Eve recalls fighting ‘uphill’ battle against ‘condescending’ music execs for rap glory: ‘It was frustrating’

Eve, pictured above in 2023, tells Page Six she got “pushback” from “condescending” music execs in the early days of her rap career. Getty Images

Eve’s rise to the top of the rap scene was anything but smooth sailing.

The Grammy winner shares in an exclusive interview with Page Six that it took a lot for her to be taken seriously in the music industry in the early days of her career when she was still trying to get noticed.

“It was very much an uphill fight,” Eve, 45, says in an exclusive interview with Page Six ahead of the Sept. 17 release of her memoir, “Who’s That Girl?”

“Back then, you had to physically go out and build your audience and just going into these rooms, which were very male-dominated, completely male-dominated,” she recalls.

“I think because there weren’t as many female voices, and for us it was the old-school way of going out and having to build your audience one by one, show by show.”

The rapper won a Grammy in 2002 for “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” featuring Gwen Stefani, seen here together in 2001. WireImage

Despite being supported by her record label, Ruff Ryders, at the time, the rapper says she got “a lot of pushback” in response to her ideas “when it came to the boardrooms and to the execs,” telling us, “It was very frustrating.”

Specifically, Eve remembers getting blowback for “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” her 2001 collaboration with Gwen Stefani that ended up winning a Grammy.

“I faced an obstacle because I wanted Gwen on that record, and I had a few people say, ‘That’s never gonna work. People are not going to believe this.’ And I was just like, ‘Believe what? We are two artists,'” she says.

“I was a fan of No Doubt, and we were also label-mates. So I was like, ‘Why can’t this work?’ So I got pushback on that, and thankfully I won that battle.”

Eve, pictured here in May, believes female rappers have it easier nowadays. therealeve/Instagram

Eve says she received “condescending” feedback from A&R and music reps.

“Sometimes you start feeling crazy when you’re pitching in these rooms and people are pushing back at you, and you’re like, ‘Do I suck? I didn’t think I sucked this much,'” she admits.

The Daytime Emmy nominee, who co-hosted “The Talk” from 2017 to 2020, vividly remembers receiving a call from one of the music execs who gave her a hard time at the start of her career after she made it big.

“One of my old A&Rs, who is not with us anymore, called me years later and just apologized to me and said, ‘I wish I would’ve listened to you a bit more. I just want to apologize to you that I didn’t.’ And it actually helped me,” she shares.

Eve says the call let her know she “wasn’t crazy,” adding, “This was just what was happening at that time.”

The former “The Talk” co-host signed to the Ruff Ryders record label in 1998. Getty Images

The hitmaker then viewed her 2002 Grammy win as a “f–k you” to her naysayers.

“They told me that urban radio was never going to pick it up, it’s too pop, it’s never going to work, it’s never going to blow up,” she recalls.

“I won a Grammy [for] ‘Let Me Blow Ya Mind,’ and ‘Tambourine’ is still thankfully just one of those songs that [is] still being played. I never take that for granted. It’s also one of those ‘f–k you’ moments to those people who were like, ‘Yeah, this is never going to work.’ I love that.”

Nowadays, Eve believes female rappers have it easier than she did.

“It’s not like how it was for me where there had to be one female in a crew of dudes,” she says. “Now you don’t even need a major label. If you build your own community on your socials, you’re fine. I think it’s much easier honestly to come out as a female.

“One thing I’m really happy about is how many women you see on the landscape as opposed to when I was out. I am happy about that because I always felt like there was definitely not enough balance voice-wise between men and women.”

Eve’s memoir, “Who’s That Girl?,” hits stores on Sept. 17. Instagram/@therealeve

As she gears up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her debut album, “Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady,” the Philadelphia native teases that fans can expect some new tracks on the way to mark the occasion.

“There will be one or two new records,” she shares. “We’re figuring all of that now. I do want to put something out to celebrate the 25th anniversary. We don’t want to mess anything up that’s already lived and had a life, so we are being really careful about who is getting on things.”

Eve promises the new music will be “reworked, remixed and reimagined.”