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Eve never backs down from a challenge. Her fearlessness became evident during a recent interview and photo shoot in downtown Los Angeles. Presented with the task of holding a boa constrictor, Eve lifted the 8-foot-long, 60 pound reptile and placed it around her neck without hesitation.

For nearly an hour, she posed confidently with the snake in her grasp, never showing a hint of squeamishness.

A Philadelphia native with 13 years of experience in music, there aren’t many things on this planet that can deter Eve once her mind is made up.

The boa constrictor was emblematic of Eve’s strength, power and rebirth. The serpent is often associated with renewel in life because it sheds its skins periodiclly. But it also represented her willingness to confront an industry full of slimy and conniving characters.

Eve experienced early success as one of the top rappers from the Ruff Ryders/Interscope camp. She sold nearly four million albums with her first three releases (Let There Be Eve; Scorpion; Eve-Olution), and embarked on a respectable acting career.

But by the time Eve was preparing for her highly anticipated fourth album, she experienced push back from her label. Although she released the major club hit ”Tambourine” in 2007, her label shelved two of her finished projects. Eve eventually decided to leave Interscope.

“I left Interscope because they were not being supportive of me as an artist anymore,” Eve says. “They were disrespectful to my management, my music, and myself. Interscope went through a change from just hip-hop to dance music. If artists weren’t in that world, the label did not know what to do with them.”

Without her label to back her, Eve decided to delve into ownership and created the label From The Rib, which is distributed by RED.

Her latest challenge will be to reconnect with her fan base and seek new fans after an 11-year hiatus. As her own boss, she believes that she’s more than ready to make a comeback with her latest album, Lip Lock.

“I’m my own boss now,” Eve says. “It’s been a growing and learning process for me. I have to learn how to trust my own judgment and I have to learn to be OK with all the decisions that I make. Because I am the person who signs off on everything. My number one goal is to have fun making music again. With this record, I was so excited to get back in the field and write. The music might be different, but I’m more mature.”

With maturity, Eve has embraced the concept of falling in love again. After her tumultuous relationship with reality TV star Stevie J during her early 20s, Eve stopped dating to focus more on her career. But after meeting U.K. racer and entrepreneur Max Cooper, she eventually fell in love.

“My perspective on men has definitely changed,” she admits. “I’ve dated some ridiculous dudes. For women, if you are frustrated and keep attracting the same type of dude over and over again, it is not the dude, it is you. That is something I had to learn. I needed to figure out who I was and what I wanted before I attracted the guy I needed to be with.”

Eve has faced some backlash for dating Cooper, who is white. It was never in her plans to date outside of her race, but she could not ignore the strong attraction that existed between them.

“I never thought I would date outside of my race,” Eve admits. “I never thought it would seriously be something that I considered because of where we come from. Interracial dating is still not as prevalent in our community. But when I met him, it was something that was so familiar. We recognize each other in a deeper way. If somebody is treating me the way I’m supposed to be treated, who cares what race he happens to be? It took a while for us to get comfortable, but when things got serious, we went for it. When we first started having pictures taken of us, I got so many negative tweets. It shocked me. I wondered where all of that hatred was coming from. It annoys me because America is a great country. But there are a lot of hypocrites. Would you rather me date someone, like my ex [Stevie J], just because he’s black? Or would you rather me be happy?

Eve has found happiness in her personal life, but her comeback hasn’t been without controversy. When asked about the current crop of female rappers during a radio interview, Eve revealed that Nicki Minaj was not ”her cup of tea.” Some cheered her sentiments while Minaj’s loyal ”Barbz” fan base lost their sanity on Twitter. Eve decided to clarify her statement.

“I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and Nicki’s not everyone’s cup of tea,” she says. ”That’s life. You’re not going to listen to every single artist that comes out. But obviously, Nicki has a huge fan base and she’s doing her thing. So what does one person’s opinion mean? I think people just take stuff too far. Some of the new girls that are coming up are dope. Azealia Banks has a lot of cute wordplay. It’s a new generation and it’s cool with me.”

There was a time when Eve stood out as the only female rapper in the all-male Ruff Ryders crew. Although they’re not featured on her latest album, she still considers them family. The de facto leader of the crew, DMX, has dealt with his own demons since they were at their height in music during the mid-2000s.

Eve has witnessed his struggles and continues to be there for him when needed.

”DMX is my dog,” She says. “He’s the most special person I’ve ever met, honestly. It’s unfortunate that he’s going through those things. The last time I saw him was when we did the BET Hip-Hop Awards cypher. Anytime that I spend with him and get to talk with him is the best. But X is X. If you know him, you can’t tell him anything and you can’t suggest anything, X is going to do whatever he wants to do. But I’m sure he’ll get better. That’s just his process.”

Eve’s process and growth have occurred before our eyes. She beat the odds by making it out of Philly, becoming a platinum-selling female rapper, and starring in movies and her own TV show. At 34, there’s no doubt that she’s more than prepared to beat the odds again by making a comeback. This time, she’s doing it on her own terms.

“Yes, there were hard times and bad times, but it’s a learning thing. You ask for protection, you keep the people out of your camp who aren’t supposed to be there, and, if you are lucky, you figure it out. I think most people do. I think people hide within the industry. People can hide behind whatever their title is to make certain things happen that probably shouldn’t. But what I want is for my legacy to be bigger than music. I want to help people. I want to make a change in people’s lives. I’m not done yet,” Eve affirms.ants to do. But I’m sure he’ll get better. That’s just his process.”

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