Ruff Ryders legend Eve released her critically and commercially successful sophomore album Scorpion on March 6, 2001. Scorpion boasted singles like "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" and "Who's That Girl?" and sold approximately 162,000 copies in its first week. The album eventually went platinum and secured Eve a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2002, and today, it still remains one of the fan-favorite albums from the former Ruff Ryders femcee.
In honor of the album's 20-year anniversary, Eve has shared a deluxe version of Scorpion, complete with 12 bonus tracks, and talked with HipHopDX to discuss the album's impact and share new insights on the album's creation process.
"It’s very weird. I’m like, ‘Who pushed the speed up button?'" she tells HipHopDX, reflecting on her beloved album's 20-year milestone. "It’s amazing to look back on this because I have to say, I’m really seriously lucky that my songs are still being played in places and that people still want to hear the music and still get excited when they hear the music. So I don’t take that for granted. I really don’t."
Deeper into the interview, Eve reveals that she had a very limited amount of time to create Scorpion. For her follow-up to 1999's Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady, HipHopDX reports that she had a mere two months to get the album done. Throughout the mad dash, the "Love Is Blind" artist claims to have accidentally lit her hair on fire, leading to the iconic look seen on the album's cover artwork as well as in her music video for "Let Me Blow Ya Mind."
"That album was so fast to do,” she says, starting the story. "There were a lot of things that happened. For one, we recorded in Miami, so it was the first time I was able to take the budget and go somewhere, get a dope house and all the Ruff Ryders were there, going through the studio."
"That was amazing. Seeing all the artists come in and out of that studio in Miami but I mean, I burnt my hair off trying to color my hair red for the f*cking photoshoot," Eve shares, before admitting that the mad dash led to a cool new look. "But it wound up being a dope crop. That was a really nice short hairstyle."
Twenty years later, what are your favorite songs from Eve's Scorpion album?
[via]