Rapsody’s “Eve” is the ultimate love letter to black women
Coming off her Grammy-nominated album, “Laila’s Wisdom” in 2017, Rapsody looks to build in 2019 with her third album titled “Eve.” Known for her classic boom-bap feel and exceptional lyricism, Rapsody looks to push the limits of what she can do on the mic. For the rollout to this album, Rapsody released two singles, the first being “Sojourner” ft. J. Cole and “Ibtihaj” ft. D’Angelo and GZA. Both singles appear on the tracklist to “Eve” as well as fourteen new Rapsody tracks added to her discography for a total of sixteen tracks equating to one hour and three minutes of music. Leikeli47, K. Roosevelt, D’Angelo, GZA, Mereba, Elle Varner, SiR, JID, Queen Latifah, J. Cole, and PJ Morton appear as features throughout the tracklist. Now, let’s get to the review!
Categories
The songs on this album divided into four lanes that are prevalent throughout the project and scored on a 1.5 scale. (0 = trash, .5 = not for me, 1 = good, 1.5 = a standout)
Raps her ass off
On these songs, Rapsody chooses to put her lyricism and content decisions in the forefront on top of soft beats that prove to move the listener.
• “Nina” (1)
• “Cleo” (1)
• “Whoopi” (1.5)
• “Ibtihaj” ft. D’Angelo & GZA (1)
• “Iman” ft. SiR & JID (1)
• “Hatshepsut” ft. Queen Latifah (1)
• “Sojourner” ft. J. Cole (1.5)
Rapstory
Here Rapsody chooses to paint a picture with her raps and beat choices
• “Aaliyah” (1)
• “Tyra” (1)
• “Maya” ft. K. Roosevelt (1)
• “Myrlie” ft. Mereba (1.5)
• “Afeni” ft. PJ Morton (1.5)
Rapsochill
Rapsody picks faster beats that still maintain a slow tempo in an attempt to create a catchier song
• “Oprah” ft. Leikeli47 (1)
• “Serena” (1.5)
• “Michelle” ft. Elle Varner (1)
Poetry
A poem from Reyna Biddy serves as an interlude
• “Reyna’s Interlude” (1)
Must Listen Songs
The concept of Must Listen songs are the songs that would give the best overview of the album as a whole. Songs that stand out for reasons to be described in the pending descriptions of the songs.
“Nina”
The intro track, produced by Mark Byrd uses a Nina Simone sample to set the tone for this slow soft bassline filled beat. The beat develops with a slow-paced, sharp bass and drum that hits a bit faster than the bass. The standout line on this song to me is,” I keep it real, all y’all look like anime.” The entire verse sets the tone for the album and the poem at the end for the outro of the song performed by Reyna Biddy does nothing but further solidify the tone for this album.
“Serena”
The sixth track is produced by Eric G starts with a soft string instrument in the intro before the beat develops with a soft high hat, and occasional bass that hits more frequently during the hook. During the hook, the sampling of Uncle Luke’s famous line “don’t stop, get it” adds to the fast-paced feel of the song which helps maintain the pace at which Rapsody raps at. Here Rapsody displays her ability to rap fast while still throwing in gems like “The hate you give, still thugging, That’s Shakur’s life, Giovanni wrote it.”
“Myrlie” ft. Mereba
Track ten on Rapsody’s “Eve” is produced by Eric G is a fast-paced, content-heavy song. The beat’s fast high hats and attention-grabbing bass compliments the fast pace at which Rapsody flows at throughout her verses. The lines “Martin Luther wasn’t a big enough deal? Trayvon Martin ain’t a big enough deal? I kid you not, How may Martin’s we had shot,” perfectly summarizes Rapsody’s content on this song. Rapsody shouts out many black widows and mothers who have had the black men in their lives taken away from them.
“Afeni” ft. PJ Morton
Produced by 9th Wonder, “Afeni” serves as the outro track to Rapsody’s “Eve.” With a beautiful bassline, drumline, and harp-like sound, Rapsody raps from her perspective, first talking to black men on her first verse then talking to black women on her second verse. The inclusion of lines from 2Pac’s “Keep Your Head Up” reinforces the message of the value of black women, along with the singing of PJ Morton.
Final Review
Rapsody’s “Eve” is the ultimate love letter to black women. Every song is named after great black women throughout history. However, Rapsody doesn’t just stop there, as she makes it her mission to have the content in her raps relate to the black women each song is named after. For example, “Oprah” ft. Leikeli47 is about money, which we know Oprah has a lot of and “Myrlie” ft. Mereba is about the widows and mothers of murdered black men. The content throughout the album goes in-depth while remaining easy to follow with the flows Rapsody uses. The beats on “Eve” are produced mostly by Eric G who is responsible for five songs and 9th Wonder, responsible for seven who both did an exceptional job in creating a vibe that fits with the rest of the song s on the album. Each feature shined, however, didn’t give much contrast to the vibe Rapsody establishes for this album, making the album more cohesive which allows for a higher playback rate. “Eve” is a dense, but digestible masterpiece that stays consistent both in vibe and valuable content.
Scoring
Raw Score: The number of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a 1 or above to be counted.
Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.
Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5.
Raw Score: 16/16
Quality Score: 18.5/16
Playback Value: 5/5
Go out and listen to Rapsody’s “Eve” wherever you listen to your music. Also, don’t forget to check out OLDMLK’s Instagram page (@OLDMLK) and Twitter (@OLDMLKDOTCOM) for more Hip-Hop Album Reviews, The OLDMLK.Com Playlist, The OLDMLK Radar and more! Don’t Know it? Oldmlk Does!
