Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady

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.^[1] The album has sold over 2 million copies and was certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[2] 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).

Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady
Studio album by Eve
Released	September 14, 1999 (1999-09-14)
Recorded	1996–1999
Studio	Powerhouse Studio
Genre	East Coast hip-hop gangsta rap
Length	57:09
Label	Ruff Ryders Interscope
Producer	Swizz Beatz P.K. DJ Shok Jay "Icepick" Jackson
Eve chronology
Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady (1999) Scorpion (2001)
Singles from Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady
"What Y'all Want" Released: June 1999 "Gotta Man" Released: August 31, 1999 "Love Is Blind" Released: December 9, 1999

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Robert Christgau	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[5]
Muzik	[6]
NME	7/10[7]
Pitchfork	8.1/10[8]
Q	[6]
Rolling Stone	[9]
The Source	[6]

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."^[3]

Track listing

Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady track listing^[10]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"First Lady" (Intro)	Kasseem Dean	Swizz Beatz	1:36
2.	"Let's Talk About" (featuring Drag-On)	Eve Jeffers Melvin Smalls Darrin Dean K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	3:31
3.	"Gotta Man" (featuring Mashonda)	E. Jeffers K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	4:24
4.	"Philly Cheese Steak" (Skit) (featuring Swizz, Eric and Fuquan)		Swizz Beatz	1:37
5.	"Philly Philly" (featuring Beanie Sigel)	E. Jeffers Dwight Grant J. Dean K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	3:57
6.	"Stuck Up" (featuring C.J.)	E. Jeffers George Cantres D. Dean K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	3:53
7.	"Ain't Got No Dough" (featuring Missy Elliott)	E. Jeffers Melissa Elliott K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	4:17
8.	"BM" (Skit)		Icepick	1:01
9.	"Love Is Blind" (featuring Faith Evans)	E. Jeffers Anthony Fields K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	4:20
10.	"Scenario 2000" (featuring DMX, The Lox and Drag-On)	E. Jeffers Earl Simmons M. Smalls David Styles Jason Phillips Sean Jacobs K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	3:50
11.	"Dog Match" (featuring DMX)	E. Jeffers E. Simmons K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	4:19
12.	"My Bitches" (Skit)	Jay Jackson D. Dean E. Simmons K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	1:08
13.	"We On That Shit!" (featuring P. Killer Trackz)	E. Jeffers A. Fields D. Dean K. Dean	P.K.	3:25
14.	"Chokie Nikes" (Skit) (featuring Diona, Eric and Grimy)		Icepick	1:04
15.	"Maniac" (featuring Swizz Beatz)	E. Jeffers D. Dean K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	4:22
16.	"My Enemies" (Skit)	E. Jeffers K. Dean	Swizz Beatz	1:43
17.	"Heaven Only Knows"	E. Jeffers Michael Gomez	Shok	4:29
18.	"What Y'all Want" (Remix) (bonus track)	E. Jeffers K. Dean M. Gomez	Shok	4:05
Total length:				57:09

Personnel

Credits for Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady adapted from AllMusic.^[11]

• 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 Weekly chart performance for Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady Chart (1999) Peak position Canadian Albums (Billboard)[12] 16 Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[13] 1 US Billboard 200[14] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[15] 1

Year-end charts 1999 Year-end chart performance for Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady Chart (1999) Position US Billboard 200[16] 96 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[17] 31 2000 Year-end chart performance for Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady Chart (2000) Position US Billboard 200[18] 91 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[19] 43

Certifications

Certifications for Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[20]	Gold	50,000^
United States (RIAA)[21]	2× Platinum	2,000,000[22]
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

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

References

1. Boehlert, Eric (September 22, 1999). "Eve Rides to the Top of the Chart". Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
2. Eve. "Singer of the Week". AskMen.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
3. LaVeck, Theresa E. "Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryder's First Lady – Eve". AllMusic. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
4. Christgau, Robert. "Eve". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
5. Walters, Barry (October 8, 1999). "Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
6. "Let There Be Eve... Ruff Ryder's First Lady CD Album". CD Universe. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
7. "Album Reviews – Ruff Ryders' First Lady". NME. November 3, 1999. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
8. Kameir, Rawiya (March 17, 2019). "Eve: Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
9. Touré (October 14, 1999). "Recordings: Eve, Eve: Ruff Ryders' First Lady". Rolling Stone. pp. 119–120. Archived from the original on November 2, 2001. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
10. Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady (booklet). Ruff Ryders, Interscope. 1999.
11. Eve. "Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryder's First Lady: Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
12. "Eve Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
13. "R&B : Top 50". Jam!. October 4, 1999. Archived from the original on October 7, 1999. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
14. "Eve Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
15. "Eve Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
16. "1999 The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. YE-56. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
17. "1999 The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. YE-56. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
18. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2000". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 10, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
19. "2000 The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 53. December 30, 2000. p. YE-52. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
20. "Canadian album certifications – Eve – Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady". Music Canada.
21. "American album certifications – Eve – Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady". Recording Industry Association of America.
22. Concepcion, Mariel (June 9, 2007). "A bad rap?". Billboard. Vol. 119, no. 23. pp. 24–25. Retrieved February 3, 2022 – via Internet Archive.