Eve is undoubtedly one of the greatest female rappers of all time. The Ruff Ryders rapper proved to stand out at a time where many men questioned the female artist’s talents. Due to this, Eve tried to reach out to many female rappers to create a bond for women, but came to the realization that the bond was essentially non-existent.

“Before I’d met anybody, I always thought of [female rappers in the industry] as this sisterhood,” Eve said. “I thought we were all gonna be friends. It was not like that. I’d see [Lil] Kim and say hi, and she’d be like: ‘Get the f*** away from me.’ Not verbally – you could just tell what she was thinking. But I was in a bubble and it never felt like a competition. I loved Missy [Elliott] and Kim but I never wanted to be them.”

Considering many record labels were looking to market women in hip hop as sex symbols, she felt grateful for Ruff Ryders. The group allowed her to be herself and not sell sex, which was the norm at the time.

“There definitely weren’t a lot of females out there, and the labels were basically trying to make you get naked,” she told The Guardian. She said they told her, “We like who you are, we’re not going to try and change you.’”

Earlier this month, Eve released a new single from the project titled “Reload” featuring dancehall artist Konshens.

Listen below: