Eve: Eve-Olution

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * * )

The third and best-yet album by the forthright hip-hop diva shows she's more strongly focused on the big pop crossover than she managed last time round with the Gwen Stefani head-to-head hit Let Me Blow Your Mind.

Generously, that track is also reprised down the back of this. Up front, there's another odd-buddy duet with Alicia Keys on the harpsichord-decorated Gangsta Lovin' which, despite the title, doesn't make Keys sound any tougher but sure makes Eve sound like she's inching closer to Destiny's Child territory. So too does Irresistible Chick, a taut electrofunk track heavily sampling an old Prince number to neat effect. While there's some standard hip-hop with the standard guest spots — the most notable being Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg on Hey Y'all — the strength of this one comes from Eve's own melodic hooks and lyrical uppercuts. Especially on tracks like Party in the Rain and Satisfaction, or the stylistic shifts she manages with the reggae-fired Neckbones or the blues-groove behind the contemplative Ryde Away.

Hip-hop pop with punch.

Label: Interscope