First, she gave New York's aggro Ruff Ryders clique — led by irrepressible top dog DMX — a touch of estrogen on their debut compilation, 1999's Ryde or Die. Six months later, the artist formerly known as Eve Jihan Jeffers dropped her first solo album, the chart-topping Eve — Ruff Ryders' First Lady, and grabbed the spotlight with the sing-songy hit "Gotta Man."

But for Ruff Ryders den mother Eve, 22, one of the real high points of the past year was recording tracks with rap's red-hot überproducer Dr. Dre. She hooked up with Dre to record a pair of tracks for her second solo album, Scorpion (due out March 6), three years after the gangsta rap star gave Eve her first break on the "Bulworth" soundtrack.

Now the Philadelphia native is prepping an album she says she labored over much more than her hard-hitting debut. She's also joined by several members of the Marley reggae dynasty on Scorpion, as well as DMX, fellow Ruff Ryders the LOX and her boyfriend, R&B singer Stevie J.

Curtis Waller of the MTV Radio Network caught up with Eve as she was putting the finishing touches on the LP and found out why a head-clearing trip to Jamaica helped inspire some of the new songs and add more of a reggae feel to her rhymes.