Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady is the debut studio album by American rapper Eve. It was released by Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Interscope Records on September 14, 1999. All of the songs on the album were written by Eve herself. It sold over 200,000 copies in the first week. The album has sold over 2 million copies and was certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album features singles such as "Gotta Man", and "Love Is Blind" with Faith Evans. Eve became the third female hip-hop artist to have her album peak at number-one on the Billboard 200 (Lauryn Hill's debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, being the first to top the chart in 1998 and Foxy Brown's second album, Chyna Doll achieving the feat earlier in 1999).

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Theresa E. LaVeck found that "Eve's conviction and passion make her noticeable no matter what the subject, but she truly stands out when the stories become personal, examining the cost of the hard life she champions in other songs. "Love Is Blind" is a painful look at domestic violence. Self-respect and positivity are the moral of "Heaven Only Knows." Both tracks are backed by beautiful arrangements with acoustic guitar and lush vocals. Eve maintains her hardcore image in these tracks, but with a subtle vulnerability that promise lots of interesting things to come from this Philly prodigy."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady adapted from AllMusic.

• Adam "Bunnie" Grossman – engineer

• Adam Gazzola – instrumentation

• Charles Duffy – art direction, design

• Chris Theis – engineer

• Dee Dean – executive producer

• DMX – performer

• Eric – performer

• Eric Smith – engineer

• Eve – vocals

• The Icepick – producer

• Jonathan Mannion – photography

• Kithe Brewster – stylist

• Mario DeArce – editing

• P.K – producer

• Rich Keller – multi Instruments, mixing, instrumentation

• Ron Martinez – vocals

• Shok – producer

• Swizz Beatz – producer, associate producer

• Taryn Simon – photography

• Tony Dawsey – mastering

• Tony Maserati – mixing

• Waah – executive producer, art direction, design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also

• List of number-one albums of 1999 (U.S.)

• List of number-one R&B albums of 1999 (U.S.)

References