Gangsta Lovin'
by Eve (featuring Alicia Keys)

Album: Eve-Olution (2002)
Charted: 6 2
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Eve set herself apart from the fleet of female rappers in the gangsta subgenre by lacing her lyrics and look with a feminine touch. A the "first lady" of the Ruff Ryders label, she held court as the only woman on the roster, striking a balance of toughness and class.

    In this song, she's after that gangsta love, putting the moves on a guy who's in her sights. It's a role reversal of a common lyrical theme in hip-hop and R&B.
  • Alicia Keys is the featured vocalist on this song and appears in the video. The part where she sings, "I just want to rock you" is sampled from a 1981 Yarbrough & Peoples song called "Don't Stop The Music."
  • "Gangsta Lovin'" was the first single from Eve's third album, Eve-Olution. Around this time, she was breaking into movies, with a small role in the film XXX and a bigger role in Barbershop, where she plays the only female barber - a role she felt suited for because she was the only woman on the Ruff Ryders label.
  • Irv Gotti, who also did "Can I Get A..." for Jay-Z and "What's My Name" for DMX, produced this track along with Ja Rule producer Channel 7.
  • The video was done by Director X, a Hype Williams disciple whose clients include Nelly, Rihanna, and Kanye West. The clip plays out the story in the song, with Eve going after a guy at a party and landing him.

Comments: 5

  • Anonymous from CaliWho is the interest of Eve in the music video?
  • Hotelmotel from Hoppingbetweensidesofbc, BcGood.... Good people on this page of songfacts.com.... Good to see these ones aren't bashing rap... Way to go!
  • Jimoh from The Bronx Ny, NyAt the beginning of the video for this song, they show some girls taking food at a buffet. Their T-shirts show in turn "Eve", "Alicia Keys" "in" and "Gangsta Lovin'". For some reason, the video as shown on MTV fuzzes out the T-shirts.
  • Ashley from Chester, Vacool song.
  • Bee from Johhanesburg, South Africayo this is one great song! i cant stop listening to it.
see more comments

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