If you’re looking for a new album to listen to, this is it!
Rapsody, a North Carolina born and bred MC, recently dropped her third album, Eve, and it pays homage to Black women.
The Grammy nominated lyricist released the 16 track album on August 23rd and each track was named after a woman that inspired her. Nina, Whoopi, Aaliyah, Serena, Tyra, Maya, Myrlie, and Afeni are just a few of the tracks included on the album.
The 36 year old rapper, real name Marlanna Evans, burst onto the scene, quickly claiming her place in hip hop’s hall of fame with her second album, “Laila’s Wisdom,” named for her grandmother, Laila. Her style, her grace, her lyrical prowess were all tell tale signs that she was here to stay. And in 2017, she became the first woman to be nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Album since 1997.
Eve is a certified bop! With features from Queen Latifah, D’Angelo, J.Cole and PJ Morton, it is as much entertaining as it is inspiring and educating. For so long, we have been waiting for the era of women in hip hop to resurge and now it is here, with Rapsody leading the pack. “My role is to bring balance, and to have another lane as a woman in hip-hop that happens to rhyme as well as any man. I want to remind people that being a woman is a beautiful thing, and it’s a part of you, but it’s not all you are. You can just be dope without having to just be about your gender,” she told Billboard.
This album is all about that. It honors and celebrates all facets of Black womanhood. She said that the inspiration for the album was mostly organic but a tipping point was her being likened to Nina Simone and Roberta Flack during an interview with The Oxford. Rapsody said, “I’d never thought about it in that way. Throughout my career, I’ve always talked about Black women — not just female rappers — and how much they’ve inspired me and made me who I am. This is my love letter to not only myself, but all Black women.”
When asked how she felt about this era for women in hip hop, she had this to say, “It’s dope. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to see in this day and age of hip-hop. I didn’t get to see [that] when I was growing up, and I know it’s possible. And it’s needed, and we as artists — we can’t continue to fall into the false narrative of there can only be one. The more we work together, the more it’s better for women in hip-hop. We have to come together, because if we don’t then we’re never going to get the respect we deserve.”
Eve is available on all streaming platforms now! Thank you Rapsody!