Songfacts®:

• This is a duet between Eve and No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani, who had been blowing minds since the group's breakthrough album, Tragic Kingdom, in 1995. She was getting her solo career going at this time; the previous year she appeared with Moby on the hit "South Side."
  
  Stefani's label boss at Interscope Records, Jimmy Iovine, put her together with producer Dr. Dre to work on "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" with Eve, whose 1999 debut album went to #1 in America. The song was released as the second single from Eve's second album, Scorpion, following "Who's That Girl?."
  
  Stefani released another album with No Doubt, Rock Steady, later in 2001; she didn't issue her first solo album, Love.Angel.Music.Baby, until 2004, but when she did it was a huge hit.
• The beat-driven track was written by four producers - Dr. Dre (credited as Andre Young), Stevie J, Scott Storch and Mike Elizondo - with Eve handling lyrics. Dr. Dre produced the song, which was an interesting pairing considering his history with Eve. He had originally signed Eve to his Aftermath label, then dropped her after eight months, with the lady rapper releasing her #1 charting debut album, Let There Be Eve... Ruff Ryders' First Lady, on the Ruff Ryders label. While recording this song, Dre and Eve constantly argued in the studio but still managed to produce a hit.
  
  "It's one song that I wrote fully. I write my own stuff, but usually I get lazy after I write verses," Eve told Glamour. "I don't want to write the chords, and Dre was like, 'You're not leaving the studio until this song is done.' I hated him that day, but I'm so happy he made me stay."
• After this successful collaboration, Eve returned the favor by appearing on the Gwen Stefani song "Rich Girl" from her Love Angel Music Baby album.
• "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" won the 2001 MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video. Moby's "South Side," which also features Gwen Stefani, won the award for Best Male Video.
• Collaborations between rappers and singers were huge in 2001, a sign that hip-hop was fully embedded in pop music. The following year, a new category was introduced at the Grammy Awards: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The first winner was "Let Me Blow Ya Mind."
  
  These were the first Grammy wins for both Eve and Stefani; the next year Gwen got another when No Doubt won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Hey Baby."
• Phillip Atwell directed the video, which shows Stefani and Eve going to jail after crashing a high-society soiree. At the end, Dr. Dre shows up with a bag of cash to bail them out.
• The song plays on Friends when Monica does a very unsexy striptease for Chandler in the 2001 episode "The One With The Stripper." It's also featured on the show's 2005 soundtrack, Friends: The Ultimate Soundtrack.
• This was used in the 2001 film Scary Movie 2.
• Eve performed the song on Saturday Night Live on April 14, 2001.
• When Eve recorded "Let Me Blow Ya Mind," it was a message that she had made it and was here to stay. Speaking during an episode of Vevo Footnotes, she said the track was meant to feel "fun and cocky and celebratory," a message that she was firmly established in the music industry and not planning to go anywhere.
• Eve had always been a fan of No Doubt and had a gut feeling that she and Stefani would vibe on the track. Certain industry types thought otherwise. "I got told that was never going to work," Eve said. "That people would be like, 'Why are these two chicks together?'"
  
  Eve held her ground. "We appreciated each other's worlds and coming together, we knew we were going to create something new and have this fresh energy."