Ruff Ryders' First Lady

Back in the late '90s, the Ruff Ryders crew was on the verge of blowing up. DMX put them on the map with his chart-topping multiplatinum debut, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, which dominated the airwaves and introduced the world to their signature synth-driven gangsta party beats (from Dame Grease and Swizz Beatz). Then came Ryde or Die Vol. 1, a hugely popular compilation that showcased their in-house femme fatale Eve and featured her breakout hit "What Ya Want." A few months later, she dropped this album, and the rest is history. While hip-hop's reigning female superstars (Foxy and Kim) were seeing their careers start to decline, Eve took the top spot and ran with it, debuting at No. 1, selling millions of records, and racking up huge singles like "Gotta Man" and "Love Is Blind." More impressively, she wrote all of her own rhymes and shied away from the standard templates of nymphomaniac/compulsive-shopper lyricism. She'd eventually release two more albums before focusing on a burgeoning acting career, but this is the classic that started it all.