Eve Reflects On Jay-Z Telling Female Rappers 'Don't Do It Really Well' Commercial Ahead Of Debut Album

Eve was out to prove the doubters wrong about her Let There Be Eve… First Lady of Ruff Ryders debut album in September 1999. As she said in her new Who is this girl? Memoir, released on Tuesday (September 17), Eve recalled a phone call from Jay-Z where he tried to temper the Ruff Ryders rapper's expectations when it came to the commercial performance of her debut LP.

Jay reportedly told Eva that female rappers “don't do so well” the day the '99 project arrived. However, Let There Be Eve… First Lady of Ruff Ryders it topped the Billboard 200 with more than 200,000 total album sales in its first week. With assists from Swizz Beatz, DMX, Missy Elliott, The Lox, Faith Evans, Beanie Sigel and more, Let Eve exist has sold more than two million copies to date.

Eva appeared The Breakfast Club on Tuesday (Sept. 17) to support her memoir, and provided context for the phone call with Hov, which wasn't meant to be malicious, but put a battery in her back.

“That was one of those things where we were like, 'Are we putting it on?' Because you know how people manage,” he explained. “There was nothing wrong with it. It was one of those things where I needed a very surprising phone call.”

He continued: “That was one of those things where I always felt like I was the underdog anyway. He didn't say it out of spite or malice. They were real events. But I was like, uh, okay, let's see. I'll show you. It's all good. And it continued to be fine. As I say in the book, we all have that person.”

Bulletin board reached out to Jay-Z for comment.

Throughout the book, Eva revealed that she had to deal with many challengers when it came to executives who constantly disrespected her. “The audacity these men had,” he wrote in the book. “Now I have age and experience on my side, nobody comes at me like that.”

Let There Be Eve… First Lady of Ruff Ryders produced a pair of hits with Swizz Beatz-produced “Gotta Man,” which peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Dru Hill's Nokio-produced “What Ya'll Want (Remix),” which was added as a bonus track . and topped the Hot Rap Songs chart.

Check out her interview with The Breakfast Club below: