S. Samuel
Ruff Ryders' Eve has shared her thoughts on Nicki Minaj's launch into super-stardom and explained why she feels hip-hop needs more female leadership and unity.
Eve believes Minaj is one of many artists looking to take hip-hop by the reigns.
“I think she’s dope, honestly,” Eve said in an interview. “A lot of people, especially since I’m a female, you know how it is with females, a lot of people are like, ‘Do you like her?,’ and at the end of the day, her music is not for every certain type of female. She caters, I think, to one type of female but at the same time, she’s the only person representing for real right now, for females. So, we need that. We need that bond. There’s too much testosterone in the game. We gotta get rid of these dudes, it’s like, way too many guys. That’s why I’m happy. I’m about to come back out and Trina‘s on [my upcoming new] record as well. You know what I mean, we need that female influence so I think she’s doing her thing. God bless her. I think it’s good.” (I’m Not A Rappa TV)
Last April, Eve said Minaj motivated her to step up her rap skills.
“She definitely is a quirky chick. That’s a good word for her,” Eve said in an interview. “When she had the Freddy Krueger gloves [in the ‘My Chick Bad’ music video] I was like ‘Wow.’ But at the same time, whatever you decide to do, especially in music, you gotta go hard and own it. You can’t be timid wearing Freddy Krueger gloves in a video. If you look insecure, people are going to be like ‘Why are you doing that?’ You gotta f*cking own it and she did. I think that’s dope…Trust me, no one’s competition for me and that sounds cocky but I seriously live in such an Eve world. And not in a crazy-everything-is-me-bubble, it’s just that I’m bulding an empire. I go on Twitterand people say ‘Yo, knock Nicki Minaj out of the box, but ultimately we’re all helping each other and I’m happy seeing these chicks in the game. It’s too much testosterone. When I see another female, my immediate reaction is not ‘Oh I gotta go and get my sh*t right.’ I got 900 other things going on. I can’t keep worrying about what’s coming up behind me.” (VIBE)
Ruff Ryders’ Drag-On spoke with SOHH last year about the Eve and Minaj comparisons.
“Yeah of course, Eve is always gonna be in it to win it, she’s working on her album right now too,” Drag told SOHH. “I heard it’s bananas too. Like, it’s crazy. She’s always in it to win it. But I like Nicki Minaj, I ain’t gonna front. I like her swag and what she’s got going on.” (SOHH)
Eve is currently working on a new album set to drop in 2011.
“I’ve been saying the album is coming and it was but I leftInterscope and now I’m on EMI so the album is definitely coming,” Eve said in an interview. “[It’s coming] at the top of the year. It’s called Lip Lock. It’ll be out at the top of the year, in March, I don’t have a date yet. But so far on the album, it’s Salaam Remi, Akon, of course Swizz Beatz — you don’t get out of Ruff Ryders. Obviously that’s my fam and I haven’t wrapped up the album yet so I’m sure you’ll hear some stuff from somebody.” (Ms Drama TV)
Check out Eve’s interview down below:
