Rapper Eve has changed the music game – from A-list collabs with the likes of Prince, Michael Jackson, and Missy Elliott, to recently receiving a long-overdue Grammy.
The 47-year-old, born Eve Jihan Jeffers, is now taking on the UK’s beloved MOBO Awards as a host alongside comedian Eddie Kadi.
Looking back on her career, which spans nearly three decades, the Let Me Blow Ya Mind rapper recalled how she unexpectedly came to blows with James Bond himself in a very awkward showbiz encounter.
‘Daniel Craig punched me in the nose by mistake!’, she told Metro.
‘We were in a movie [2008’s Flashbacks of a Fool] together, and he was supposed to [fake punch me], that was in the script. But we were also working with a dog, and the dog started going crazy.
‘It made both of us smash into each other, basically, and yeah, he punched me. I used it for the scene. It was perfect, made the scene really real [laughs].’
‘I went super method. And Daniel was sweet about. He was actually horrified, but it was fine.’
There’s no shortage of interesting anecdotes from the singer, who has also had a career in acting having appeared in the likes of Barbershop and The Woodsman.
But it’s her iconic music career which she looks back on most fondly.
‘When I first met Prince. I was so stunned that I don’t know if I said many words. I think I just started at him for the longest time, so I probably didn’t look well. I’d like to go back and speak properly,’ she recalls.
Earlier this year Eve even received a long-overdue Grammy for her uncredited verse on The Roots’ 1999 hit You Got Me.
The song won best rap performance by a duo or group at the 2000 awards ceremony, and although her vocals were a key part of the track alongside Erykah Badu’s, she wasn’t credited at the time and was left out of the celebration of the award.
Revealing what it meant to finally receive the award, Eve said: ‘There was a sense of closure. I said in my speech it was for little Eve’ in a way because I wrote that [verse] before I was signed… even with all the accolades since, this was my first big thing that kinda got pushed to the wayside.
‘So, no, it feels really nice. People who know me know I’m usually a grouch. I’ve been in the industry for so long that sometimes I’m like, meh, whatever. But I have to say I am truly touched. It’s a full circle thing.’
‘Being a female artist, a female MC especially, I definitely know that I helped to open doors and pave the way. The same way artists before me did – the next helps the next. That’s the only way I look at it. I just have a hand in the chain of all the women.’
Her next role as presenter is coming up as she partners with the MOBOs to mark having spent 30 years celebrating Black music and culture.
‘I am nervous in a good way,’ she admits.
‘I’m sure it will be a fun night. I had a big meeting with my stylist and we’ve pinpointed a few thing. I said, “How many [outfit] changes do I get?” That is a very [italicise] important question [laughs].’
Watch the MOBOs live on Thursday March 26 from 8pm on Twitch. The Access All Areas show airs Friday March 27 on BBC One.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.