Eve has gone through a genuinely jaw-dropping transformation over the years.
Really, what can’t the multi-hyphenate entertainer not do?
Since Eve was a child, she has always enjoyed performing and being in the spotlight.
She started with dancing and singing, which eventually led to rapping.
She began battle rapping, and her skills were impressive.
Not only was she able to keep up in this male-dominated game, but she was also winning.
However, her dreams were bigger than local notoriety.
She wanted her words to be heard worldwide.
In Eve’s early life, she grew up in public housing, which she hated.
She knew from an early age she wanted more for herself.
She toldFinancial Timesabout her and her mother essentially growing up together.
With Eve’s father not really in the picture, life was hard.
But Eve’s mom would carry the weight of being a single parent with strength and pride.
Childhood friends described Eve as wanting to be just like her mother.
WhenFinancial Timesasked who was or is Eve’s mentor, she simply stated, “My mom.”
She continued, “She was adamant about me being independent.
She was the woman I wanted to grow up to be.”
She imitated that strength until it became real.
Eve had a booming personality that would sometimes get her in trouble.
Twenty minutes later, Wilch was at the school with masking tape to put on her daughter’s mouth.
Eve eventually joined her first rap group called Dope Girl Posse.
“Eve knew she was gonna be a star,” said Peak.
But to their dismay, Eve moved from Philadelphia to Germantown, which forced the crew to break up.
It did not matter if the battles were in school hallways or on a crowded Philadelphia street corner.
“I was a battle rapper.
I wanted to go up against all the guys, in every cypher, on every corner.
I’ve always been a tomboy,” she toldBETfor the multi-partRuff Ryders Chroniclesseries.
She continued, “Hip hop for me was [Queen] Latifah, MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa.
The sexiness that they brought to it, but they still had guy swag.”
She noted, “I never wanted to just be good for a girl.”
“I don’t know why.
I feel like they’re always who I’ve been a tomboy girly girl.
I would do cyphers and be wearing baggy jeans, but my hair and nails were done every week.
That was just the juxtaposition of who I was,” she toldDazed.
She became known for her short hair and for her rapping everywhere she went.
“In Philly, people knew me in my hood.
Her consistency would eventually pay off.
Everything would come full circle with Eve and The Roots.
“For me, a Philadelphia sound is really, like, Jill Scott.
I never felt like I was the Philly sound except for my accent,” she said.
Books and homework were last on her checklist.
School just did not pique her interest any more.
In those high school years, she rebelled hard.
“I did every talent show in our city.
I was very determined,” Eve toldFinancial Times.
“I loved school.
I always loved words English was my favorite class.
A lot of my education was outside of school, writing beats in a friend’s bedroom.”
Now fully independent from the strings of required education, she began to doubt her rapping abilities.
She frequently traveled between New York and Philadelphia to no avail.
But from the outside looking in, the people closest to Eve were concerned.
Eve’s time on the pole did not last for long.
Eve revealed toEntertainment Tonighttheir brief encounter.
She worked up the nerve to walk over and asked if he wanted a dance.
Instead of focusing on her dance, he inquired about her life and what was she doing with it.
After bit of back and forth, the last part of their conversation hit home for Eve.
Eve replied, “I told him I wanna be a rapper.”
That encounter struck a chord with Eve because she never went back.
It was incredible.”
Lynn was not only surprised by the impromptu performance, but he was also impressed.
Unfortunately, as soon as she began to settle in, there was trouble brewing in paradise.
Seven months into living in the City of Angels, Aftermath dropped Eve from the label.
She felt like she had taken 10 steps forward, only to go back 15.
I was really depressed, but I needed it to happen.
Jimmy Iovine, co-founder and chairman of Interscope Records, knew she had talent.
“I knew that [Dr.] Dre always believed in her.
I always believed in her.
It would not be sunshine and roses.
Fortunately, Eve made it!
The Ruff Ryders did not treat her differently because she was a girl.
Do not separate me.
It would become the first female rap album to debut at No.
Eve noted that every song was about her life up to that point.
She even dedicated a song about stripping called “Heaven Only Knows.”
The song would make history by winning the inaugural Grammy award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2002.
The hypnotizing Dr. Dre beat captured many across the world, making Eve a global sensation.
The mega-hit was not supposed to happen due to the supposed differences between the artists.
Television and movies beckoned her name.
According toIMDb, 2002 was a great year to be Eve.
She starred in two major movie releases.
Her first movie role was in the action filmxXx(pronounced “Triple X”).
She shared screen time alongside movie heavyweights, Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson.
She would play a character named J.J., who was a sassy businesswoman.
Now with a couple of highly successful movies under her belt, she was ready for television.
In 2003, Eve would star in her eponymous television show calledEve, playing the main character Shelly.
“I’m so happy to make Eve my wife,” Cooper toldE!
“The whole experience has been amazing and we are both so happy to have tied the knot.”
After marrying her husband, she moved to London, where he resides with his four children.
Eve’s new role as a wife and mom keeps her on her toes.
That took a lot of figuring out my identity.”
Cooper, having never dated a Black woman before, did not understand certain aspects of Eve’s life.
While certain situations seemed to be a challenge, Eve is not one to easily accept defeat.
Looking back throughout her life, giving up has never been an option.
