I met E.V.E. about “two minutes” before she fell head-first into her “fifteen minutes of fame”. I was cruising down The Avenue and I spotted her and a girlfriend walking in the opposite direction. I took a quick snap of a shot with my CANON, then waited until she neared to get her attention. I told her that I had snapped a shot and wanted to take another of her and her girlfriend. She agreed and I told her that I would find her. How? No digits. No e-mail address. No exchange whatsoever. Heaven knows how, but, I did.
A few weeks later, I was at the mall in a semi-upscale clothing shop, frontin’ about buying some shirt from this absolutely fabulous chocolate-brown hottie. While in mid-sentence about how delectable she was, in walked E.V.E. She walked into the back room, and returned, sans pocketbook and jacket. Apparently she worked there, as well. As it turned out, this hottie and E.V.E. were BFF‘s and I asked if she (the hottie) would intro me to E.V.E, as I had some photos of her that I promised to get to her – some way. I ran to the car, retrieved the photos, and returned. I showed them to E.V.E and she was delighted and also wondered if I could keep in touch as she had “something big” coming up over the horizon. I agreed. That intro turned out to be an outro, as well, because that was the last that I saw or heard of E.V.E. short of T.V. and live performances.
“Something big” was more on the scale of “SOMETHING BIG!!!”. In 1999, E.V.E. became the female front for the Rough Ryders with her debut CD “Let There Be Eve – Rough Ryders’ First Lady”. It went double-platinum. The “pitbull in a skirt” had taken the world by storm. In 2001, her second CD, “SCORPION”, went platinum, with the cross-over hit “Let Me Blow Your Mind” ( a duet with Gwen Stefani). From there, she skyrocketed in stellar proportion, going from vinyl to silver-screen, and finally on to television. On the silver-screen, she debuted in the film “XXX”, starring Vin Diesel. It was later that year, after being tapped for “Barbershop”, that Hollywood really began to pay attention. UPN decided that the time was ripe for a new television star, thus, the sitcom “EVE”, and thusly so, nothing less than total success. On the show, she owned one-third interest in a fashion boutique. In 2002, she dropped her third CD, “EVO-LUTION”. Shortly thereafter, E.V.E. launched her clothing line “FETISH”. In the year 2004, she returned to the silver-screen with “Barbershop 2”, “The Woodsman”, and “The Cookout”. So . . . how do YOU spell “success”?!
Fast-forward to the year 2007 and we anxiously await the arrival of album four, “Here I Am”. And we waited. And waited. And waited. Even given the success of her previous CD’s, movies, and semi-successful clothing line, not even a megastar like E.V.E. can survive an hiatus from an already “long-term-challenged” generation which proclaims that “I love you today, but, can’t say what tomorrow will bring”. The album finally dropped and so many, myself included, thought for certain that the release of the singles “Tambourine”, and “Give It To You” (featuring Sean Paul ) would be the fire that would rekindle her vinyl career. Not so much, it would seem. The “pitbull in a skirt” had sold her rough words and street demeanor for a dose of haute couture and etiquette nouveau. Although the singles cried comeback, the CD sales screamed “NOT!”.
I have nothing but love for my Philly girl. I speak her name with pride, knowing that she has been one of the greatest success stories to ever arise from the City of Brotherly Love. Unfortunately, nobody gets a pass – not even the beautiful, sexy, and talented E.V.E. MC LYTE got it right. She took it into another direction. She even wrote a song about it before her own “fade to black” entitled “TRG (the rap game)”, in which she warns that you need to know when to fold.
I ain’t mad at cha, baby girl. We are only entitled to fifteen minutes of fame. Take heart in the fact that you’ve been on stage for an hour and a half already. Peace.
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