Grammy-nominated artist Rapsody has been sharing bits and pieces of her forthcoming album Eve for some time now. The North Carolina emcee's anticipated project will hit the streets this Friday and she's described it as a record that will be focused on uplifting and empowering women. "It’s my ode to the women in my life who have made me who I am, but at the same time I realize it’s bigger than me,” she told Essence. “It’s more about the village of black women. I feel like we all have similar experiences and similar stories and very similar inspirations."
You won't find Rapsody wearing next to nothing while dropping it low or shaking it fast on social media or in her music videos—a move that critics have stated has limited her marketability. However, The Roc Nation artist's talents speak volumes, and in a recent interview with HHDX, she said she embraces that being sexy comes in many forms. When speaking about her Eve track "AALIYAH," the rapper talked about the late singer's "tomboy femininity" and what that means to her as a woman in a male-dominated industry.
"For me, especially in a time when we see music before we hear it, a lot of people judge us on our image and our appearance," Rapsody said. "[I want] to redefine what sexy is. People think because I’m a tomboy and I’m fully clothed, that that’s not sexy. But there’s a tomboy sexiness in that. I grew up in a time where Aaliyah was the biggest thing out and one of the sexiest things out. She wore baggy jeans. She wore big, oversized jackets. She was that tomboy femininity. So, I wanted to just talk about, you know, ‘Don’t forget this image that you see, don’t think that’s the only image.’"
She added, "Being a woman and what’s sexy comes in all different forms, and it looks different in many different ways. There’s nothing wrong with showing your body, but there’s nothing wrong with being a tomboy either. There’s sexiness in that, too. To me, the best and most creative way that I could do it was to do it through Aaliyah. So, that’s why I chose her. She was one of my inspirations."
