Rapsody | Eve | Album Review

Jamla Records

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

North Carolina female rapper Rapsody released her third album Eve. An excessively long 16-track album, Eve is an ode of triumph to all black women. Using her creative lyrical skills along with her diverse use of genres, tempos, and beats in each individ- ual song, the album is a story of appreciation for women of color, starting with the track “Nina.”

“Nina,” named in honor of Nina Simone, is the first of 16 women to the title of a song. Starting off as a swaying, soulful tone to set the stage of what is to come throughout the album, “Nina” is an exemplary portrayal of the heart and soul of the genre with euphonic female vocals flowing soothingly with the melancholy tone. Through “Nina” and tracks two and three—“Cleo” and “Aaliyah”—Rapsody doesn’t just rap or spit bars, but rather tells a story of the discrimination of black women and the cultural disputes that she feels she embodies.

She raps: “Remember early on, y’all ain’t treat me all the same though / Used to question why the brothers even rocked with me for.” Questioning the public’s view on her in “Cleo,” she turns around and says in “Aaliyah:” “I don’t care what you got to say about me no more.”

However, with the track “Oprah,” listeners are rewarded with a killer flow that Rapsody possesses, spitting rapid-fire rhymes and disses when she finally raps to the hip-hop melody that takes over the rest of the album. And even within this hip-hop genre (like many artists), she takes a historical standpoint and raps of the empowerment of strong black women and the mark that they have made in history.

Yes, Eve is excessively long, but the story is worth the listen to when it comes to taking a political standpoint on women in pop culture.