Eve and Vevo have released a new Footnotes episode dedicated to “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” the Grammy-winning 2001 collaboration with Gwen Stefani that remains one of the most iconic records either artist has ever made. The episode features exclusive commentary from both women on the recording process, the collaboration, the music video, and the song’s lasting place in hip-hop and pop history.
Eve is candid about what the record meant to her at the time. “The record is meant to be fun and cocky and celebratory,” she says. “I was in the music business and here to stay.” The session came together at Interscope through Dr. Dre, with Scott Storch adding keys that locked the track into place. Dre’s insistence shaped the final result directly. “You’re not leaving the studio until this song is done,” he told her. “I hated him that day, but I’m so happy he made me stay.”
The Gwen Stefani collaboration was not a given. Eve was actively advised against it. “I got told that that was never going to work, that people would be like, ‘Why are these two chicks together?'” She pushed back on instinct, trusting that the chemistry would translate. It did. Stefani echoes the feeling: “We appreciated each other’s worlds and coming together, we knew we were going to create something new and have this fresh energy.”
The music video brought its own mythology. Jadakiss and Styles P, fellow Ruff Ryders, make cameos at the bar. Dr. Dre appears at the end bailing both women out of jail. The video won the 2001 MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video. The following year, the song won the Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, the first time that category had ever been awarded.
Eve’s instincts were right on every count. The Footnotes episode is a sharp, generous look back at a record that still sounds as confident and alive as the day it was made.