Rapsody - Eve

The Guardian 80

(Roc Nation)
With every track named for a black woman, Nina, Aaliyah and Oprah among them, Rapsody’s playful flow is balanced by her dry wit

Following her searingly autobiographical 2017 album Laila’s Wisdom, North Carolina rapper Rapsody turns her gaze outward on her new LP, Eve. As well as an album title that refers to the Bible’s first woman, each track is named for a different inspirational black woman – Oprah, Aaliyah, and Michelle Obama among them. Rapsody uses these women’s legacies as springboards to explore wider themes of struggle, self-belief, and success, displaying the same deft lyricism that made Kendrick Lamar one of her fans back before she guested on his 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly.

Densely referential and carefully wrought, Rapsody’s lyrics contain many more head-nods to successful black women than are in the track titles (she mentions ballerina Misty Copeland on Tyra, and Angela Bassett on Whoopi Goldberg).

Pitchfork 80

Rapsody’s third record is a triumph. The North Carolina MC unlocks her full skillset and brings her creativity and ingenuity to the fore.