn't steal my scheme
in any way. Jay went on to be a friend
and a supporter and I vice versa whatever. But it
was just one of those moments where it was like, wow,
that's crazy, and thankfully the album did what it did,
but it became a theme in my life, I feel like,
(21:28):
and in the book it feels that way even for
me once I wrote it, of the underdog syndrome of
being questioned of the would they say this to a man?
Speaker 3 (21:37):
No, they would not like.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Why that was one of those moments where you're just like,
oh wow, it was a bit shocking, but it didn't
take any steme away or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
If anything, it was more of the.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Okay, I'll show you don't no worries.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I feel like that underdog spirit is so intrinsic to Philly,
maybe partly because of Rocky.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
It's true, I think so too. We are very much that.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
You know, The thing is, Philly is one of those
places that has grown and grown and grown. But back then,
you know, musically it was New York, New York City.
If it's hip hop is New York. If you're from Philly, okay,
there is Listen, there's a rich, huge, rich musical history
of Philadelphia, but it's still not New York. So when
(22:20):
I used to go to New York and like try
to rap, well give out my demos and stuff, people
be like, oh, you sound so country, I'm like.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
I'm fucking Philly. It's an hour thirty five minutes.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Excuse me, it's not that far. Like, I don't.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Sound that country.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
So yeah, you know, I think back then it was
just still just having to prove yourself, which I get,
which I get.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Okay, we're gonna talk about your second album. So, despite
the success of your first album, you write that you
were still underestimated for your second album, Scorpion, and you
have this megahead. Of course, this banger we all know,
let me blow your mind with Gwen Stefani. It wins
a Grammy, But you said that your team originally didn't
I want you to work with Gwen on that track?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Why not?
Speaker 4 (23:04):
It's funny because she was the only person I heard.
I didn't hear anyone else. I heard that record. I
was like, it has to be Gwenn, and everybody else
was like, it's just not gonna work. Nobody's gonna believe this,
And I'm like, why, we're both We're just artists making
music and seems where Also, she was a label mate
at that time, so it took me a while to convince.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
I've had since then. I've had an.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
Old exact that I saw years ago that was like,
you know, it was me too, that was like, this
is gonna work. I'm like, of course, of course, yes,
of course, of course. But back then I kind of
had to fight for it, and I'm so glad that
it happens. I think Jimmy Ivan probably was the one
the catalyst because Jimmy gets it. He's a genius when
(23:48):
it comes to stuff like that, So I think he
helped to make that happen.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah, was it that people thought Gwen was to pop
and like the it was a juxtaposition that was too harsh.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
Yes, And I would say to them like, look at
Aerosmith and run DMC like that happened in eighty four
eighty five. Come on, that's a classic fucking record. And yeah,
I think also because I was the new girl in
hip hop, I think on the hip hop side, people
were probably like, oh shit, nah, like this is too
fast of a transition. You need to stay in this lane,
(24:22):
you need to stay here, which I also understand. But
I was just like, come on, y'all, this is a banger,
like Dre is producing, like I'm.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Rapid, Like it's fine, Like it'll be fine.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
And I remember when we when we showed up to
the BET Awards on the red carpet, it was definitely
like okay, oh oh, you brought your little friend, your
love friend into wards.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
But you know what, it fucking worked out. It worked out.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
It was that was a fun time because I had
gone into spaces I'd never been in and when was
in spaces, she had never been in.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Well from the outside looking in, like y'all do have
like this same energy piece that I think worked so well,
Like she's got that SoCal Orange County edge tour you
bring in the East Coast flavor, like there's some that
synergy was obviously just a match made in heaven.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
I thought so too. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
We need to take another short break and we'll be
right back. We're back with Eve.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
When you say fight for it, you talk about what
you fought for with your music, with your fashion line,
with all of it throughout the book. But now talking
to you, I'm guessing the way you fight for things
has changed.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
You know.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
The idea of not having your voice or your ideas
heard is so prevalent. Simona and I interview women every
single day, and it is a theme that we hear
over and over again. It just is what have you
learned about getting your point across, getting your ideas heard?
Throughout all these years.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
I think back then it really used to hit me
in a way that made me very sad. I will
say that it really took a lot of my self esteem.
I have been apologized to from a director from an
old A and R person about my ideas and just
(26:31):
saying you know which, I'm so grateful that that happened
because that normally never happens. But it helped me know
that I wasn't fucking insane, because what happens is you
start questioning yourself about your instincts Okay, maybe I'm not
supposed to be doing this, where it's really people who
are intimidated or just don't want to champion you, and
(26:53):
that is really sad and it sucks. Like you said,
you guys talk to these women and it's still happening,
and that they feel like this, that is horrible. I
have learned now that and it's hard sometimes, but you
have to trust your gut, trust your instincts, and if
you really feel like that's what it is, you can
(27:14):
put your foot down without screaming if you don't want to.
But also to be like stand in your truth of no,
this is what it is, or I'm sorry, and that
has a lot of power and that takes a lot
of courage.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
It took me a long time to get to that place.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Because then the business sometimes you would have management or
an agent that's like, oh no, you have to take
this opportunity because if we say no to them, you
won't get another opportunity, and like you become paranoid. But
I think it's just about standing in your truth and
knowing like you just have to put your foot down.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
You just do.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
And now I don't have any issues with it. I
don't have any issue saying no. I have zero issues
saying no now, which is so nice. It's a nice
place to be.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
It takes time, though. I loved reading about that because
I felt that and still feel that sometimes. And it's
like you're such a tough person externally that to hear
that it affected you. Oh yeah, I think was really
nice to hear no.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
I think I had to build this toughness though to
be heard like it served me. The toughness, the wall,
the fuck youness is served me. And then you get
to a point where you're like, oh shit, I don't
need that anymore. So now how do I voice myself
voice my opinion without using you know, stuff from the past.
(28:39):
And that takes time too, and I do sometimes still
get a little ek of course, because we're human. I
do sometimes I'm like, oh man, I feel bad I
should maybe, and then it's like, but you know what,
if it can't happen, it can't happen if they're not
respecting where I'm at, then sorry, Because also it goes
both way, like respect me and I will respect you.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
I know that we got to wrap up your time here.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
You have truly done it all.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
I mean, you've hosted the talk, You've got upwards of
fifty acting credits. I loved you and The Woodsman, and
even still I feel like we are barely scratching the
surface of Eve the actor and what you're capable of.
And I see you nodding your head, and I feel
that you feel that too. So what kinds of roles
(29:24):
do you crave these days? Or do you like, do
you crave getting back into the acting game at all?
Speaker 4 (29:29):
I think I am. I mean, I will say this,
My dream role of all time is like, because I
love conspiracy shit, So if I could be like.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
An agent that's so east coast of you by.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
The way, forty eight hours, no, like anything that's kind
of like government, I'm an agent.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
He's amazing. Any type of action, I'm jumping on it.
Speaker 4 (29:56):
But I would love to be on the producer creative side.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
That's kind of what I'm working on right now.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
I'm thinking Bond Girl. You're in London. I think you
should push for that one.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
I'm gonna put it in the universe.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
Let me go squat and crunch my way home the
whole time because I gotta get the body right for that.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Leave the Bond girl. Okay, here's what I really need
to know. Are we ever bringing fetish back?
Speaker 3 (30:21):
I love you for that. You know what's funny.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
I just found a bunch of old fetish shit that
I cleaned out some stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
And I was like, oh, fetish in what it was? No,
but I would actually love to do something new.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
I would love to get back kind of into fashion
maybe in some way, don't know how, but oh yeah,
not fetish as it was.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
I thought that was one of the coolest things you've
ever done. That was pre anybody having a fashion line
that was pre j Low, pre all of this. I
just think you had so much artistic vision always I
had fetish pieces, So I'd like a reboot.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Thank you, Eve, Thank you so much. This has been
just the greatest joy of my life. Speaking to you
is wonderful.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Eve is the multi Plotnam, Grammy Award winning rapper, singer, songwriter, actor,
philanthropist and entrepreneur.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
That's it for today's show. Tomorrow, it's Wellness Wednesday. We're
joined by Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of
fair Play and find Your Unicorn Space. She'll be sharing
groundbreaking insights from a brand new study on the truth
behind the mental load and how to reclaim your time.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect
with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram
and at the bright Side Pod on TikTok Oh, and
feel free to tag us at Simone Voice and at
Danielle Robe.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
See you tomorrow, folks, Keep looking on the bright side.
Host
Simone Boyce
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