When Eve Jihan Jeffers was a fledgling mc at her Philadelphia high school, she would battle other rappers in the lunchroom. One guy would be a human beatbox, a crowd would form -- and Eve was in her element. "It was always against guys," she says, "so I was representing for every girl in the high school." Her quest for respect has continued, from her days as the first lady of DMX's Ruff Ryders crew ("It was like boot camp") to her present gig as an actress and clothing mogul. Lord knows she doesn't have to prove herself anymore, but Eve can't help it -- she's still in hyperdrive. This summer, she went from wrapping Barbershop 2 to the set of her new sitcom, Eve, and on to the launch of her clothing line, Fetish. By the time you read this, she'll be in the studio with Dr. Dre to start work on her fourth album. "Everything happened at once," the twenty-four-year-old says with a sigh, as she wearily plops herself down in a chair in the restaurant of her New York hotel. "But I'm having the best time." Eve wears a Pucci head scarf and a cute little denim jacket and miniskirt. "You like it?" she says, leaping out of her chair to show off her outfit. "I'm wearing me!"

Growing up, you knew a fair amount of girls who were dependent on men for everything. How did that shape you?

I've had girlfriends who can't do anything if their man doesn't give them the money. They can't pay the light bill, they can't go food shopping, get stuff for their children. And that's not the way to live. My mother had me when she was seventeen, and she went to school, she went to work, she made sure I was a happy child. She did it on her own. My mother said, "Always have your own bank account, even when you get married." Self-preservation is the first rule.

As your career has unfolded, when have you been the happiest -- and the most unhappy?

The most unhappy I've ever been was when my first album came out and I went on my first tour. I had some "friends" with me -- some friends who just really couldn't handle what was going on. It was happening so fast, and they started catching attitudes, and I started being depressed because they were mad at me -- about what, I don't know. I was in a relationship at the time that just wasn't good, too, and I had a nervous breakdown.

What exactly happened when you were having a nervous breakdown?