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September 02, 2005 - In the hip-hop world, it’s rare to get a woman’s perspective. It’s even more rare to
have a woman deliver a knockout of a rap album. Ebony Eyez does both on her
masterful debut album, the exceptional 7 Day Cycle.
The St. Louis rapper, who appeared in 2004 on J-Kwon’s platinum "Hood Hop" album and in
2005 on the "XXX2" soundtrack, wants her album to present a balanced look at the life of
a strong, confident modern woman. “Seven is the number of completion and we’re looking
at the typical seven days of a woman,” she explains. “It’s about the typical emotions we
go through in a 7 Day Cycle. I’m trying to represent and speak from a woman’s point of
view and let people understand everything. We’ve got songs for Friday and Saturday, when
maybe you want to go to the club. We’ve got the relationship songs where everything is
going bad for you. It’s all about the different things women go through in seven days.”
One of the best club songs of the new millennium, lead single “In Ya Face” features a
thumping, infectious beat courtesy of The TrackBoyz, who produced J-Kwon’s hits “Tipsy”
and “Hood Hop.” Ebony Eyez got the concept for monster club song after being
propositioned by one too many overeager men.
Ebony Eyez again takes an assertive approach on “Lame Ass,” another future club smash,
and on “Act Like A Bitch,” a defense of her self-assertiveness. “I like to be in control
of things,” she explains. “I don’t like lame dudes coming up with no personality and no
persona about himself trying to holler. So I have to tell those types of dudes to move
with their lame ass. I like a strong, confident man, someone that’s sure about himself.
If you’re not sure about yourself, you can’t really go nowhere in life. You’re going
always be a follower, not a leader.”
So it should come as no surprise that Ebony Eyez takes the lead and dismisses a no-good
boyfriend on “Take Me Back.” Ebony Eyez explains the reasons for her dissolution of the
relationship through the smooth song, which was inspired by her real-life experiences.
“I’ve been in a few bad relationships with a few brothers that should have done things a
certain way and didn’t,” she says. “Now they want to call me and ask them to take me
back. No, it’s not happening and I’m going to tell you why I’m not going take you back.
I’m going to start from the beginning and on the last verse, I’m speaking to the women
and giving them instructions on how they should do it.”
Elsewhere, Ebony Eyez details a loving relationship on the smooth “Hot Chick” and hits
her creative apex on “Dear Father,” an impassioned, guitar-driven song she wrote as if
she were talking to God. On the emotional song, she frankly discusses the failing health
of family members, her financial struggles and her relationship problems. “It’s a real
look at how my life is at the moment,” she says. “A lot of people think everything
changes overnight once you get a record deal. I’m trying to let it be known that it’s
not the case. It means that you’ve got to work harder when it happens. I’m still dealing
with the same problems, driving the same car, living in the same place right now. I was
up late one night and started feeling the urge to write. I had the track already and I
felt like I needed to write a letter to God right now.”
With so many different sounds and musical feels on 7 Day Cycle, it is no wonder that
Ebony Eyez often vibes off the beat before she starts writing her lyrics. “I like to
listen to the beat and let it talk to me,” she says. “It gives me the instructions of
what to do with the song a lot of times. I make sure that I flow for a minute, but I
always kind of go somewhere else for a few bars to make sure that I keep people’s
attention. I like to give people that like to really hear lyrics something and then
people who don’t really pay attention to lyrics sometimes.”
"7 Day Cycle" will drop on October 4 via Capitol Records. |
