{"id":157073,"date":"2026-01-30T21:48:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T21:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/157073\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T21:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T21:48:22","slug":"after-26-years-eve-receives-grammy-recognition-for-you-got-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/157073\/","title":{"rendered":"After 26 years, Eve receives Grammy recognition for “You Got Me”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During the summer of 1998, a 19-year-old rapper named Eve (formerly known as Eve of Destruction) received a phone call from her producer friend Scott Storch about an opportunity to hop on a record with the Roots. <\/p>\n

The hip-hop band from Philadelphia, formed by Black Thought and Questlove, was bubbling at the time and Eve, a known battle rapper in the city, was excited to work together on a song called \u201cYou Got Me<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

After tweaking the verse that Black Thought, the band\u2019s lead MC and co-founder, wrote for her, Eve laid down her vocals, rhyming the lyrics \u201cAnother lonely night? \/ It seems like I\u2019m on the side, you only lovin\u2019 your mic.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really exciting,\u201d Eve said, while lounging on a couch in a Hollywood residence. The rapper, actor and fashion designer has been based in London for the last decade. \u201cI think that was my most professional setting because they obviously were already signed.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

When the song, which is featured on the Roots\u2019 career-defining \u201cThings Fall Apart\u201d album, was released in 1999, it was the first time the world heard Eve\u2019s voice \u2014 but no one knew it was her. To her surprise, she wasn\u2019t listed as a contributing artist on the track. <\/p>\n

She was also surprised to find out that Jill Scott, a poet and rising neo-soul singer from Philadelphia who wrote and sang the initial hook, was replaced by Grammy-winning singer Erykah Badu. After receiving the wrong address for the shoot, Eve wasn\u2019t featured in the music video either. <\/p>\n

In 2000, the Roots and Badu won a Grammy for \u201cYou Got Me,\u201d but because Eve wasn\u2019t listed on the track, she didn\u2019t receive an award. By this time, Eve was signed to Ruff Ryders and promoting her debut album \u201cLet There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders\u2019 First Lady\u201d including her breakout single \u201cWant Ya Want<\/a>,\u201d so although it hurt her feelings at the time, she moved past it, she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no time to kind of go back and think about it,\u201d said Eve, who opened up about the situation in her 2024 memoir \u201cWho\u2019s That Girl.\u201d After years of seeing each other and even performing the song together, she and Questlove spoke about the matter for the first time when she made an appearance on his podcast<\/a> and apologized to Eve for the oversight. \u201cWe were extremely inconsiderate, insular and uncommunicative with each other that things like that always spilled on the sidelines,\u201d the drummer said on the podcast. (Questlove wasn\u2019t available for comment further at the time of publication.) <\/p>\n

\"Eve <\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Last fall, Eve received another unexpected phone call \u2014 this time from the Recording Academy. After hearing Eve talk about the \u201cYou Got Me\u201d situation on Ebro Darden\u2019s podcast<\/a>, the Recording Academy wanted to give her an award for her contributions to the track. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey were like, \u2018Listen, we didn\u2019t even know about this situation at all until we heard the podcast,\u2019\u201d Eve recalled. <\/p>\n

After 26 years, Eve was given a golden gramophone Thursday night during the Recording Academy Honors presented by the Black Music Collective in front of a star-studded audience. For her, the award feels like \u201cvalidation in a way to that little girl, to little Eve,\u201d she said. \u201cShe deserves that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cWhatever is yours can\u2019t miss you.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ahead of the ceremony, Eve spoke to The Times about coming up in the Philadelphia music scene as a teenager, what the \u201cYou Got Me\u201d situation has taught her and what receiving this award means to her now. She also talked about the impact of her second studio album, \u201cScorpion,\u201d which turns 25 this year, and what it was like to bring her toddler son on tour with her for the first time. <\/p>\n

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. <\/p>\n

You grew up in West Philly at a time when so many future greats were coming up at once \u2014 the Roots, Jill Scott, Bilal and Scott Storch. When you were just a teenager, you were hanging out at studios with some of them and attending jam sessions at Questlove\u2019s house. What did the energy in Philly feel like back then? <\/p>\n

It was amazing because music was everywhere. I knew that I wanted it to be my life, so every weekend I was doing something. I should\u2019ve been going to school, but I was going to the studio because I knew that I wanted music to be my life. And in Philly, there was always something going on whether it was a block party or a jam session or an open mic night. I was at everything. <\/p>\n

Scott Storch was the person who called you about getting on the Roots\u2019 \u201cYou Got Me\u201d record. What was your reaction when you got that call? <\/p>\n

When you are young, there\u2019s that no fear thing. I remember being excited, of course, but also like, \u201cYes! I\u2019m supposed to be here,\u201d not from a cocky place but more affirmative. It was really exciting, but it was also very professional. I think that was my most professional setting because they obviously were already signed. I\u2019d never been around that before, so I remember [being] like \u201cThis feels like the business.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Eve <\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

You were around 19 or 20 at that time, right? <\/p>\n

I must have been around 19 because I would\u2019ve gotten signed and dropped [from Aftermath] when I was 18. [laughs]<\/p>\n

At that time you were in between record deals, so it must have felt like a big opportunity.<\/p>\n

Absolutely. You know what\u2019s funny, I probably just took it for granted in the sense of like \u201cOh yeah, this is the start.\u201d They are signed. It\u2019s funny because I think back on the situation and I guess I thought it was gonna pop off from there. That\u2019s why all the events that happened afterward were like \u201cUgh.\u201d <\/p>\n

Take me back to the day that you laid down your verse. Who was in the studio with you? <\/p>\n

I\u2019m pretty sure Black Thought and Jill [Scott] were there. Even if not the whole session, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d come in if she\u2019d finished or whatever, but I\u2019m pretty sure she was there.<\/p>\n

How did your verse come together? <\/p>\n

I had this whole thing in my head, but Black Thought had a whole verse already. But then I was like, \u201cI\u2019m not gonna just say your verse.\u201d Now, I have a writer sometimes, but back then, especially because I was a battle rapper, it was like I can\u2019t say somebody else\u2019s bars. That\u2019s not real. So he had this whole thing and then I kind of tweaked it to make it feel and sound like me.<\/p>\n

I had a lot of audacity back then. I really did. [laughs] Because most people would be like \u201cYeah, cool.\u201d Also, I was like if I\u2019m going to put my voice on this, I really want to feel like me. I have thought about this [situation] so much now, and I\u2019m sure that also attributed to them being like, \u201cWe don\u2019t need to reach out. We don\u2019t need to make sure it\u2019s OK\u201d because the majority of it was written by him. Not that that\u2019s an excuse because there is no excuse.<\/p>\n

When was the first time that you realized you didn\u2019t receive credit for the song? If I\u2019m not mistaken, I think Jill Scott found out that her vocals were replaced by Erykah Badu after she heard it on the radio.<\/p>\n

I think it was kind of the same thing. It all happened so fast like, \u201cOh, the song is out.\u201d I probably heard it around the same time and thought \u201cOh, that\u2019s not Jill. Oh, that\u2019s Erykah Badu.\u201d It was such a weird timeline because I did the song a year or a few months before, and then by the time I heard the song, I was living in Harlem and I was signed to Ruff Ryders. <\/p>\n

The song went on to win a Grammy for rap performance by a duo or group in 2000, but because you weren\u2019t credited, you didn\u2019t receive an award. In your book, you talk about how this situation lined up with you being dropped from Aftermath Entertainment and moving back home from L.A. How did you deal with all of this emotionally? <\/p>\n

I feel like I had a month that I was just [felt] \u2014 I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d call it depressed \u2014 deflated. I really felt like damn, this was it and now I\u2019m back home. I was just in L.A. in a condo with a nice bank account. Now I\u2019m back at my mom\u2019s house in my pajamas and I gotta catch the bus. What the hell is happening to my life? [laughs] That was horrible so I was wrestling with my feelings and my sadness, but my mom was great. My mom has always been my rock. She was supportive and she [didn\u2019t] tell me to get over it. She kind of just let me wallow in it, but [she was] positive as well like, \u201cMaybe that wasn\u2019t the time.\u201d It was crazy, but I will say, I needed it. I\u2019m happy that happened because I wouldn\u2019t have the career I have now. Like going back to the Aftermath thing, if I had come out then, I wouldn\u2019t have the career that I have now. I feel like I did need to be humbled because it was definitely the Philly attitude that got me fired, that got me dropped. [laughs] My name at the time was Eve of Destruction, my battle rap name, so it was the time that I sat with my feelings and I was like if I get this chance again who is it that I want to be as an artist? Who do I want to show the world? I didn\u2019t want to take on a title. I was like I\u2019m just going to show them myself. I\u2019m going to show them Eve.<\/p>\n

Some fans knew that you didn\u2019t receive credit on this track, but others found out for the first time when you talked about it last year during an appearance on Ebro Darden\u2019s podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s crazy how many people are mad about it for me. I had friends who were like, \u201cGirl, so what\u2019s going to happen?\u201d [laughs] But it is a funny thing. Why wasn\u2019t I mad enough? Or was it \u2014 this is the over-analyzer [in me] \u2014 one of those moments where I just wanted to forget about it. Because, yeah, my feelings were definitely hurt if it was a fake address. Or did we get the address wrong? So maybe I was like, \u201cI\u2019ll just put it on the back burner,\u201d but Ebro definitely did not. And you know what, I\u2019m happy he didn\u2019t because sometimes it takes for a person to be your champion or your cheerleader in certain things and I do appreciate it. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou Got Me\u201d is one of the Roots\u2019 biggest songs to this day. Was it weird hearing it played everywhere when it first came out?<\/p>\n

During that time I did not see them. It was very weird. That song had come out, I was doing my thing, but we ran in different circles hip-hop-wise. I guess we just never crossed paths. I never really saw them. I think they were on tour by then and I was with Ruff Ryders. We didn\u2019t see each other until years later because we have performed that song now three times probably at separate points in my career, which is also weird. [laughs] <\/p>\n

That is weird. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s weird. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s wrong. <\/p>\n

Now, 26 years after \u201cYou Got Me\u201d won a Grammy, you are finally receiving your award and honored at the Black Music Collective Recording Academy Honors. What was your reaction when you found out?<\/p>\n

It was weird at first because the [academy] called a lot of different people. They called like four different people because they wouldn\u2019t tell anybody why they wanted to talk to me. Finally, I think Swizz [Beatz] was probably the last person they called. Then we got on the phone and I remember I was having martinis in London. It was a FaceTime [call] and I was standing under a lamp. It was not professional on my side and I was trying real hard not to be tipsy. I was like, \u201cThis is so cool. Thank you, guys.\u201d [laughs] My friend, who I was with, was like \u201cWhat did you have to take a call for?\u201d and I was like \u201cGirllll.\u201d So it was a fun night. I came home and told my husband, fell asleep and when I woke up, I completely forgot about it. Then my friend texted me and was like \u201cDo you remember?\u201d and I was like \u201cOh s\u2014! Yeah!\u201d It\u2019s just such a cool thing and since then it\u2019s been like \u201cWow.\u201d They said, \u201cWe could send you the Grammy, but we\u2019d like to give it to you.\u201d It\u2019s really nice. It\u2019s a really interesting feeling because obviously it\u2019s been so long, something that I thought I was done with, in a way, so it feels good. <\/p>\n

What did they tell you exactly?<\/p>\n

They were like \u201cListen, we didn\u2019t even know about this situation at all until we heard the podcast.\u201d It was the podcast that I did with Ebro when they were like \u201cOh nah.\u201d Even Swizz was like \u201cSis, we gotta make this happen. That\u2019s not cool.\u201d And I was like \u201cOK, cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does receiving this award now feel like reconciliation at all? Or maybe validation?<\/p>\n

In a way, validation to that little girl, to little me. It sounds a bit cheesy, but she deserves that. It\u2019s a great moment. I\u2019m still wrapping my head around it in a way especially since I\u2019ve been away from music for so long and for this to be happening like this is very cool.<\/p>\n

\"Eve <\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

What have you learned or taken away from this situation? <\/p>\n

I think I\u2019m honestly still processing because I was joking, but kind of not, like I want to talk to my therapist about why I let this go. What was it? Why did I think, \u201cOh nah, it\u2019s cool. We squashed it.\u201d But it\u2019s like no, this is bigger than that. But good s\u2014 comes to good people and I know for sure I definitely deserve it. [laughs]<\/p>\n

In other exciting news, this March marks the 25th anniversary of your second album, \u201cScorpion.\u201d What memories rush back to you when you think about that time of your life, living and working in Miami?<\/p>\n

Oh my God. There\u2019s so many. It was so fun. I remember the house we rented. I had one Yorkie, then I bought her a friend in Florida. It was silly s\u2014 that I remember and then just being in the studio day and night. Then the Marleys were on the other side. It was just a good time. I was fully in it. It was a lot of pressure because it was like \u201cWe gotta get this album done now.\u201d It\u2019s when I really think I felt the business of music in the sense of like, \u201cWe gotta meet these deadlines. We gotta get this album out,\u201d which was stressful but I was still naive enough, I think, to still be having fun. I was going out. I met Trina. Trina is my girl. Overall, it was a really good time. <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Between experimenting with new sounds, crossing genres with artists like Gwen Stefani, and making the theme red, \u201cScorpion\u201d felt very intentional. Reflecting back, what did that era represent for you personally beyond the music?<\/p>\n

I feel very lucky that Ruff Ryders always allowed me to artistically do what I wanted to do. They never said things like \u201cOh this might not work.\u201d And even sonically, they weren\u2019t the ones who were fighting back, it was more like executives and Interscope, but for me \u201cScorpion\u201d means red. Red is a scorpion color. We gotta come out stinging, but I also want to show that I\u2019ve grown, that I\u2019ve matured and really show what my ear is. I felt really lucky that they didn\u2019t fight me on it. They let me do exactly what I needed to do. It felt collaborative because that\u2019s how Ruff Ryders worked anyway. There were people in and out of the studio all the time, but it made it good because sometimes a conversation led to a hook or a verse.<\/p>\n

Last year you went on tour with Nelly, Ja Rule and Chingy, and you brought along your son. What was it like having him there with you, seeing you on stage?<\/p>\n

It was grueling. I ain\u2019t gone lie. It was amazing, but being on tour with a toddler is different. That being said, the reason I said yes to doing the tour is because he\u2019s young enough that I can kind of tote him around, but he\u2019s old enough that he can remember. Seeing him on the side of the stage was like \u201cOh, my little baby.\u201d It was also fun. Like everybody on that tour had bangers, so even me performing or being backstage and hearing Ja or hearing Nelly or hearing Chingy, it was a good tour. The crowd showed up. It was a really cool tour too because in some places, it was like generations of people together like the kids and the moms, and then there were a lot of young people, and I was like \u201cOh, I love this.\u201d<\/p>\n

What else do you have coming up? <\/p>\n

Listening to new music and discovering new artists. I am excited about this 25th anniversary because we are going to do some really fun stuff with it and we\u2019re talking about some re-imaginings with it. Just touch some of the songs that people love and give it a bit of life. What else? I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m just \u201cmomming.\u201d That\u2019s my favorite thing right now. He\u2019s getting so big. I cannot believe he\u2019s about to be 4. Watching him grow is nice.<\/p>\n