The Rundown: Eve, Lip Lock

A track-by-track look at the femcee's long-awaited new LP.

"Zero Below" - "My heart beats zero below," the hook drones here, yet another spastic, synth-heavy dance-floor song. Unfortunately, the lyrics mainly serve to remind one of the album's biggest failures: Nowhere does Eve address her 11-year absence from the game. Why did she take such a long break? What made her launch a comeback now? Surely she's gained some new insights in her hiatus. Instead, Eve spits the expected rap boasts and toasts to the good life.  (Photo: Rachel Murray/Getty Images for NYLON)
"Forgive Me" - Eve effectively resurrects her sly, early 2000s sexiness here, the most romantic song on the album, aided by a dancehall-inflected beat and one of the record's best hooks. Hopefully she hits this errogenous zone more on her next album.   (Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
"Never Gone" feat. Chrisette Michele - "Never Gone" touches on Eve's absence from rap in only the most distant way possible, mainly stringing together platitudes about not giving up, believing in yourself, etc. The rhymes could be from Eve's last album — or anyone's album, really. It's a missed opportunity. What could've been a moment of honest confession and raw emotion (aided by a dope performance from Chrisette Michele) instead comes off as another cheesy cliché.  (Photos from Left to Right: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for IMG, Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
"She Bad Bad (Remix)," feat. Pusha T and Juicy J - Eve smartly reups the album's best moment here, recruiting a head-scratching combination of guest rappers. Juicy J is more agile than usual, riding the kinetic beat surprisingly well, but Pusha can simply do no wrong right now. The pair help Eve overcome her long hiatus, the loss of both her Ruff Ryder and Aftermath affiliations and her album's lack of major-label backing. If indeed "She Bad Bad" still, this would be the best song to prove it.(Photos from Left to Right: Taylor Hill/Getty Images, Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)

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"Forgive Me" - Eve effectively resurrects her sly, early 2000s sexiness here, the most romantic song on the album, aided by a dancehall-inflected beat and one of the record's best hooks. Hopefully she hits this errogenous zone more on her next album. (Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

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