Eve Returns With First Album In 11 Years

Rapper Eve hasn't released a new album since 2002's Eve-Olution. After being pushed back several times Lip Lock has finally surfaced. The album blows both male and female rappers out of the water. Eve has brought in the big guns in terms of collaborators on this album. Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship, Missy Elliott, Dawn Richard of Danity Kane fame, Snoop Dogg, Chrisette Michele and Pusha T all feature on the album as well as new or unknown artists such as Propain, Nacho, Miss Kitty and Juicy J get their moment to shine.
There are no bad songs from the uplifting first single "Make it Out this Town" which features Gabe Saporta to the future club anthem "All Night" which features Claude Kelly and Propain. Eve also shines on her solo songs where she can really brag. Promotional single "She Bad Bad," "Grind or Die" and "Forgive Me" are straight up bragging tracks. Eve gets clever with her raps. "My buzz stay strong/ Your buzz never started/ My albums are the shit/ Your career never farted," Eve raps on "Grind or Die." On the Missy Elliott and Nacho assisted track "Wanna Be" the three show haters who's boss. It's good to hear Elliott back on tracks, hopefully this means her album is going to be released soon. Newcomer Nacho holds her own next to two of raps best females.
The album's best two songs are the second single "Eve" which features Miss Kitty. The song is a dubstep-filled hip hop reggae song with just hints of Middle Eastern influences. The song is a reminder of the greatness that Eve is. The other highlight is "Keep Me From You" which features Dawn Richard. The hip-house track is a love song that could easily be on pop radio.
While the album closes with "Never Gone" which despite a great appearance from Chrisette Michele, seems out of place on the album. And the remix of "She Bad Bad" which features Pusha T and Juicy J just seems redundant and could have been another new song.
Despite these few flaws, Lip Lock is a great album and was definitely worth the 11 year wait. After hearing this album people will be saying "Nicki Minaj who?"