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

Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders' First Lady is the debut album by American rapper Eve. The album was released September 14, 1999, by Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Interscope Records. It sold 213,000 copies in the first week.[9] The album has sold over 2 million copies and was certified Double Platinum.[10] The album features singles such as "Gotta Man," and "Love Is Blind" with Faith Evans. All of the songs on the album were written by Eve herself. 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	1998-1999
Genre	East Coast hip hop Hip hop
Length	57:09
Label	Ruff Ryders Interscope
Producer	Dee Dean (exec.) Waah Dean (exec.) 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 Ya'll Want" Released: June 1999 (1999-06) "Love is Blind" Released: August 31, 1999 (1999-08-31) "Gotta Man" Released: December 9, 1999 (1999-12-09)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[2]
Muzik	[3]
NME	(7/10)[4]
PopMatters	(favorable)[5]
Pitchfork	(8.1/10)[6]
Q	[3]
Robert Christgau	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
The Source	[3]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[11]

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 Eve, 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

Personnel

Credits for Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady adapted from Allmusic.[12]

Adam "Bunnie" Grossman: Engineer Adam Gazzola: Instrumentation Charles Duffy: Art Direction, Design Chris Theis: Engineer Dee Dean: Executive Producer, A&R DMX: Performer Eric: Performer Eric Smith: Engineer Eve: Vocals The Icepick: Producer Jonathan Mannion: Photography Keisha Gibbs: Marketing

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

Chart (1999)	Peak position
Canadian Albums Chart	16
US Billboard 200	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[13]	Gold	50,000^^
United States (RIAA)[14]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^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. LaVeck, Theresa E. "Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryder's First Lady - Eve". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
2. Walters, Barry (October 8, 1999). "Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
3. "Let There Be Eve... Ruff Ryder's First Lady CD Album". CD Universe. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
4. "Album Reviews - Ruff Ryders' First Lady". NME. November 3, 1999. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
5. "Eve, Eve: Ruff Ryders' First Lady". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
6. Kameir, Rawiya (March 17, 2019). "Eve: Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
7. Christgau, Robert. "CG: Eve". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
8. Touré (October 14, 1999). "Recordings: Eve, Eve: Ruff Ryders' First Lady". Rolling Stone: 119–120. Archived from the original on 2001-11-02. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
9. Boehlert, Eric (1999-09-22). "Eve Rides to the Top of the Chart". Rolling Stone. Straight Arrow. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
10. Eve. "Singer of the Week". AskMen.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
11. Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady (booklet). Ruff Ryders, Interscope. 1999.
12. Eve. "Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryder's First Lady: Credits". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
13. "Canadian album certifications – Eve – Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady". Music Canada.
14. "American album certifications – Eve – Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.