Eve

After parting ways with longtime label Interscope Records and locking in a new deal, Eve is finally ready to make her long-awaited return to music.

The rap diva has been in the lab working on her fourth studio album Lip Lock. Originally scheduled for release this year, the project will now arrive next spring through EMI Music.

“I’ve been saying the album was coming and it was, but I left Interscope and now I’m on EMI, so the album is definitely coming at the top of the year,” she told Ms. Drama TV at last week’s Hennessy Artistry Series finale. “It’s called Lip Lock and it’ll be out at the top of the year in March. I don’t have a date yet.”

Among her collaborators on the follow-up to 2002’s Eve-Olution are Salaam Remi, Akon, Swizz Beatz, MSTRKRFT, and fellow Philly natives Chiddy Bang.

Fans can also expect a reunion with members of her Ruff Ryders family. “You don’t get out of Ruff Ryders,” she joked. “Obviously that’s my fam and I haven’t wrapped up the album yet so you’ll hear some stuff.”