REVIEW "Eve" by Rapsody

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The 37-year-old emcee is signed to both Jamla and Roc Nation

       Unfortunately for the culture of hip-hop, true and powerful music rarely gets the limelight. If you know what I mean, then you understand my confusion when I saw that Anthony Fantano listed Rapsody's third album Eve as Number 50 on his list of 2019's Best Albums. Not only am I surprised Fantano actually has any sense of recognizable taste, but I'm also stunned that the album sits so low on his chart.
       The Jamla Records emcee's new concept album is sixteen tracks of well-polished and affectionate love letters to women as a whole, with each song titled after a historical or cultural figure Rapsody holds in high esteem, from Whoopi Goldberg to Sojourner Truth, from Nina Simone to Afeni Shakur. It isn't some over-the-top man hating chanting, oh no no no, that stuff stays on Twitter. My initial listen to this album mentally teleported me to a temporary reality where I sorta forgot I was a man entirely and I felt attached to many of the topics Rapsody spoke on.
       The second track is named "Cleo", after Queen Latifah's character in the 1996 movie "Set It Off" and the focus is on the hip hop community in its entirety. She asks the community "how a bunch of sheep can have opinions on a G.O.A.T.", stating that those that don't have a stake to share cultured information don't carry validity in the same suitcase they carry their opinions in; ignorance and an unwillingness to learn and experience different music is holding back many talented acts from finding notoriety. In the second verse, she goes deeper and applies this context specifically to women of color in a few lines that speak from themselves:

“Only put us on TV if our titties jiggling 

Jay tried to give us Tidals and we giggling at him, damn shame!” 

       Perhaps the greatest part of this album is the third song, "Aaliyah". She gleans many of Aaliyah's predilections over from her last projects, even going so far to reference More than a Woman, easily one of the greatest R&B songs to exist. The female MC goes to great lengths to ensure that the listener knows that femininity comes in many different forms, and having a tomboy style like Aaliyah does not make you less of a woman, it just makes you more of a person, and that societal standards should not be something you allow to limit your growth as an individual.
       The production of this entire album is stellar. I personally know of 9th Wonder from his years and years of work alongside MURS, the amazingly talented underground West Coast rapper. Eric G also helps in the front half of the album, and his production shines through on "Oprah" featuring Leikeli47, another spectacular artist who always brings along a mellow yet poignant khai dreams vibe; a lot of the songs on this project are universal in the sense that they tote an immense meaning while also being reserved enough to allow for room to not focus on that meaning if you're just in it for the production, which is an issue I tend to have with Kendrick Lamar.
       However, if you are taking the time to resonate with everything Rapsody says on the album, then there are a few areas that divert off the beaten path and create some issues. It could be I just missed the point of songs like "Tyra" but it really doesn't feel like she's saying anything. Genius annotations will have you believe it's an ode to self love and black beauty, but simply talking about being gorgeous doesn't exactly equate to activism in my mind, in the same sense that talking about politics doesn't make you a politician, or add credibility to your claims just because you are speaking on the subject material. However, "Tyra" could be considered redeemable due to great production and witty double entendres with the word 'model' like:

“Model of success, don't change, be who you are (Yeah) 

Don't matter who I'm addressing, it's cut from the same cloth (Real) 

I'm here for a different cause, we seldom receive applause (Seldom) 

Never receive awards” 

       The main issue with the album centers around Tracks 11 and 12. "Reyna's Interlude" is an empowering spoken word track. It is so well done that I don't want to talk too much about it, and if there's any song I think you should listen to right now, it is this one. Conversely, the next track is called "Michelle" after our previous First Lady, and it serves as a party anthem that seems oddly out of place from the rest of the project. Off-topic verses and a slow hook culminates to the end of the track:

“I said Katanya got a big ol' butt, oh yeah

Keyana got a big ol' butt, oh yeah

Rema got a big ol' butt, oh yeah

Amanda got a big ol' butt, oh yeah

Nicki got a big ol' butt, oh yeah

Laniece got a big ol' butt, oh yeah

Heather V got a big ol' butt, oh yeah

Rapsody got a big ol' butt, oh yeah

Elle V got a big ol' butt, oh yeah

All my girls got them big ol' butts

All my girls got a big ol' butt (Shake it)

All my girls got a big ol' butt (Drop it)

All my girls got big ol' butts (Yeah)” 

       There’s just such a large gaping difference between this track and the one before where Rapsody was directly empowering people, and earlier on the album when she posited that Serena Williams is inspiration due to her perseverance in the sport and not because of her body image. It's mind boggling to think Rapsody insisted the track belongs here. As a single? Sure. But on this album? Especially following "Reyna's Interlude". I'm not so sure.
       Don't get me wrong. Her overall message is thought provoking. Her tone is crisp and clear and insightful. The features are perfect. Female counterparts match the message Rapsody conveys, from Leikeli47 to Queen Latifah, and Dreamville acts JID and J. Cole make the last few tracks stand out. At the album's culmination, an ode to Afeni Shakur can and should be heard, where the 2Pac sample on the hook asks:

“Now since we all came from a woman

Got our names from a woman and our game from a woman

I wonder why we take from our women

Why we rape our women

Do we hate our women?” 

       The chorus and the verses concurrently work together to empower black people as a whole, on the idea that our mothers are the ones that put forth the work to allow us to be here. To give us the opportunity to grow as people that exist. Existing is often taken for granted, and it’s art like this that makes it poignantly clear to the listener. Beautiful music.

Final Thoughts

       Rapsody’s album was a rollercoaster ride start to finish. Not like the biggest one at Six Flags, but like one of the medium ones there at the theme park. There were many periods of insane force being thrust in your way, giving you no choice but to experience the music being projected your way. There were also many periods where the rollercoaster was stuck on the tracks climbing a hill before the drop. Ideally, you want that climb to be right at the beginning of your album and for the rest of your tracks to carry that aforementioned force until the end of the ride. But on tracks like "Tyra" and "Michelle", the ride lost its force and had to start an oddly long climb again.
       Still an amazing album. Music that empowers people is good music regardless of whether or not I like it. Rapsody is definitely an artist that should have won a Grammy this year over Tyler, the Creator’s IGOR, but I digress. She obviously puts time into her rhymes, and this album reflects. I deeply hope to see more from her in the future, and furthermore I hope to see her vision to become a reality. For those that are oppressed to not only become recognized in society, but also for those oppressed to take their throne within our society's hierarchy.

Most Favorite Song: "Iman" f. SiR and J.I.D.
Least Favorite Song: "Michelle" f. Elle Varner

My Score: 80%