Eve Spills on Collaborating with JO1 on KPOPPED -- and Why She Was 'Stressed' (Exclusive)

As shown in Episode 4 of the Apple TV+ series, which dropped in full on Friday, the hip hop icon has her hit "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" remixed with a K-pop -- or technically J-pop -- spin, as she teamed up with JO1. In the show, the boy band split in two, with Takumi (vocalist/rapper), Sho (vocalist), Sky (vocalist), Keigo (vocalist), Shion (rapper), and Ruki (rapper) joining Eve, and Junki (vocalist), Ren (vocalist), Mame (rapper), Shosei (rapper), and Syoya (rapper) collaborating with pop star Kesha. The two teams then faced off in an epic battle.

During an interview with TooFab, Eve got candid about her experience working with JO1 in Seoul, sharing that she felt "very honored" to see her song performed live in a new way.

"It was pretty crazy," Eve recalled of her JO1 collab. "Before I flew to Seoul, they sent me over a few takes that they have done. They sent me over the beat. They sent me over the roughs that they had done ... In my head, I'm like, 'I can't believe this is happening,' and then once we got together, and started practicing the dance moves, and I heard the song, and we did the song together, I was like, 'Actually, this is really cool. They did a great job.'"

"They were such good guys," she continued. "At the end, we didn't want to leave each other. [I said], 'Oh my god. I'm gonna miss you guys!' They did such an amazing thing. And again, that's another thing that, for me as an artist, to see my song live in a different way, different genre, different culture, it's such a beautiful thing. I feel very, very honored and grateful for something like that."

As shown in the episode, during rehearsals, Eve seemed a little nervous about the choreography for the performance. However, when the "Tambourine" rapper and JO1 hit the stage, you would never know Eve felt any anxiety about dancing. She and the boy band members killed it!

"Oh my god. Oh girl, I was stressed," she told TooFab with a laugh, before recalling how she felt during the performance.

"I will say, I'm very much the person ... I always say I put my superhero on for stage," she continued. "So Eve disappears in a way, and I'm just like, I'm on. I'm kind of like, 'Whatever happens, happens.' ... especially because I'm not a dancer naturally. So for me, I'm like, 'Just go out there and vibe. If all else fails, vibe.'" 

The Talk alum added that she and the boys' "first take" -- which fans didn't see -- even went well.

"I think our first take, we actually, it was all good. There was no mistakes, there was nothing," Eve said, again admitting that she was "definitely stressed," before praising JO1. "The fact that they learned this stuff so quickly is insane."

TooFab spoke with JO1 at KCON LA 2025 earlier this month, and the boys gushed about working with Eve and Kesha, saying it was "like a dream" and an "unbelievable" collaboration. Eve reacted to the praise, telling TooFab in the new interview, "It's so nice. I'm serious. It was such a great experience."

"They were honestly incredible, super sweet guys, and it was really nice to see, again, see my music through their eyes, but also see a K-pop band work as well," she added. "It was great watching them work and watching how the fans looked at them, and it was such, honestly, one of the best collaborations ever. I had the best time. They're great guys. I miss them. Tell them I miss them."

Meanwhile, on the show, Eve and Kesha met for the first time, with the former sharing with TooFab that she'd love to work with the singer in the future.

"It was great meeting her," Eve said. "I mean, I obviously know Kesha, known her, and her songs are incredible. Her style is great. ... I mean, definitely yes, if it came down to it, yeah, we could definitely work together. But it was really nice just meeting her. Sometimes in this industry, you hear of a person and have seen their work from afar. So getting to know them up close is always great. And in a, I guess, an environment that is foreign to both of us, also. So it was cool."

Eve went on to open up about her love of the K-pop genre as a whole.

"It's so incredible. It's perfection on steroids, I think. It's just done in such a way that ... it's so glamorous," she said. "It's so glittery. I mean, it's everything. It's everything. And yeah, I've been into K-pop for a few years. And Seoul and Korea and just the whole culture. It's a place that I've wanted to visit for a very, very long time. So, yeah, I was really excited to be a part of it."

When asked what she thinks it is about the K-pop genre that has made it such a global phenomenon, Eve said, "I think it's basically what we know on our side of the world, but they just take it to another level."

"It's crazy even when we were filming, the way that they film, it's just it's different than what we do," she continued. "Again, it's this perfectionist thing that they are obsessed with, which makes it so tight, the dance moves are so tight. ... They are so precise. I think it's what we know, obviously it's familiar to us because of pop music and things like that, but it's just [on] another level."

The "What You Want" rapper shared her thoughts on how K-pop features influences from hip hop -- AKA her world.

"It makes me feel incredible ... especially where I come from," she told TooFab. "I've been in this business for a long time, but I sometimes look at myself as like, 'God, I'm this girl from Philly, and my hip hop has literally taken me all over the world.' And the fact that it has influence other genres, other cultures. I always feel super, incredibly lucky, and proud. I think it's a very cool thing."

Following her experience teaming with JO1 on KPOPPED, Eve said she ultimately walked away feeling inspired, sharing that she'd love to return to Seoul and collaborate with an artist.

"Honestly, I'd love to go back ... I've been on this tour that I've been doing, and people have been asking me like, 'Are you gonna do new music or anything?'" she told TooFab. "I would love to do another collaboration. I think it would be such a fun thing to do, but actually do it in Seoul, not here. I'd rather, I'd love to go there and actually work in the studio with a band or a singer or something like that. I think it'd be great."

"And also, obviously, the face care, but I need to go back for some skincare," she added.

As for which of her songs she'd like to remix after "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" got the K-pop treatment, TooFab suggested her hit "Tambourine," which Eve agreed, "That would be a fun one for sure."

"I actually got a rough from a friend of mine who writes out there of 'Who's That Girl?' from a different band a while ago," she revealed. "I mean, I'd be open. I'd be open because I'd love to hear what they do with whatever. I think it would be fun, any song that's picked."

As a K-pop megafan now, Eve also weighed in on the phenomenon that is KPop Demon Hunters, after the Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation fantasy musical has been breaking records on Netflix, at the box office, and on the Billboard charts. And not only did Eve reveal she loves the film, but so does her 3-year-old son, Wilde!

"It's really good. I've watched it three times because my son actually loves it. And he's three!" Eve told TooFab. "Then, I was like, 'Oh god, this is really good.' The songs are insane. The songs are so good. So I'm not surprised [of the film's success]."

All eight episodes of KPOPPED are streaming now on Apple TV+