There are a lot of rappers, but there’s only one Eve. The Philadelphia native ruled the late ’90s and early 2000s with a succession of hits that cemented her superstar status permanently. The femcee has taken a hiatus from her musical career for quite some time, but don’t get it twisted. The star can still hold her own on the mic, as she exemplified when she made a recent appearance at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series.
Eve stepped behind the famous desk to give the crowd a career retrospective filled with some of her biggest hits, with a full band in tow to revamp the vintage jams and give them a new life. She kicked things off with her Eve-Olution cut “Satisfaction,” which automatically gave the proceedings some swing as she kept it stylish in a leather jacket, low-cut blouse and green slacks. The live instrumentation added warmth to the cut as well as the next songs, her debut solo single “What Ya Want” and “Gotta Man.” All three tracks reminded us of when we first fell in love with the pitbull in a skirt.
After that reintroduction, she went on to perform a few more jams, including going back to Eve-Olution for “Gangsta Lovin’,” with her backing singers supplying the chorus originally sung by Alicia Keys, and Scorpion track “Let Me Blow Ya Mind.” Each cut got the crowd hype and shouting, which is exactly where Eve wanted them for the penultimate cut “Tambourine.” The most recent song of the nostalgic set, it allowed the performer to cut loose and even give the audience a few dance moves.
She closed the set with the Latin-infused “Who’s That Girl.” Not only did it give Eve the chance to show that she’s the same girl who rocked the airwaves over two decades ago, but it also showed that she could take her position back anytime she felt the need to.
While we enjoyed the trip down memory lane, this performance showed us that Eve still has a lot to give on the music front. And we wouldn’t be mad if she decided to step back into the spotlight. Until then, relive her time at the top when you watch her rock the mic at the Tiny Desk.
