Eve: Dr. Dre Cut Me Loose For Eminem!

Eve shares her time with Ruff Ryders and Aftermath.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

BET is paying homage to the Ruff Ryders, a rap collective formed in 1998 with entertainers DMX, Swizz Beatz, The Lox, Drag-On, Cassidy, Eve, Jin, Yung Wun, Mashonda and Dame Grease.

The Ruff Ryders.

The main acts of the Ruff Ryders were DMX, The Lox, Eve, Drag-On and Swizz Beatz.

BET has been running the Ruff Ryder Chronicles. It is a five-part docuseries that covers the rise and influence of the hip-hop label

Founded by Dee, Waah and Chavion Dean, the Ruff Ryders became a management firm before a rap label. They had managed The Lox which was formed with Sheek Louch, Jadakiss and Styles P.

At one time, The Lox were a signed act under Bad Boy Records. They had an open feud with Sean "Puffy" Combs and demanded they were let go from the label.

The label also brought us DMX. The Yonkers-based entertainer blew up in 1998 when he signed a deal with Def Jam. He released It's Dark and Hell is Hot and it became a smash hit. He would become the face of Def Jam along with Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Ludacris, Method Man and Redman.

Then of course, the "pitbull in a skirt", Eve.

Listen to her albums here.





Eve Jeffers is the female MC who helped build Ruff Ryders. The Philadelphia-based rapper/actress/model/talk show host shares her experiences with the Ruff Ryders label and her disappointment with her former mentor Dr. Dre.

Eve has signed to Aftermath in 1997 and stayed on the label for nearly a year. She rejoined Aftermath in 2005 in partnership with Ruff Ryders. She left Aftermath for good in 2007. She has semi-retired from rapping to be a host on CBS' The Talk.

She started as a battle MC and used to be an adult entertainer who paid for her demo tape, bus tickets and hotel room to see Dre.

Eve, Busta Rhymes and Game joined Aftermath in 2005.

She was known as Eve of Destruction. She had a single on The Aftermath Compilation and was hoping to release an album on the label. It turns out that her frustration with Dre slow walking albums was one of the reasons she got off the first time.

She recalled that she was invited to fly out to Los Angeles to record a demo that eventually came to Dre's attention. She had a good working relationship with Dre at one time.

Things changed when Dre found Eminem.

"I would literally show up to studio session that I wasn't supposed to be at where I knew Dre was gonna be and be like: 'So, when am I recording? When are you gonna put me in a song? What's going on?'"

Eve added, "I think he got sick of that and then I got dropped eight months later... It wasn't too long after Eminem was signed that I got dropped from Aftermath, and I was devastated. I had to go back home, back to my mom's house -- I had to get back on the bus .. it humbled me."

Jimmy Iovine found a place for her. He talked to Ruff Ryders and they saw an opportunity in molding Eve into one of the greatest female rappers in modern times.

I remember them all too well. They skipped a concert in Dayton, Ohio. They were supposed to be performing with Cash Money Records (Lil' Wayne, Juvenile, Birdman, Turk, B.G. and Mannie Fresh). Cash Money performed their songs and left the stage. Fans waited for two hours to be told that the Ruff Ryders would not perform. They pretty much blew Dayton off.

I guess that became a theme of the rap group. And soon all the cancelled concerts and anctics soon caught up with the Ruff Ryders. They would soon lose their popularity.

The Ruff Ryders would soon be overshadowed by 50 Cent, a grimy Queens rapper who signed to Dr. Dre in 2003 and released Get Rich or Die Tryin'. By that time, DMX was having going through mental illness and drug abuse. Eve was doing movies and modeling. She married a billionaire and has became a favorite daytime talk show host. Swizz Beatz found himself in love with Alicia Keys and his growing production credentials. The Lox was being anchored by Diddy's contract and it led to them paying $1 million to get off it. Ruff Ryders didn't succeed with Jin and Cassidy's releases although they were critically acclaimed albums.

So the Ruff Ryders went back to management and sports. It launched a motorcycle club, a foundation to help young Black and Latinos get into business and scholarships.

Ruff Ryders is still around. They still the streets. Eve is by far one of the best female rappers.