Eve Shakes Up ESSENCE Festival

Eve strutted back to the stage during the ESSENCE Music Festival at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday. The Philly MC had the crowd dancing along as she performed her hits including “Love Is Blind,” “Who’s That Girl?,” and “Tambourine,” for which she was joined by Ms. Rose the “Tambourine Lady.”

The 33-year-old rapper is eyeing a fall release for her oft-delayed album Lip Lock. “I wanted to really take what people loved of me and fell in love with in the beginning, with the Ruff Ryders and all of them, and combine it with where I am now,” she told TIME of her first album since 2002’s Eve-Olution.

When it comes to her favorite new female rappers, Azealia Banks tops her list. “I like her style, I think she’s really cute, I think lyrically she’s really good and she’s really different,” said Eve. “She’s probably at the top of my list. But then there’s a girl named Diamond who is from Atlanta who I really like, just as a person and an artist, I think she’s really cool.”