Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 14, 1999 | |||
Recorded | 1996–1999 | |||
Studio | Powerhouse Studio | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 57:09 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Eve chronology | ||||
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Singles from Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady | ||||
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Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady is the debut studio album by American rapper Eve. It was released by Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Interscope Records on September 14, 1999. All of the songs on the album were written by Eve herself. It sold over 200,000 copies in the first week. [1] The album has sold over 2 million copies and was certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. [2] The album features singles such as "Gotta Man", and "Love Is Blind" with Faith Evans. Eve became the third female hip-hop artist to have her album peak at number-one on the Billboard 200 (Lauryn Hill's debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill , being the first to top the chart in 1998 and Foxy Brown's second album, Chyna Doll achieving the feat earlier in 1999).
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Robert Christgau | [4] |
Entertainment Weekly | C+ [5] |
Muzik | [6] |
NME | 7/10 [7] |
Pitchfork | 8.1/10 [8] |
Q | [6] |
Rolling Stone | [9] |
The Source | [6] |
AllMusic editor Theresa E. LaVeck found that "Eve's conviction and passion make her noticeable no matter what the subject, but she truly stands out when the stories become personal, examining the cost of the hard life she champions in other songs. "Love Is Blind" is a painful look at domestic violence. Self-respect and positivity are the moral of "Heaven Only Knows." Both tracks are backed by beautiful arrangements with acoustic guitar and lush vocals. Eve maintains her hardcore image in these tracks, but with a subtle vulnerability that promise lots of interesting things to come from this Philly prodigy." [3]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | "First Lady" (Intro) | Kasseem Dean | Swizz Beatz | 1:36 |
2. | "Let's Talk About" (featuring Drag-On) |
| Swizz Beatz | 3:31 |
3. | "Gotta Man" (featuring Mashonda) |
| Swizz Beatz | 4:24 |
4. | "Philly Cheese Steak" (Skit) (featuring Swizz, Eric and Fuquan) | Swizz Beatz | 1:37 | |
5. | "Philly Philly" (featuring Beanie Sigel) |
| Swizz Beatz | 3:57 |
6. | "Stuck Up" (featuring C.J.) |
| Swizz Beatz | 3:53 |
7. | "Ain't Got No Dough" (featuring Missy Elliott) |
| Swizz Beatz | 4:17 |
8. | "BM" (Skit) | Icepick | 1:01 | |
9. | "Love Is Blind" (featuring Faith Evans) |
| Swizz Beatz | 4:20 |
10. | "Scenario 2000" (featuring DMX, The Lox and Drag-On) |
| Swizz Beatz | 3:50 |
11. | "Dog Match" (featuring DMX) |
| Swizz Beatz | 4:19 |
12. | "My Bitches" (Skit) |
| Swizz Beatz | 1:08 |
13. | "We On That Shit!" (featuring P. Killer Trackz) |
| P.K. | 3:25 |
14. | "Chokie Nikes" (Skit) (featuring Eve, Diona, Eric and Grimy) | Icepick | 1:04 | |
15. | "Maniac" (featuring Swizz Beatz) |
| Swizz Beatz | 4:22 |
16. | "My Enemies" (Skit) |
| Swizz Beatz | 1:43 |
17. | "Heaven Only Knows" |
| Shok | 4:29 |
18. | "What Y'all Want" (Remix) (bonus track) |
| Shok | 4:05 |
Total length: | 57:09 |
Credits for Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady adapted from AllMusic. [11]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Canada (Music Canada) [20] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [21] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000 [22] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Eve Jihan Cooper is an American rapper, singer, and actress from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her debut studio album, Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady (1999) peaked atop the Billboard 200, received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and spawned the hit singles "What Ya Want", "Love Is Blind", and "Gotta Man". That same year, she guest featured on the Roots' Grammy Award-winning single "You Got Me", as well as Missy Elliott's single "Hot Boyz", both of which peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Music Group and Interscope Communications, it differed from most record labels by letting A&R staff control decisions and allowing artists and producers full creative control. Interscope's first hit records arrived in under a year, and it achieved profitability in 1993. Chair and CEO until May 2014, Iovine was succeeded by John Janick.
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"Love Is Blind" is a song by American rapper Eve, released on August 31, 1999 as the third single from her debut studio album Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady (1999). The song is directed toward a man who had been abusing Eve's best friend.
Ruff Ryders Entertainment is an American hip hop record label and management company founded by siblings and record executives Joaquin "Waah", Darrin "Dee" and Chivon Dean in 1988. It operated as a subsidiary of Universal, and distributed by Interscope Records, with Def Jam Recordings serving as the distributor for DMX albums. The label went on to launch the careers of several successful artists such as DMX, Eve, The LOX, Drag-On, MC Jin, producers Dame Grease and the Deans' nephew, Swizz Beatz among others. The Ruff Ryders namesake also referred to a loose-knit hip hop collective composed of the core signees of the label. Ruff Ryders and its main studio Powerhouse Studios are headquartered at 33 South Broadway in Yonkers, New York.
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