Eve

Every MC needs self-confidence. Some rappers do just fine with that alone. Unfortunately, Eve (a decade removed from her glory days as Ruff Ryders' first lady) doesn't possess as much as she once did on fourth album Lip Lock. While she's been able to sustain a healthy and seemingly happy lifestyle in the 11 years between this and her last album, both Interscope and EMI decided repeatedly she couldn't make a record worth releasing. That had to hurt. Now, she's gone the independent route and funded this comeback on her own dime. Sadly, instead of delivering a project that gives some insight into her hiatus or tells some of the stories of her adventures while rap was on the backburner, she plunks down this set of paltry blandness. Immature lines like, "Whatchu gon' do to gimme thrills?/To get with E-V-E, you gotta have skills" ("All Night") show the decline in Eve's songwriting ability, as she clumsily reaches for the sexy card repeatedly, almost as if she needs to convince herself. Meanwhile, pseudo-catchy tracks like the Salaam Remi-produced "Forgive Me" would have hit harder a few years ago. Eve's false sense of badassery prevented her from adding any personality or sincerity to Lip Lock, which is a shame because she's shown that she can do both on previous efforts. Hopefully, now that she's finally released something after her hiatus, she might be able to get back on track and write some real music.