Musiq Soulchild Speaks On His Upcoming Album!

Music Biz:
Eve Shares Her Thoughts On Nicki Minaj!

“I am a fan of the fact that she’s a female MC in the game. I gotta be honest, I don’t really know many of her records. I’ve seen a few things, honestly I don’t [remember them] and I’m being really real. I don’t really know her that well,” she tells VIBE. “When she was on [the “My Chick Bad” music video] set, she was nice as shit. To me, if her music was dope and she would’ve been an asshole than I wouldn’t have been a fan. I’m more a fan of hers as a person.”

Though Eve—who met Minaj for the first time in late March and heard the final versions of Ludacris' “My Chick Bad” a week before the Miami shoot—wasn’t too familiar with the Young Money front-woman’s catalogue, she did think her verse was one-of-a-kind. “I mean, I think it’s unique to who she is. It is what it is. You know what I mean? I thought it was dope,” she says.

“She definitely is a quirky chick. That’s a good word for her. When she had the Freddy Krueger gloves I was like ‘Wow.’ But at the same time, whatever you decide to do, especially in music, you gotta go hard and own it. You can’t be timid wearing Freddy Krueger gloves in a video. If you look insecure, people are going to be like ‘Why are you doing that?’ You gotta fucking own it and she did. I think that’s dope.“

But with Minaj's growing omnipresence, does Eve feel threatened or propelled?

"Trust me, no one’s competition for me and that sounds cocky but I seriously live in such an Eve world. And not in a crazy-everything-is-me-bubble, it’s just that I'm bulding an empire," the 31-year-old says. "I go on Twitter and people say 'Yo, knock Nicki Minaj out of the box, but ultimately we’re all helping each other and I'm happy seeing these chicks in the game. It’s too much testosterone. When I see another female, my immediate reaction is not 'Oh I gotta go and get my shit right.' I got 900 other things going on. I can't keep worrying about what’s coming up behind me."

Eve is currently working on her fourth album, Lip Lock, set to be released later this year.

Alicia Keys Plans New Single With Drake!

Those waiting to see Alicia Keys’ colorful collaboration with Beyoncé will have to wait a little longer. The R&B songbird has put the eagerly-awaited video on the back burner while she readies a new single and video.

The Melina-directed visuals for “Put It in a Love Song,” filmed in Brazil in early February, have been delayed while Keys preps a video for “Un-thinkable (I’m Ready),” the new single from her Element of Freedom album, featuring vocals from co-writer Drake.

When asked when the Beyoncé-assisted video would debut, the Grammy winner exclusively told Rap-Up.com: “Expect it right after my ‘Un-thinkable’ video. It’s kind of nice that I have such a great video and such a great artist in the can,” she said. “They’re going to be able to see the ‘Un-thinkable’ video first and then see ‘Put It in a Love Song,’ but it probably won’t come until closer to this summer.”

The “Un-thinkable” clip will be shot in Los Angeles in mid-April with director Jake Nava (Beyoncé, Britney Spears), but don’t count on an appearance from Drake. “No, he won’t be in the video,” she added. “That’s too obvious.”

Keys couldn’t be happier for Drizzy’s success and revealed plans for more collaborations with the Young Money rapper. “He’s a great guy. I’m really happy for him,” she shared. “I’m really proud of all the things he’s been able to achieve, and we’re most likely going to do some kind of remix for the song that’ll be really good. There’ll be more of me and Drake."