IF FANS of rapper Eve (below) have been frustrated waiting for her new album, she hears you. Record-company politics have seen Eve waiting in limbo to follow up her 2002 album Eve-olution.

Best known for her collaborations Let Me Blow Ya Mind and Rich Girl with Gwen Stefani, Like This with Kelly Rowland and Gangsta Lovin’ with Alicia Keys, Eve was ready to drop a new album after her 2007 hit Tambourine. Called Here I Am, it was finished then shelved by her label Interscope.

“It was so frustrating,” Eve says. “Tambourine was such a big hit. For them to drop the ball after that it was, ‘Are you serious?’ I was never defeated — well, a little bit. But I was like, ‘F— that’. I had to get out of there and get some new energy.”

Now a new album, Lip Lock, is nearly finished, to be released on another major label. “I got to do a lot of it not being signed to a label so it kind of feels like I’m a new artist,” Eve says. “I got to work with exactly who I wanted and do it the way I wanted to.

“When you’re in the industry for a long time you get jaded. I’m back where I can’t wait to tour and do videos and I love that excitement.”

The album sees Eve take a new direction, featuring collaborations with dance acts Diplo and MSTRKFT and flirtations with dubstep.

“I wanted to experiment,” Eve says. “Americans have just gotten into electro and dance. I wanted to get into that sound but make it the way I wanted to. The record with MSTRKFT is completely them as far as the sounds go, but the drums are Caribbean.

“I don’t want people to say, ‘She’s doing it because it’s a fad’. It keeps the authenticity of who I am and I haven’t jumped on the bandwagon. With this album I know I’m going to lose some fans, but I’m confident I’ll gain some fans artistically.”

There’s also a track with Akon lined up and a song she wants Kelly Rowland to sing on.

Luckily for her, she’s about to tour Australia this month with both acts.

Between albums, Eve has been continuing her acting career. Her guest role in Glee has brought her more feedback than anything she’s done.

“I’ve had people in nightclubs stop me and say, ‘You were in Glee’. It spans through the ages,” she says. “Acting is my other passion. It’s nice to be able to dip into worlds.”

Eve has also just filmed an episode of VH1′s music documentary Behind the Music, which should air when her album is released mid-year.

“It was the best therapy I never paid for,” she says. “I have no secrets now!”