‘Philly started it’: Eve finally gets her Grammy, 27 years after her verse on The Roots’ ‘You Got Me’
Nearly three decades after her contribution to "You Got Me," by The Roots, Philly rapper Eve received a Grammy.
Rapper and actor Eve finally got recognition for her contribution to a Grammy Award-winning song by The Roots, and she had kind words for her hometown.
“I will say Philly started it,” Eve told a reporter at the Recording Academy Honors, presented by the Black Music Collective. “I came from Philadelphia. I think we’re used to being the underdogs in that city. And we also like to prove to you that you can underestimate me, but I’m going to show you.”
Eve grew up in West Philly and Germantown. In 1999, when she was a 19-year-old rapper going by “Eve of Destruction,” she laid down the essential second verse for The Roots’ “You Got Me.”
A year later, the song earned the Philly hip-hop group a Grammy for Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group. Erykah Badu, who sang the hook, also won the award.
» READ MORE: In her new memoir, rapper Eve says she’s driven by ‘the Philly in me’
But Eve, who was not signed with a recording label, was not listed as a contributing artist on the song’s 1999 release and was overlooked by the awards committee.
That didn’t stop her from launching a successful solo career and winning a Grammy in 2002 for “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” a Gwen Stefani collaboration that drips with early aughts vibes.
At the ceremony Thursday in Los Angeles, Eve told the crowd that “this is actually for little Eve from Philly” on stage.
“What is yours never can miss you,” she said.
Addressing the crowd, Eve gave a shout-out to broadcaster Ebro Darden, who discussed the song at length on his podcast, The Message. She credited him for keeping people interested in seeing her receive a Grammy for the song.
Eve said she found success through being determined and understanding what kind of life she wanted to live. She encouraged other Black women to be there for themselves and fight for their dreams.
“I think, you know, we owe it to ourselves to show up for ourselves, to fight for ourselves, to be our own champion,” she said. “We deserve it. We are always the strongest for everyone else. We need to be the strongest for ourselves.”