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Biography
Missy Elliott (born Melissa Arnette Elliott on July 1, 1971 in Portsmouth, Virginia) is an African American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Formerly known as Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Elliott dropped the "Misdemeanor" from her stage name in 2003, and now simply goes by "Missy Elliott".
Elliott is one of the first female hip hop superstars, known for a long series of hits including "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", "She's a Bitch", "Get Ur Freak On" and "Work It". In addition she has received recognition as one of the most successful songwriters of the modern music era, having crafted a number of hit records for artists such as
Aaliyah, 702, Total, Nicole Wray and Tweet, often with production-partner and childhood friend Timbaland.
Missy Elliott must hold some secret
patent for what she does, always teetering on pop culture's precarious
ledge - always wanting to surprise us with another mystifying delivery
from her endless arsenal of musical weapons. She easily reigns as one of
music's top ten influential talents. But what exactly is she? What will
they inscribe on that lifetime Grammy she's no doubt going to receive
one day: Artist, producer, writer, arranger, rapper, singer, executive
... Missy Elliott.
Not to worry. The important thing is she continues to astound fans and
critics with her futuristic alterations of hip hop's landscape, all the
while - as British pop bible NME put it - "reinventing pop
music," along the way.
Her new album Miss E...So Addictive plows right over any preconceived
notion you may have about the current hip hop grind, as it seamlessly
fuses pop, hip hop and hyper-kinetic R&B with its delirious passages
of electro-inspired beats and sexy/salacious rhyme schemes. About
halfway into it, you begin to realize that Missy's third solo album is
first truly hallucinatory work in hip hop by a female. Or, as NME
continued: "Missy still sounds peerlessly adventurous, with
backward sitars, Hawaiian guitars elaborate clicking beats, beautifully
organized riots of ideas crowding every track."
Rumor has it Missy stopped listening to the radio before going into the
studio so she could "clear the head." The resulting effort is
nothing short of 'head-spinning,' with memorable guest-turns from
admiring superstars such as Redman and Method Man on "Dog In
Heat," Ginuwine on the majestic "Take Away," Eve -
Missy's comrade-in-Divahood - spitting over "4 My People," and
two versions of the album's most contagious track "One Minute
Man," featuring Ludacris and Jay-Z
respectively. Not to mention this year's party anthem, the hyperbolic
"Get Ur Freak On."
"I was more relaxed this time around," said Missy. "I
went for some warm weather, recorded in L.A.. I didn't want any pressure
on me."
Missy admits to feeling "up against the wall" when she went to
record 1999's Da Real World, the follow-up to her acclaimed 1997 debut
Supa Dupa Fly. "You know, you worry about the sophomore jinx and
all." Never the less, Da Real World went platinum, and landed Missy
her most successful single ever with "Hot Boyz," but she was
determined to "exhale deeply" before entering the studio for
her third effort.
"I took a look around," says Missy. "I realized we went
through years of 'I Hate You' records, and then we went through the 'Gimme
My Money Records,' and we went through the 'Taking Care Of Business
Records.' It was time to do some sexual healing music. You know, some
Marvin-type stuff. I wanted to cross all boundaries. Not put any limits
on myself. Where everybody else was being 'mad at their man' I wanted to
do a sexy record. I didn't want to get up into what everyone else was
singing about."
Up-tempo tracks like "Lick Shots" and the funked-up "Dog
In Heat" abound. "I love the way Redman comes in on that
one," says Missy. "He's got that party voice and that's why I
wanted him. He's the ice cream on the cake." Missy also envisioned
both Jay-Z
and Ludacris on the luminous "One Minute Man." "I knew
what was out there - 'Bills, Bills, Bills' and 'No Scrubs' and all that.
I knew I needed a record where females knew I was representing but not
by 'just being mad at the man.' I know how females never want a
one-minute man. Nuh-uh. So I twisted it, and said 'Let me get Jay-Z and
Ludacris to represent right here.'" The dual versions dazzle, with
critics already pointing to the epic song as "the sheezy of the
album."
Missy constantly switches leads on the new album, calling the loopy
"Whatcha Gon' Do" "my alternative hip hop cut on the
album." Flanked by only Timbaland on that one, Missy says "It
was one of the first tracks we worked on for the project and really set
off the tone for the new direction we're moving in."
The tag-team of Missy and Timbaland has become one of hip hop's
legendary duos, with Missy's hitmaker rep' making her one of music's
most sought after producers. Born in Portsmouth VA, Missy dreamed of a
music career from those very first days when she would sing and play-act
for relatives.
She was first signed to Elektra, as part of the group Sista, in 1991 by
Devante (of Jodeci) but the album was never released. It was one of
those bizarre twists of fate, however, that would give Missy an
opportunity to flourish behind the scenes as a producer and writer - and
even sometimes guest-star. She graced platinum tracks for Jodeci and Aaliyah,
landing a breakthrough rap stint on Gina Thompson's "The Things you
Do." Her infectious rhyme garnered her the nickname the "hee
haw girl", with Missy landing a production/label deal with Elektra
soon after.
The launch of Missy's very own imprint, The Goldmind Inc., was ignited
by the release of the groundbreaking Supa Dupa Fly in June of 1997. A
genre-defying work that blurred your typical suppositions about black
music, the album still reigns as one of the highest debuting discs from
a female hip hop star on Billboard's Album chart, notching an incredible
#3 in its first week of release. The mind-bending single "The
Rain" was nominated for three MTV awards. Soon, Missy copycats were
cropping up all over the music world.
But Missy kept 'em guessing. She began carefully constructing her empire
around Gold Mind Inc., releasing the gold-plus effort from soulful
vocalist Nicole, as well as continuing to produce and write a slew of
diverse hits for other superstars, including Whitney Houston, Paula
Cole, Destiny's
Child, and Christina
Aguilera. Missy Elliott also became the first female hip hop artist
to perform on the renowned Lilith Fair tour.
In 1999, she released the much-anticipated Da Real World. Not content
with the industry's follow-the-leader mentality, Missy tricked everyone
again with the darker, in-your-face-stomp of "She's A Bitch."
It threw out all the previous ideas about Missy, dicing up provocative
lyrics and razor-sharp beats designed to directly challenge hip hop
fans.
By the time critics had stopped scratching their heads, Missy released
the album's third single "Hot Boyz," re-writing the rules
about the kind of impact one single could have on a hip hop audience.
The single went platinum, remaining on the Billboard Rap Singles chart
for almost an entire year, snagging the #1 spot for a mind boggling 18
weeks in a row, easily breaking the 11 week record held by Puff Daddy,
Coolio, and Da Brat. In typical Missy 'genre defying' style, the single
was also the #1 song on Billboard's R&B Singles chart for six weeks
in a row. The platinum-plus Da Real World would eventually be nominated
for a Soul Train Award and a Grammy.
A year later we find Missy happily poised on that ledge again, kicking
off the all-important third album at the top of her game, both in body
and spirit. "I'm feeling very positive about things," she
smiles. "I feel blessed and I've learned so much. I just wanted to
make a record where people can forget their troubles and go buckwild."
But Missy also saved space for a gospel track to be put on the disc.
"Moving On" finds her singing with gospel vocal sensation
Yolanda Adams, members of the legendary Clark Sisters, and newcomers
Mary Mary. "I had a friend that passed and before she went she
always asked me if I would do a gospel record. I wanted to show my
appreciation for her always being there for me." Missy pauses.
"But if you listen to all my records, you know I always take time
out to give thanks. In this business you're always going to have to
engage in a lot of things you might not want to, but it never takes away
from my spirituality. No matter what happens, that will always be
there."
Over a decade after she first began offering songwriting and production services, Missy Elliott is still as widely recognized and respected by her peers, mainstream and underground, as ever: Most recently, Elliott has provided production work, with Timbaland, to
Ciara and was a featured rapper on Ciara's second single, a Jazze Pha production, "1, 2 Step".
Her sixth solo album, The Cookbook was released in July 2005 and debuted at #2 on the US charts. Its first single, "Lose Control", which features Ciara and Fatman Scoop, became a Top 10 hit in the early summer (peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100), and the other album tracks feature guest appearances from Mike Jones, Fantasia Barrino, M.I.A, Slick Rick, Mary J. Blige, and Pharrell Williams. The video for "Lose Control" brought Missy five 2005 MTV VMA award nominations, ultimately winning two awards in the categories Best Dance Video and Best Hip-Hop Video.
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