Rapper/actress Eve is aiming to release her new album this autumn (12) after years of creative and legal wrangling with record label executives.
The Rich Girl hitmaker began working on the follow-up to 2002's Eve-Olution in 2007, with the hope of dropping Here I Am later that year (07).
The project was delayed numerous times but it never materialised, and Eve was left to fight with her Interscope Records bosses to establish a new release schedule.
The disc has since been completely reworked and renamed Lip Lock, and the hip-hop star admits she has been left "beyond" frustrated with the lengthy and problematic process.
She tells Time.com, "I need another word for frustration. I've completely gone past frustration 100 times. It's like with anything that you create - you just want to put out. Because it's been so long for me, music has changed so much. It's beyond frustration. I just really can't wait till this record is out."
Eve blames the delay on a string of bureaucratic issues: "It was delays on the label side - I've switched management, I've switched labels, I've switched lawyers. And this was over years. And now I feel like the dust has finally settled and the team that I have now is the right team. Sometimes that's all it takes, for the stars to be aligned and the dust to settle. And I think we're there now."
She's hoping to deliver her latest work to fans in the upcoming months, although she's yet to lock down an exact date, adding, "We're wanting it to come out in the fall."