Eve Says Ma$e Encouraged Her To Focus On Music While She Was Stripping At 17: ‘He Was My Prophet That Day’

Eve, Ma$e

Eve Says Ma$e Encouraged Her To Focus On Music While She Was Stripping At 17: ‘He Was My Prophet That Day’

Rap star Eve is opening up about how a chance meeting with hip-hop veteran Ma$e impacted her life.

The 45-year-old spoke about an interaction with the former Bad Boys artist as a teenager, explaining that the moment would ultimately be the catalyst that launched her rap career.

Eve

Eve spoke about the matter during a promotional interview for her forthcoming memoir Who’s That Girl?, out September 17th. Reflecting on her life before stardom, the Philadelphia native shared that at 17, she took a job at a strip club hoping to make some fast money. She stated:

“In my head, I was thinking, ‘I need to be grown now, and it’s the quickest way I can get out of the house…But I was so bad at it. I was lazy.”

Eve

Continuing, Eve revealed that one of the good things to come out of her time dancing was meeting rapper Ma$e, as he encouraged her to focus on her music. She added about the moment:

“When Ma$e became a pastor, I was like, ‘Yeah, that makes sense…He was my prophet that day. I needed that extra push.”  

Ma$e

Afterward, Eve landed a record deal with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label which she was signed to and dropped from all in just 8 months. Though the rap star would eventually bounce back, finding her home with the N.Y.-based label Ruff Ryders and releasing a #1 debut album – making her only the 3rd female rapper at the time to do so – Eve hailed her failure at Aftermath as a “blessing in disguise,” adding:

“I needed to be humbled…I was so, ‘When is it my turn? When are you going to put me on?’ So extra Philly feisty. I needed to be sent back home to be like, ‘OK, well, if you got this opportunity again, who do you want to be? What do you want to show the world?'”

Following her success with Ruff Ryders, Eve released back-to-back hits with her 2001 chart-topper “Who’s That Girl” followed by her Grammy-winning collab “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” with Gwen Stefani that same year.

The entertainer made her acting debut in the 2002 film Barbershop before starring in her own sitcom from 2003 – 2006. Since her latest series Queens wrapped in 2022, Eve has been living in London with her husband Maximillion Cooper, along with his four kids from a previous marriage and their 2-year-old son Wilde.

Eve & son

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[VIA]