Eve experienced a genuine "pinch-me" moment when she was granted the opportunity to meet King Charles at the Prince's Trust Awards in May.
“I was like, ‘Damn, they’re letting rappers into Buckingham Palace now? How is this girl from the projects of Philadelphia meeting King Charles? What is my life?” she quipped, as per PEOPLE Magazine.
Since the release of her double-platinum debut album in 1999, the 45-year-old rapper, actress, and former talk show presenter has asked the same question on numerous occasions.
“Sometimes my life is like a sitcom,” Eve said, clarifying it’s a very “different” one from the eponymous series she led from 2003 to 2006. Eve has now detailed her experiences, including her less sitcom-worthy struggles with substance abuse, anxiety, and fertility, in her new memoir "Who's That Girl?"
“The book is about a woman who went through a lot. That ‘s a lot of us. If I can help someone feel less alone, that’s what I care about,” she stated.
Eve has been residing in London with her husband, British businessman Maximillion Cooper, 52, their son Wilde, 2, and his four children from a previous marriage since the conclusion of her television series "Queens" in 2022.
“I don’t have anything to chase beyond the things that I want to build for us as a family. That is a very nice place to be,” she stated.
Despite the fact that Eve's admirers have referred to her current chapter as a "soft life," a trend that challenges the hustle culture, she has achieved tranquility.
Her childhood was anything but tranquil. In Philadelphia, Eve Jeffers was born to Julie, a supervisor at a publishing company, and Jerry, a supervisor at a chemical facility. She encountered her first firearm at the age of eight while assisting a family member in the sale of drugs. At the age of 14, she began competing against her male high school classmates in rap cyphers and was convinced that she wanted to pursue a career in music.
She briefly danced at a strip club at the age of 17 to pay the expenses, but she resigned to concentrate on hip-hop. Before she turned 21, she became the third female rapper to reach No. 1 on Billboard's album chart. However, it was solitary at the summit.
“I thought it was a sisterhood, and as soon as you get signed, everybody’s like, ‘Hey, Barbie!’ It was not like that. I remember feeling like, ‘This is freaking lonely, man,” she stated.
That isolation combined with drinking and smoking weed daily affected Eve’s mental health, and she suffered a nervous breakdown in 2000. “I’d reached the end of the rope,” she says.
She returned the following year with the Grammy-winning Gwen Stefani collaboration "Let Me Below Ya Mind" and the massive hits "Who's That Girl?" after taking a pause to refuel. In 2002, she also made her debut in the film Barbershop.
However, Eve was once again ensnared in a cycle of substance abuse by 2007. She was charged with DUI in Hollywood that year after ramming her Maserati into the center divider. She was sentenced to probation, which included mandatory AA meetings and an ankle monitor. Eve has been in a more positive state of mind since the incident, which she considers to be "a sign” that saved her life.
