By Njera Perkins
Eve, the Grammy-winning, Philly-bred rapper deemed Ruff Ryders’ First Lady, had already secured her place in Hip-Hop by the early 2000’s as a standout talent. Her skills as an emcee were undisputed – she could outrap many of her male counterparts – and her success manifested in chart-topping singles and platinum albums. A year after her breakout performance in Barbershop, a television opportunity came along that added another layer to her “eve-olution.” Every Monday night on UPN she tapped into another lane on the path of Hollywood success at the height of her music career, bringing her Hip-Hop starpower to the small screen. Her show further cemented what most should have already known: that women in rap didn’t have to compromise themselves, and could exist across professions triumphantly.
On September 15, 2003, the avowed pitbull in a skirt stepped into the world of television and debuted her self-titled sitcom Eve. Originally pitched under the working title The Opposite Sex, the show – which followed the lives of a bubbly Miami fashion designer named Shelly Williams and her group of friends – was the successor to hit series Moesha, with the network looking to capitalize on the starpower of another successful Black woman in music. Shelly – fashion-obsessed and girlier than most – may have appeared to be the complete opposite of the Eve we knew, but the rapper and her character shared a lot of similarities. Both had a true passion for their crafts, fashion design and music, and represented women who rejected the expectations society set up for them. The theme song, performed by Missy Elliott, encapsulates this entirely:
She's the kind of chick who likes to look fly
Can pick up any guy with a slick rap line
Give him the eye, get the keys to the ride
And live the single life, a little teasing on the side
She's the type of chick who likes to wear fly clothes
Who rocks stilettos, but will be ghetto
If anybody knows, let me tell you who knows
Who would spin the cash flow, let the story be told
E-V-E, how you do that?
E-V-E, how you do that?
E-V-E, how you do that?
E-V-E, how you do that?
In spite of the obstacles they each encountered in their careers and personal lives, they were determined to thrive through it all. And thrive they did.
On her debut album, ‘Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady,’ Eve revealed a vulnerable side of herself rapping about heavy subjects like domestic violence, rape, revenge, love and heartbreak. The same topics manifested in the Eve scripts, with episodes of her show exploring the depths of friendship, gender roles, and the hectic relationships in her character’s love-life that took center stage. It should come as no surprise that the show had incredibly high ratings amongst young Black women, as the sitcom tackled the same issues that existed off-screen.
Outside of Queen Latifah’s role on Living Single - which ended five years prior to the start of Eve - there have been little to no Black women rapper led sitcoms, with the few Black women rappers we would see on tv appearing as cameos or guest performances. Eve’s sitcom carried the torch that declared women in Hip-Hop as multidimensional and capable of obtaining multiple bags, with Brian Josephs of Spin declaring Monday nights on UPN as the place "where Eve transformed from Ruff Ryder to sitcom actress." And transform she did, but she never strayed from the tough, honest, Black woman that was so authentically Philly. This was important, because Black Women in Television: A Short History asserts that creative control over the images of Black women in mass media remained, for decades, in the hands of white men who perpetuated stereotypical representations of Black women as mammies or sapphires. Actresses like Diahann Carroll and Phylicia Rashad came along and helped reshape our narrative on the tv screen, and much like the actresses before her, Eve used her show to combat the the anti-feminist rhetoric that trapped women in Hip-Hop and television since their inception.
The show was cancelled after three seasons, in a move that Fern Gillespie of The Crisis described as detrimental to the future of Black sitcoms. "Without that opportunity for some of the younger artists to hone and develop their skills, it will potentially have a generational impact,” he wrote. A quick look at the Black actors in network television lineups in the years thereafter - or lack thereof - will confirm this as true. The cancellation was widely accepted as a result of low overall ratings, but a few weeks ago Eve offered up another potential reason for its cancellation to TV One’s Uncensored:
Having my own sitcom was everything. It was pressure, it was fun, it was stressful. It was amazing. I was the youngest at the time, of the cast. And a lot of them were just getting married, just having babies or just buying their first house. I was still going to the club trying to get to set at 9 a.m. Trying to get to a table read, which was—don’t do that, ever.
It took me a minute to figure out that rhythm because I had always been on tour, all my life, pretty much, up until that point. I think for me to offset some of that, I was still trying to hang out at night. Which was not good.
When the show ended, it was definitely heartbreaking because at that time, we had done three seasons and we were family at this point. I do believe a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was trying to straddle both sides of my life, still trying to hold on to kind of hanging out. And I was late a lot. That’s not cool. I do think a lot of it had to do with my actions at that time.
And I do think about it sometimes. When I look back on it, I’m like, wow. I don’t believe in regrets but that is one time in my life where I wish I would have taken it a little more seriously than I did.
Nonetheless, Eve and the actress-rapper were able to rack up several award nominations. Eve was nominated at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards for Choice TV Actress: Comedy while the show earned a nomination for Choice Breakout TV Show that same year. She was nominated for the same award the following year along with two nominations for the Blimp Award for Favorite Television Actress at the 2005 and 2006 Kid's Choice Awards. Moreover, the show earned Eve a 2005 Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2005 BET Awards. Moreover, Eve would go on to land other acting roles, including The Cookout, Barbershop 2, Single Ladies, and most recently becoming a daily fixture on The Talk alongside co-hosts Sheryl Underwood, Sharon Osbourne, former news anchor Julie Chen, and actress Sara Gilbert.
To this day, Eve is considered a signature sitcom that arrived at a time where Black talent were given the space to exist and more importantly explore television. Eve, becoming a trailblazer in her field, doubled-down on representation as a Black woman in Hip-Hop who broke gender norms inside and outside of the genre. By exploring uncharted territory on behalf of Hip-Hop, Eve was one of many who affirmed Black women in Hip-Hop could exist in and explore all of their interests wholeheartedly.