Mad, Sad and Bad with Paloma Faith - Eve: I Thought I Was Cursed

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Not only is Eve a multi-talented actress, singer, rapper and songwriter, she’s also a trailblazing entrepreneur and a gorgeous Mum. I’ve been a fan of Eve since the Ruff Ryders days, and even begged my Mum to let me get Eve’s iconic paw-print tattoo, so it was a bit of a pinch me moment having her in my home...In this conversation, Eve shares childhood memories of being a class-clown who thrived off attention and laughter, but there was a period of darkness in her life where she struggled with the music industry and her relationship with alcohol. Eve opens up about the accident which forced her to turn her life around and take back the power in her career.Eve also talks about fertility and motherhood; from the ectopic pregnancy which she kept secret for years and her experiences of IVF, to the love she feels for her son and step-kids. I loved chatting with this amazing woman, not only is she beautiful inside and out, but she’s also an absolute icon and inspiration.#EVE #PALOMAFAITH #MADSADBAD—Find us on: Instagram / TikTok / YouTube—Credits:Producer: Jemima RathboneAssistant Producer: Magda CassidyEdit Producer: Pippa BrownEditor: Shane O'ByrneVideo: Jake Ji & Grisha NikolskyVideo Editor: Josh BennettOriginal music: BUTCH PIXYSocial Media: Laura CoughlanMarketing: Eleanore BamberExec Producer: Jemima RathboneExec Producers for Idle Industries: Dave Granger & Will MacdonaldSenior Exec Producer: Holly Newson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, I'm Paloma Faith and this is my show. Each week I welcome someone fantastic into my home to talk about what makes them mad, sad and bad. Roll recording. It's a bit like actually not far off Philly, I don't think. No, I think it's the same. It's the same thing. It's the same thing.

It's the same vibe. Yeah, same vibe. Come through. Thank you so much. Oh, this is gorgeous. Thank you. I love this. I'm so happy you'll find it.

I know, I know, we did it in the end. Oh, someone else. Who's that? Male. Mail. To you, she's an Emmy-nominated talk show host, an actress who starred in Queens and the Barbershop film franchise. She's a mother, a songwriter, and formidable force in the music industry.

But to me, she is the first rapper I was ever absolutely obsessed with in my life. So much so that I begged my mum to take me for poor print tattoos. wouldn't sign the consent form, I was devastated. So when I finally met her and realized how stunningly beautiful she was, I asked her who her facelist was. I went to the facialist. Turns out, the facialist is really good, but I'm not as beautiful as her. And so I'm devastated. You can't just pay to look this good. It's the gorgeous woman icon and now friend, I hope, is... Oh my God, you are hilarious. Because I want to go see your facial We talked about this.

We'll talk more off. We'll talk more off. Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me. In your beautiful home. In this crazy house. I love it. All my chairs is completely covered in paint.

That's great. I apologize. I have the same. So don't worry. Yeah. I just felt like, oh no, she's sitting on. She's going to think they're dirty. Girl, please.

Everything in my house is dirty because of the kids. So it's fine. It's fine. How old were you when you came into the industry? Probably. I mean, I had my first record deal when I turned 18, like 17, 18, so super young. And that's like a time when you're quite impressionable. Yeah, trying to figure it out.

I had my first album came out when I was about to turn 21. And all these men are just telling you what you need to do and what you need to say and how you need to look. And have you got a boyfriend? Yeah, on top of that. But, you know, I will say this. When I say men, and I like to always be clear about this, like, I come from a crew of rough riders. were my brothers. They took care of me.

It was the exact. It was like the execs. It was like those guys in the boardroom. Like you said, those white men who don't really know, who are aging, who are not close to the street, who are, all we are to them is a commodity, really. A money maker. And it became. And it's not just the way.

Actually, it's not just them either. It's like the producers. It was like it was those rooms that I would go into once, especially once. I started, my career started going in a different place. And then I would go into these rooms without the rough riders. Because while I was with them... You were safe. I was safe.

But without them, yeah, it was crazy. Yeah. And what happened then in that? That was just the question, you know, again, like, where's you, don't have a boyfriend or, oh, we don't want it, we don't, if I suggest a certain thing, oh, well, I don't think we should do that. Or they would try to suggest certain things to me of like, I remember when some, sometime, one time somebody said to me, oh, you should, you should wear a uniform. You should start wearing uniforms.

And I was like, are you smoking more crack? Like, what are you talking about? Yeah. What are you talking? Like, just weird, crazy stuff. And it just got bad. And honestly, it got to the point where because I think I was put, I was pushing back so much that when I would do songs, they would give it to other artists or they just wouldn't support the record at radio. Like, it was just.

so much that I was just like, wow. It's been decided. I had a meeting once in the States with my manager is male. Yeah. And the record exec looked at my manager and went, you really need to control your artist. And I was sitting there at the table. And I was like, I just pushed the chair out and left the restaurant.

That just gave me chill. It was in New York. I just held the cab and left. I was like, wow. I've got everything I need to know now. Yeah. Goodbye. No, that's insane.

That's insane. But not surprising, sadly. No, unfortunately. Yeah. Do you think women are more likely to be called crazy than men? Yes. Angry, crazy. That's like minimizing our feeling.

Oh, it's so horrible. I get, I will get crazy if someone's like, oh, you're so, like, oh, you're so, like, or aggressive. That word, I can't take it. Because one, first of all, I'm loud. I just, I was born loud. I'm a loud person. And when I get emotional, I get my arms flail. I get, it's, it is really just who I am. And if I'm really passionate, like most of us, then yeah, I might get emotional or whatever, but I hate when someone, like you said, minimizes it and says, like, why are you being so like, don't be aggressive or, yeah, I hate, why? You acting crazy.

I have that as well. And I think the anger thing as well, specifically with people who are dealing with black females is so abominable because it's like, what? You're minimizing my feelings because you've like racially profiled me to something. And with me, because I do it because and then they're like, oh, she's Spanish. You know she's Spanish? You know she's half Spanish. She's Latin.

So she's fistic. She's fiery. But it's like, oh, I didn't know that about her. That explains it. It's like, no, that's not what explains it. Yeah. The fact that I'm angry about the thing is genuine. It's genuine.

Like literally. Yeah, it's horrible. I hear you. And that then makes you crazier and it's a self-fulfilling prophecy because you become the thing that you're being told you are. You're like, no, I'm not. I'm not crazy. I'm not fucking crazy. You said that you think Niles Barkley's song Crazy was about you.

So why? Why? Yeah, I think I had gone through so much. I was in a really black hole for a while. It was the like industry. I think I was kind of in flux in a way. And yeah, I was living in L.A. I was drinking a lot.

I was going out a lot. And I think I was just losing my mind. I honestly was actually. I thought I was really losing my mind. So I would play that song all the time, crazy, all the time. And I really was like, I think he wrote this song about me. And I would just play it over and over, which is also not good. When you're in that place in your head and something's like affirming it.

Like, you know what I mean? But yeah, it was just a hard time. Like my career wasn't where it was before. It was kind of like I was acting, but I was also. still trying to do music, but the label was like, we're really not feeling you right now. And I kind of was, I think I was just depressed inside of the madness, inside of everything else. And then I just drank and drank and drank and partied a lot. Would you say that you, when you drank, would you call yourself an alcoholic?

No. So it's funny because I, I never went, I never used those words like alcoholic or addiction. But I definitely had a problem. I was right there, I think. And I had a moment where I had a DUI. And I had to wear one of those ankle things. What's the DUI? What are you guys? You guys call it DWI?

Like a tag. Like, no. So when you drink, when you drive and you get into an accident, drunk, basically. They call it a DUI, driving under the influence. Oh, okay. You guys, I forget what you guys call it. If you've been caught driving under the influence. Yes.

So it's sort of. like goes off if you're in the car. No, okay, so that's what it's called. What I got was the DUI. And because of the DUI, then I had to wear the thing. Like that's, it's a bracelet. If they feel, so it was such a weird thing. This, it monitors your body temperature.

And it can tell from your sweat, like, if you've had alcohol. So even when I got the monitor put on. Was that in the state? This was in L.A. And even when I got the monitor put on, I used to have to go see this guy. It was almost like being on parole in a way. Yeah.

That's why I said a tag, because it sounds like if you have an offense, that you're being tagged. No, it's insane. And he would literally, he called me one day and was like, what, he was like, I can tell you're using. He's like, whatever you're using, your body wash or your lotion has some sort of alcohol in it.

He was like, I can tell you're not drinking, but it's, it's gone up. Like your levels have gone up. whatever that is, you have to stop using it. Use something. Like, it's so insane. And I had to wear that for 56 days. Oh, my God.

That's enough to drive anyone crazy. But you know what? Weirdly enough, the anklet made me sane again. Because I couldn't remember a time I hadn't drank. So that 56 days actually was the time that made me sane because I was able to sit with, like, my emotions and understand why I was drinking so much and why I wanted to numb myself so much.

So really, the ankle it made me... Face it. Yeah, made me face it. Yeah. How close to the edge have you been in your life between sanity and insanity? Yeah. And what does you learn from that moment? I would say that closest time probably was right before my DUI,

like before I got into that accident, the car accident. because I was really also I was drinking but I was also like taking Xanax on top of the drinking. So I was really trying to be just numb. Like I was just like and that's crazy.

Like that is something you really should not be doing. And I was also trying to get skinny for videos. So like when I got my DUI, I wasn't that drunk. I was on diet pills. Which had speed in them, don't they? Yes. So it was like, I was on diet pills.

And it just was such a bad time. I was just so, it was so ridiculous. And that's why I said, like, that, the accident, that little anklet definitely helped me. Because I don't think if I had that happen, you know how it is. You know, I don't know if you believe in this, I'm sure you probably do,

but like the universe will send you little whispers. then it'll send you like a sign, then it'll send you a parade, and then finally it'll punch you in the fucking face. And if I didn't get punched in the face with that accident, I don't know how far, how much further I would have gone.

Yeah. Yeah, I feel you. I feel like the insanity, the madness, was all situations that were put on you and then they called you mad. Oh, yeah. Or you felt mad. But in reality, the madness was

the gaslighting. Oh, yeah. Like from society in general, from the music execs, the kind of writing you off. No, it makes you feel nuts. Not you. But it makes you feel like you are. 100%. And now that I'm older, I totally see it that way.

Like, even the process of writing my book made me think, like, what you just said. Once I read it back to myself, I was like, oh. This was crazy. This was crazy. This was crazy. It was crazy. Like, it was crazy. And even my co-writer is.

funny we were talking, like certain parts, she was like, girl, like, you really went through it. And I'm like, I guess I did. But you know when you're in it? You don't realize. You do not realize it. I said it to someone like a couple of years ago, I had a long load of crazy things happen. One of the other can say to me. And I said to my friend, like, I feel like I'm surrounded by craziness. And they said, that's because you are. And I feel like the idea that you can get there and come back is like affirming. Oh my God.

Like it also made me proud of myself which those, I'd never said that about myself before because you know we don't have, you just don't have time. Like you just, you're just living life, you're just doing your thing.

And while I'm like, yeah, I know who I am, I know what I've done. I feel grateful. I've always felt grateful. But I've never felt like, oh, like I'm proud of you for getting through that shit.

I'm proud of you for like, no matter how dark it got, you bet on yourself. Like, you were like, fuck that. Nah, I'm going to go left. You're trying to block my right. I'm going to go left.

Like, so yeah, it was a crazy time. I'm proud of you. Thank you, girl. Do you think alcohol added to your craziness? 100%. Did it make you behave crazy? Yeah, definitely. I think I was, I used it to completely numb and not feel anything.

Like, I just didn't want to think about anything. I didn't want to really be responsible for the feelings that I was feeling. And it just became a cycle of like, because I was drinking, then I wake up hungover. But then being hungover is the worst shit in the world. So then you drink again so you could get over the hangover. Like, it was just so bad. And it does make you, yes, it makes you crazy. It makes you crazy.

Because you wind up, it's that old cliche of like trying to do, what is it doing the same thing and looking for a different result or whatever. And that's what I was doing. Like, okay, well, if I drink today, but I won't drink as much as I did yesterday, maybe I'll feel better tomorrow. That's not how it works. So, yeah. Yeah, it's interesting that you said that the normal slash non-crazy thing to do was face the problems you were avoiding. Yeah. And how did you do that?

Did you go therapy or did you change your mindset in the industry? Yeah, I kind of, I definitely, well, I was court appointed. I had to go to AA, but the guy came to my house because it was L.A. Yeah. Because it's L.A. So I had a dude that came to my house. And then I had friends who really, to this day, are who used the word alcoholic. And then I started going to meetings with them.

And seeing stuff through their eyes definitely changed my mindset. And them talking to me definitely changed my mindset. I didn't really do talk therapy. I did other stuff. healing and because I am into all that like, um, Reiki and cranial sacral and yeah, you know, I'm into all that stuff. So I did do that kind of stuff. I just wasn't ready to talk yet still. I still wasn't ready to talk. Tell me a time you've been sad. Okay. Um, I mean, there'd be many, but I would say my biggest time for me was, um, probably trying to have my baby because we tried for a long time

to have him. And just going through, like, the process of IVF is so much. How many rounds did you do? We did four. We did four. Of egg collection? Yeah. Wow.

Yeah. Yeah. We did four. I know friends have done way more than that. And, like, it is heart-wrenching every time. But what's more sad makes me more sad is that if I had doctors who paid attention when I was younger before, because I always used to have painful. periods. And if I had a doctor who really cared before, I probably could have, things could have

been taken care of and I could have probably gotten pregnant naturally. So that makes me sad. I feel like that happens a lot in medicine to women. Like, at the moment there's this big movement about research into female cancers and female issues to do with fertility. And like, most of science has been geared towards saving men's lives. And I also feel it's quite common for a woman to know what's up with her body without a scan. And I had the same with my fertility journey, which we've spoken about before, where I just knew very quickly after a couple of months of trying that something wasn't right. And I also knew that it wasn't me and that it was be my partners.

Yeah. And everyone was like, you can't say that. You're just blame projecting. Isn't that crazy? The poor guy. But then it was like, oh, we did a scan and it was confirmed. Yeah. And I do think that's quite common of like, it goes back to what we spoke about in math.

Yeah. With this idea of like men telling us what we need and what we should do. Yeah. Yeah, I'm sad for you that happened. It's horrible. I spoke to you about it anyway. Yeah, we talked about that. And it is crazy, though, again, like you said, it is that thing of men.

being like, oh, oh, periods are supposed to be painful. And you're like, oh, well, okay. But not that pain. Not that painful. And to be honest, the first period I had after I got the fibroids out, I actually cried because it was the first time since I was 12 that I didn't have pain. And my doctor was like, because they're not supposed to be painful. Like if you have pain during your period, that means something is going on.

That means something's wrong. Might not be as, you know, extreme. Extreme. Yeah. But someone should listen to you. Like, why not listen to me? If I tell you I'm having some pain, don't tell me like, oh, then it's okay. Yeah, if you need a week off work, something's up.

Give me a week off work, yeah. Like, it's horrible. So that was, that's probably my saddest. That ultimately ended up in happiness, thankfully. But, yeah. Yeah. What do you feel like was your motivation to have children? Because it's a big question, I think, for women,

when we get, when I know I did, I got into the fertility treatment cycle of IVF after IVF. Yeah. And it became like that was my focus. At times I forgot why I really wanted children. Like, was it because society tells me that I should be a mother? Was it because of the love of your partner? Yeah. Was it because you really wanted to be a mother?

But what for you do you think it was? Yeah. I think it was... I think it was all those, to be honest. I think it was getting to the point of like, well, one, I have four stepkids. So it became one of those things where it was like, oh, wow, I love them and they're amazing. It'd be, I'd really love to have a union baby, our union baby. To join those families.

To join the families. And also to like make me feel more whole within what, because I always say it's my, the family, you know, like, and I love them and they are amazing. But I definitely wanted to have like this little part of me that was in this family. And then I kind of started being like, well, maybe it's not meant for me. And that was sad, actually, because I don't think I believed it. I think I was trying to make myself deal with it in a way. You know what I mean?

Like I was like, well, maybe it's not meant for you. Like maybe it's not, everybody's not meant to be a mom. And that actually needs me emotional thinking about that. Because I actually did start thinking that. But I know I didn't believe it. I know I didn't. You was just trying to talk to yourself like that. Trying to like help myself through that.

But then it got to the point. Then I finally was like when we really were like, okay, you know what? No. I meant to have a child. And I had to, it's, so I had had an ectopic pregnancy. years ago before I met my husband. And I never talked about it for years. Literally, only people that knew.

I was working. And at that time, back in the day, it was like, I was like 24, 23. I had a TV show. I was still doing music. And my management and agents, well, actually my agents didn't know. Only my management knew my mom and my cousin. And the dude I was having sexed with. But, and they, we,

We made a decision like, listen, we can't talk about this. It is what it is. Take two weeks off and then you got to go back to work. So I didn't talk about it for years until my book. Actually, I just put it in the book. I feel like I had to forgive myself in a way. Weirdly, even though it was like that kind of stuff happens to women all the time. But weirdly, I kind of was just like, I kind of had to talk to that baby soul in a way and be like, man, I acknowledge it.

to kind of open my womb. And I did. I did all that stuff and was just like, you know what? I deserve to be a mom. And that's when this baby came. Like, I was like, I deserve it. I should. Why not?

Yeah, that was a journey too. And your face lights up when you talk about him. So you definitely deserve to be a mom. I think that anyone who wants to be a mom deserves to be a mom. Yeah, 100%. I think that what I realized from having a baby, from IVF, which is kind of quite a cathartic thing, was that I could love any child,

even if I didn't grow that baby in my stomach. I think before I had IVF and I was really like intent on having my own baby. But growing a baby from scratch, I didn't look at a baby ever. I've never looked at either of my children and gone, I love you instantly. I felt desperately like committed to, looking after them.

But to have a baby from baby, it doesn't matter to me anymore, whether it's my genetic blood or not. Yeah. Can we go to a time where you've been bad or generally your feelings about the word bad? Okay, yes. So I, it was funny because when I spoke to your producer, Jamima, I was like, I don't have anything. I don't know what I can say for bad because I don't really use the word.

like I don't use it with my kid and then I started like thinking huh it's interesting because I just don't think it's a good word to use for kids Yeah it's interesting you say to like you don't use it but the word bad with your kid because the other day

my little three year old did something and well I'll tell you what she did so we're in like a swimming pool and she saw the emergency button and she thought it would be great to press it and the alarm went off for the whole thing and the guy in charge didn't know how to turn it off.

So it went on for ages. I love it. And she was going, is the police going to come and take me? And she was like really worried. And then I said, do you feel bad for doing it? And she said, no, I just don't like this feeling. I love it. And I was really proud of her because for a three-year-old,

I thought that was really a chance. Yeah. To be like, no, I'm not going to feel bad. But I don't. Because, and I'm proud because I'm raising girls. Yeah. And I speak to them a lot about this inbuilt guilt in females. Yeah.

That we are made to feel bad about so many things we do. And we're always trying to manage people's feelings. Or we feel bad. And we take responsibility for how everyone feels. Or we feel bad. And I was so happy that her three years old, she was able to say, no, I don't feel bad. Yeah.

I don't like the feeling. Yeah. But I'm not going to feel bad. I love that. Because I've done it. Yeah. I'm just going to say, this doesn't feel good right now. It doesn't feel good.

I love that. So I guess that's an interesting way to feel when we think about something being bad. Yeah. Like when I wrote, I've got a song called Bad Woman and says, I'm not a good girl. I'm a bad woman. Because I kind of was rejecting the idea that we are raised as women to be good. Yep. And it's just when I ask you as well about things that you're brought up with, like there

are things that I was brought up to believe were bad things that are actually helpful to me. Tons of things. Like, for example, kissing a room full of strangers as a kid, good night. I'm quite, I'm quite convinced now that that is not good. That feeds into like appeasement of male sexual desire at an older age. Oh, yeah. I told my husband that as well. Like, my son is very like, I mean, like, I guess most toddlers.

he's only two and a half. But he is very sure about the things he wants to do. There are times where I'll be like, Bubby, say hello or go give a cuddle. And he'd be like, no, I don't want to. And I'm like, okay. And I'm fine with that. And my husband, on the other hand, though, is like, it's polite.

If you do it. And I'm like, yes, it's polite maybe to say good morning, but it's not polite. He doesn't have to hug people. He doesn't have to touch people. There doesn't have to be a cuddle. It doesn't have to be a kiss on the cheek. I 100% agree with that

because yeah, we were made to do stuff like that and made to feel bad if you didn't do it. Yeah. You know, like the uncle. Like, get that creepy man out of here. Why is he here? No, I'm kidding. Yeah, but it's true.

Like, I don't want to kiss him. What about feeling bad because you didn't eat something on your plate? Yes. You didn't like. Yes. And then you get into older age and you're just eating everything. 100%. And then you've got an eating disorder because you're just like,

you know, like your relationship with foods become. Yeah. So because my name is Eve, people used to tell me all the time. Like, my grandmother is Jehovah's Witness and I would go with her to the Jehovah's Witness place. And people used to be like, why would you do that? Why would you let Adam eat the apple? Like you... For the evil of the world. I'm like, I am a child. I don't know that, man. That's how my check that was men's fault, by the way. The evil of the world. The evil of the world. And it is the truth, sorry, but it's the truth. And honestly, I start thinking about that. And again, I know I'm bringing up my book again, but I talk about this in the book

because there was just a lot of revelations that I used to actually think I was cursed because my name was Eve. Why would you name me Eve? Mom, like, it's not a good name. And as I got older, I mean, I love my name now. But when I was a kid, I really was like, it's my fault.

Maybe it is my fault. That's like a real burden. It was such a burden. And I mean, for me, even growing up religious in a way, like, even though we weren't super religious, but even just those kinds of things of like, the color red was bad at my house. We don't celebrate, we didn't celebrate Christmas or birthdays or anything. There's so much. Your parents drive us witness. My grandmother.

So my whole family lived together, like literally me, my mom, few uncles, cousin, like it was a big old family. My mom really wasn't religious. My mom had me super young, so it wasn't her thing. So I would just go with my grandmother to Jehovah's Witness. And then I was able to kind of explore, like, friends, if I wanted to go to church or whatever. But she wasn't really religious. It was something I always kind of wanted to explore. And I would say the one thing that always, that through all religions, I went to Catholic school, was sin.

And just like, you just scared all the damn time about doing anything. I'm unclear on sin as well because I was raised by an atheist, like an extreme atheist. Yeah. To the point where now when people ask me, my religious standpoint, I say, I think I'm spiritual person. Yeah. Yeah. Because it was so extreme. Like, I'd be like, when I'm little, when I was little, I'd be like, when I'm dead, I'm going to go to heaven.

And she'd be like, there's nothing. Oh, no. Jeez. You know, like, what? Right. You'd be like, give me. Dream. Yeah.

Give me something. She'd be like, I'm afraid when you die. That's it. Oh, like, yeah. That is like, yeah. Okay. Sorry, Mom. Oh, my God.

I was also one of those kids that was like the class clown. Like I did all my work, but clearly I love attention. We've discussed this. Yeah, we've discussed this. Me too. I was like gutted when we met that we weren't in the same class. In the same class? I know. We would have been in so much trouble though.

It would have been so fun, but it would have been so bad. So, yeah, I think that word got used with me a lot. So now as like an adult, I try to have to say it. I reject it. I don't say it to my kid. I don't like to say it to my kid. I try not to anyway. Like, don't be bad.

Like, it makes me actually cringe in a way when I say it. What kind of things growing up, were you told that were bad that you don't think now are actually that bad? I just thought I was funny. So I just did a lot of stuff in the class. Like, I, it was like my job. I felt like it was my job to make kids laugh in a class. And then I always got kicked out of the class. But I always did my work.

So they couldn't be that mad. I think we talked about this. They couldn't be that mad at me. I was the same. Yeah. Did really well at school, but I was the class clown. And they used to be like, we can't expel you because this is a failing school. We need your results to help us not get shut down.

Like, Steve, you need me. You need me. So just stop doing it. But you can't stop. I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop. I was like, but everything is just funny. I mean, listen, the only thing I would say that is bad that I did.

when I was a kid. I saw weed, but like, everybody smokes weed. Yeah. That's medicinal. And I was actually really good at it. So I don't know. Like, I always sold out. So I don't know. You had some good quality endos.

I don't really know how bad that. Do you quite enjoy getting into trouble now? I did. I did. Oh, I did. But that's why I did even when I was a kid. So, like, I was the kind of kid. I love attention.

So, like, I. It's the same thing. Yeah. So, like, one time, like, this, it's crazy. I was like, I always got in trouble. This one time, I kept going to school late, basically. And it was high school. And my teacher was like, if you come to school one more time late, I'm going to suspend you.

And of course, I came to school late. And they were like, we're calling your mom. And I was like, please don't call my mom. Please don't call my mom. I was like, I'm going to bring my aunt to bring me back to school. And they were like, okay, as long as you bring a family member. And I hired a crackhead in the neighborhood to come and be my aunt to bring me back to school. How much did you pay her?

It was like $10. And I got to school and the principal was like, Miss Jeffers. I know that's not your aunt. And I was like, don't you talk about my aunt because she has a problem? And it was like, he was like, you need help. And when they called my mom

and I was scared too because my mom was pregnant with my little brother at the time. So I was like, I just don't want to bother her. And she literally was just like, I can't even be mad. Like, I don't even know who you are. Like, who does this?

And she, I never, I got in trouble, but I didn't really get in trouble because my mom was just like, you need help. You need actual help. It's actually quite entrepreneurial. Thank you. I thought, this is why you're the businesswoman you are today. I said, listen, mom, I was, I didn't want to bother you. You're pregnant. You know what I mean?

Yeah, you showed empathy. I showed empathy. Thank you. I remember growing up as well, we, I used to enjoy being in trouble so much that even if I didn't do the thing, if we saw people being chased by police, we would run as well. Like, we'd be like, hey, someone's getting chased by feds. And then we'd all just start running. And the police would catch you and you'd be cracking out laughing like, who are you?

And you'd be like, I don't know, I was just running. But it was like so fun. Oh, my God. They probably used to be like, what the hell? And you'd be like, the policeman would just be like, I've got this person who's not even involved. She's not even who we're looking for. I love it. But so we're not bad.

We're not bad. And attention seeking. Yeah. Yeah. And entrepreneur. An entrepreneur. Yeah. It's fine.

We think on our feet. These are new words. Yeah. I do say, I just said bad, but yeah. Bad is not what they, I guess, taught us, tried to teach us. It was supposed to be. Like, it's not a horrible thing.

Is there a word for cheeky in the U.S.? No, it's not. But I understand what cheeky is now. having a kid. I never got it before. I never honestly got it before until having a kid. And I'm like, ooh, because it's that, it's the perfect description of being in between. Like mischievous, mischievous, I guess. Mischievous. Yeah. Yeah. I guess that's our word. It's not as cute though. Yeah. Why? You can't be like, you're still being so mischie. Like there's no, it's not as cute as cheeky. Yeah. Cute. Yeah. When I think about you and there aren't like that many people in the

world, I just think she's a badass. Yeah, I like that. I can take it in that way. So how are you a badass? Yeah. Because you don't give yourself compliments that easily. I don't. I'd like to know, like, for real.

But I will say, I feel a bit better about giving myself compliments now that I've kind of sifted through some things. I think I'm badass for literally, as my name says, being like Eve means first lady. I was the first lady in the rough raters. was the first, one of the first female emcees to kind of do a lot of different things. Being in an industry full of dudes and still be here to be able to talk to you with sanity makes me a badass. And making some of the moves that I made and pivoting in my career makes me a badass. I think a lot of people from my era, some of them have gotten stuck.

And I feel very lucky and fortunate that I haven't. Yeah, and being able to kind of get through the hard shit makes me a badass. Yeah, and being a dope emcee. Yeah. Praise you. To end on a positive. Now we've heard how badass you are. We want a double positive.

Yeah. I want to know what makes you glad. Oh, my God. I mean, definitely going back to my kid, honestly. That's it. I mean, I've had such an amazing, in my life, I mean, there's so many things. I honestly do truly feel so grateful to be where I'm from to, you know, I'm from Philly. My mom had me at 17.

Like, even I walk around the streets now and sometimes I wake up and like, damn, I live in London. I'm this girl from Philly. Like, I'm very, I'm just truly appreciative and happy about every moment because of all the shit that I went through and put myself through. And yeah, having my kid is like the best thing in the world. It makes me extremely happy and glad to be able to see what life is going to be through his eyes. Yeah, you get back to the symbol. Yeah, so nice. It's so nice.

I think a lot of, again, being in the business, I missed a lot of family. You know, you sacrifice so much stuff, friends, family, all that stuff that actually means the most. I didn't do a lot of that. And now that is the biggest thing for me. It's huge. And it's a nice thing to be able to be like, nah, I got to do this with my kid. Or no, I got to get back to my kid.

It's the best. The best alibi is well when you don't want to go out. It's the best, best, best. It's like, the child. The child. The child suffering has a fever. I know because nobody can say shit. It's great.

People are like cowpole? Oh, no, but cowpoles. Sometimes they need mommy's, they need mommy's cuddles. They do. Yeah. I'm so happy for you and you're such a legend. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

I was an admirer as a kid and I still am. Same. I am exactly the same. Yeah. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you for having me. Honestly, I want to do it with the kids' play date. Definitely.

Properly, for real, without cameras. Without cameras. Covered in food stains. Yes. Talking with our mouths open. Perfect. All of that. See you.

Thank you. I adore you. Bye. Thank you. Bye. Bye, gorgeous. Well, wasn't that great? All of the links of everything we mentioned in the show

can be found in the episode description. Oh, and while you're there, why not subscribe and follow the show too? See you all next time. Later's potatoes.