Eve Jihan Cooper
November 10, 1978
She is an American rapper, singer, and actress. In 1999, she released her debut album, Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders First Lady, reached number one on the Billboard 200, making her the third female rapper to accomplish this feat, and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album produced the hit singles “What Ya Want”, “Love Is Blind”, and “Gotta Man”. That same year, she was featured on The Roots’ Grammy Award-winning single “You Got Me”, as well as Missy Elliott’s “Hot Boyz”, the latter of which peaked within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.
Eve’s second studio album, Scorpion (2001), peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA. It’s single “Let Me Blow Ya Mind”, which featured Gwen Stefani, won her and Stefani the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and an MTV Video Music Award and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Her follow-up album, Eve-Olution (2002), also peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200 and yielded the single “Gangsta Lovin'”, which reached number two on the Hot 100. Her other singles from these albums, “Satisfaction” and “Love Is Blind”, as well as her 2007 standalone single, “Tambourine”, all reached the top 40 of the Hot 100. She was also featured on Gwen Stefani’s song “Rich Girl” in 2005, which was certified double platinum by the RIAA and nominated for a Grammy Award. After parting ways with Interscope Records, Eve released Lip Lock (2013), her first independent studio album.
As an actress, she starred as Terri Jones in the comedy-drama films Barbershop, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, and Barbershop: The Next Cut, and played the lead role of Shelley Williams on the UPN television sitcom Eve. Eve also had supporting roles in the drama film The Woodsman (2004), the comedy film The Cookout (2004), and the horror film Animal (2014). From 2017 to 2020, she was one of the co-hosts of the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk, for which she earned two Daytime Emmy Award nominations.
Early life
Eve Jihan Jeffers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Julie Wilcher, a publishing company supervisor, and Jerry Jeffers, a chemical plant supervisor. Eve lived in West Philadelphia until age 13 when her family moved to the neighborhood of Germantown. She graduated from Martin Luther King High School in Philadelphia.
At the age of 18, she worked as a stripper until rapper Mase convinced her to stop stripping. In 1999, Eve discussed stripping in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying “That was a hustle, too; there’s a song about it on my album, ‘Heaven Only Knows.’ But I don’t regret it – I was eighteen and confused, going through personal problems. I did it for about a month, and I was glad I did it. It helped me find Eve and helped me get serious. It was depressing – a lot of those girls have three or four kids. I’d sit there and be like, ‘Eve, you don’t belong here, this is not your world.'” Eve’s first musical interest was singing. She sang in many choirs and even formed an all-female singing group (Dope Girl Posse or EDGP) with a manager. This group covered songs from En Vogue and Color Me Badd. The group’s manager suggested that they should start rapping, and Eve stuck with it. After the group split up, Eve began working on a solo career under the name “Eve of Destruction”.
In April 2016, it was announced that Eve would join Gwen Stefani on her This Is What the Truth Feels Like Tour. The tour began on July 12, 2016, in Mansfield, Massachusetts at the Xfinity Center and continued throughout North America before concluding on October 16, 2016, in Inglewood, California at The Forum. In 2016, she hosted VH1’s annual event Hip Hop Honors, which honors old-school and golden-age hip-hop rappers and contributors for their long-term influence and importance in the history of hip-hop culture. In 2017, she portrayed Cecile James in two episodes of VH1’s satirical comedy-drama television series Daytime Divas. On November 14, 2017, Eve became a co-host of the CBS Daytime talk show, The Talk, replacing Aisha Tyler. In 2018, she appeared in several television shows, including Jane the Virgin, Empire, Celebrity Family Feud, and Happy Together.
On July 12, 2019, Eve released her first single in six years titled “Reload”, featuring Jamaican dancehall artist Konshens. In November 2019, Eve and Gwen Stefani performed “Rich Girl” on NBC’s competition series The Voice. The special performance celebrated Stefani’s debut solo album’s 15th anniversary. Eve hosted the 47th annual Daytime Emmy Awards with Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Marie Osmond on June 26, 2020. She received a second Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host along with her The Talk co-stars in 2020.[64] On the November 2, 2020, episode of The Talk, Eve announced that she would be leaving the show at the end of the year due to the impending lockdown restrictions preventing her from returning to the US, and plans to expand her current family.
On March 6, 2021, Eve released a 20th-anniversary re-release of her album Scorpion with four new remixes. On June 16, 2021, Eve and Trina battled in the webcast series Verzuz.
On March 8, 2021, it was announced that Eve was to join the cast of American Broadcasting Company’s music series Queens, alongside Naturi Naughton and Brandy. In May 2021, it was announced the show was being picked up for a full series, followed by the first official trailer, released on May 18, 2021. On October 1, 2021, the first promo single from Queens (“Nasty Girl”) was released featuring Eve alongside the cast: Brandy, Naturi Naughton, and Nadine Velazquez. A music video, directed by Tim Story, was released on the same day. This was followed on October 18, 2021, by another rap song from the Queens soundtrack: “The Introduction”, which was co-written by Nas. Queens debuted on October 19, 2021, and reviews were largely positive; Caroline Framke for Variety praised the quartet’s musical offering, calling their raps “sharp and distinct making clear their talent as both individuals and a swaggering collective”. Angie Han for The Hollywood Reporter called the show “Impressive lavish magic”. The show was canceled in early 2022 after one season.
Other ventures
Eve has appeared in music videos throughout her career. She has graced the covers of numerous magazines, including Essence, Teen People, Allure, Rolling Stone, Paper, Philadelphia Style, Giant, Blaze, Vibe, Inked, XXL, and Ebony. She has also appeared in television commercials for Clarica, Pepsi, and Sprite. Her print ads include Tommy Hilfiger and MAC Cosmetics’ Viva Glam campaign.
In 2003, Eve launched a clothing line titled Fetish which was targeted towards black women. Fetish was discontinued in September 2009.
Personal life
Eve divides her time between London, Los Angeles and New York. She began dating Maximillion Cooper in 2010.[88] The couple became engaged on December 25, 2013,[89] and married on June 14, 2014, in Ibiza, Spain. Eve has four stepchildren, all from Cooper’s previous marriage to businesswoman Julie Brangstrup.[90] In October 2021, Eve announced she was expecting her first child with Cooper, due in February.[91] Eve and Cooper welcomed their first child, a son, on February 1, 2022.[92]