Her 2008 autobiography, Keep the Faith: A Memoir was released by Grand Central Publishing and won a 2009 African American Literary Award for the Best Biography/Memoir category.

[9] While attending University High School in Newark, she sang with several jazz bands and, encouraged by Helene, entered outside pageants, festivals and contests, where her voice would be noticed and praised.

After graduating from high school in 1991, Evans attended Fordham University in New York City to study marketing but left a year later to have daughter Chyna with music producer Kiyamma Griffin.

[6] The couple had one child together, Christopher George Latore Wallace Jr. After allegations of an affair with Tupac Shakur, Evans became involved in the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry which dominated rap music at the time.

[7] During early 1997, after her separation from Wallace, but before his death, Evans' friend Missy Elliott introduced her to record company executive Todd Russaw.

[6] After Biggie's murder on March 9, 1997, Combs helped Evans produce her tribute song named "I'll Be Missing You", based on the melody of The Police's 1983 single "Every Breath You Take".

The song, which featured Combs, Evans, and the all-male group 112, became a worldwide number-one success and debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart during 1997, scoring that for eleven weeks.

[4] The next year, she received another two Grammy nominations for "Heartbreak Hotel", a collaboration with singers Whitney Houston and Kelly Price, that scored number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

[14] Also enjoying commercial success, it eventually went platinum and produced the top ten singles "Love Like This" and "All Night Long" (released on March 30, 1999) prompting Evans to start an 18-city theater tour with Dru Hill and Total the following year.

[6] Evans' third album on the Bad Boy label, named Faithfully (2001), involved her working with a wider range of producers, including The Neptunes, Mario Winans, Buckwild, Vada Nobles, Cory Rooney, and others.

[17] In January 2004, Evans and Russaw were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine and an improper tag violation during a traffic stop in Hapeville, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.

After leaving Bad Boy Entertainment, Evans contracted with Capitol Records, becoming the first contemporary R&B artist to do so, and started work on her fourth studio album The First Lady, named after her nickname on her former label.

[22] Evans began recording songs with Keyshia Cole, Redman, Snoop Dogg and Raekwon, among others for the labels freshman album.

[24] Something About Faith has spawned the leading single "Gone Already", which spent over thirty-three weeks on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it peaked at number twenty-two.

[25] In August 2010, Evans was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor drunken driving, after being stopped at a checkpoint in Marina del Rey, California.

[29] In 2012, Evans co-executive produced and became a cast member on the TV One reality show R&B Divas: Atlanta alongside fellow R&B singers Nicci Gilbert, Syleena Johnson, Keke Wyatt and Monifah.

[30] The show offered an inside look at how the singers balance their music careers and personal lives as they work towards producing an Evans-led compilation album, R&B Divas (2012), in memory of Whitney Houston.

Broadcast to rating records for the network,[31] the series produced a spin-off titled R&B Divas: Los Angeles and was renewed for two further seasons.

[33] "I Deserve It", a record featuring recurring collaborator Missy Elliott and her protégée Sharaya J, was released on August 25, 2014, as the album's lead single and peaked at number 19 on Billboard's Adult R&B Songs chart.

Having previously appeared in stage plays as a teenager, Evans began acting with a supporting role in director Robert Adetuyi's 2000 music drama Turn It Up, featuring Pras Michel from The Fugees, Jason Statham and Ja Rule.

Released to generally negative reviews from critics,[46] who noted it "patently absurd in both the details and larger aspects",[47] the indie film had a short play and became a financial disappointment, gaining US$1.24 million during its U.S. run only.

[48] During 2003, Evans acted in the MTV-produced romantic comedy The Fighting Temptations in which she appeared in a brief but major role portraying a single mother and night club singer.

Written with Aliya S. King, it detailed the singer's life, but also discussed Evans' controversial relationship with her late husband, the Notorious B.I.G.

[65] The Washington Post writer Craig Seymour called her "angelic yet hearty soprano" as showcasing emotion that is defined by Evans' personal experiences of tragedy, love, pain and heartbreak.