Rapper and actor Eve looks back: ‘I was the only girl in the boardroom in major label meetings – that Philly girl had to come out’

The Grammy-winning artist on ​d​estroying egos in school, the dealers who looked out for her, and learning from early failure Born Eve Jihan Jeffers in Philadelphia in 1978, rapper Eve released her debut album, Let There Be Eve … Ruff Ryders’ First Lady, in 1999; it entered the Billboard 200 at No 1.

She followed its success with the platinum-selling Scorpion, which went on to win a Grammy for the single Let Me Blow Ya Mind. As an actor, she appeared in the Barbershop films and starred in her own sitcom, Eve. She married London-based entrepreneur Maximillion Cooper in 2014; together they have a son, and she is stepmother to his four children. Eve will tour the UK and Europe in 2027. This was taken in Miami, where I was recording Scorpion. I was…