This evening, Melissa ‘Missy’ Elliott will receive the Amazon Music Visionary Icon Award at this year’s Culture Creators brunch. Before the honor, let’s take a look back at how the Virginia rapper became one of the most groundbreaking and influential legends in the music world.
Nearly thirty years ago, Missy (or Misdemeanor) burst onto the music scene as a solo artist with what is still considered one of the greatest lead singles in hip-hop history.
Released in May 1997, “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” was not just an aural marvel; thanks to the artistry of Missy and her longtime collaborator, Timbaland, it was also a rebellion. In an industry that has long suffered from both colorist ideals and fatphobia, Missy’s declaration of being “supa, dupa fly” while in a body often relegated to behind the scenes was both political and necessary. The visuals for the song opened the door for Missy to reimagine what female presenters in videos could be. They can be sexy, entertaining, funny and cool all at the same time. Missy’s “garbage bag couture,” characterized by finger waves and moody deep purple lipstick, remains one of the most iconic looks in music video history.
Although “The Rain” showed the world that Missy was more than capable of standing on her own as an artist, she already mastered getting people moving by writing some of the most popular R&B songs in the early 1990s. Her work with the late Aaliyah in 1996 One in a million her sound etched into the fabric of the genre, while her vivid storytelling and ability to make music from the experiences, hurts and pain of Black women made Missy the pen of choice for artists like Total, SWV and Destiny’s Child.
“By the time I had made a couple of (prominent) films, Sylvia Rhone (then CEO of Elektra Records) said, ‘We’ll give you a label if you give us an album,’” Missy told Variety in 2021. “So I went to Tim and said, ‘Let’s hurry up and make this album so they can give me my label,’ and we were done in two weeks (the million-selling “Supa Dupa Fly”)!”
Under her Goldmind Label label, Missy continued to prove that she was a visionary not only for her own art, but also for artists who wanted to create a hit that would put them on the charts. Within the five years in which she released her freshman, sophomore, 1999 The real world—and junior 2001s Miss E. So addictivealbums, the Virginia native also managed to write and produce a dozen hits for others, including the remake of Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade,” which hit number one on the Billboard charts in 2001.
Missy continued her solo brilliance The real world And Mrs E…mixing new sounds and building a fresh audio landscape with each new song. She tackled topics such as sexuality, heartbreak, independence and feminism with expert precision, while continuing to push the boundaries of what hip-hop could do. Songs like ‘All In My Grill’ and ‘She’s a B***’ gave new meaning to female empowerment, while ‘One Minute Man’ and ‘Get Ur Freak On’ further proved that she could never be pigeonholed, with the latter earning her a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.
“Ms. Elliott is one of the genre’s true geniuses,” said The Economist of Missy in 2023. “She’s going to rap what Prince was to R’n’B, both in terms of her impact on the genre and her ability to weave in styles and strands from outside.”
Upon the 2002 release of her fourth studio album, Under construction, Missy had established herself as one of the greatest visual storytellers in the industry, but she was just getting started.
The album’s first single, “Work It,” would kick-start the Missy mania. The song debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts and the accompanying visuals earned her the MTV Video Music Award for ‘Video of the Year’. The enormous popularity of ‘Work It’ may have endeared her to a larger audience, but hip-hop already realized what Missy was delivering.
Her flow, musicality and lyricism, combined with raw vocals, a penchant for a ridiculously catchy hook and an ear for finding new ways to approach sampling, helped Missy reach avant-garde levels by the middle of the new millennium. She led female rappers’ record sales with 8 million worldwide and earned Grammy nominations for both Album of the Year and Best Rap Album. Her video for ‘Gossip Folks’, the second single from Under construction, broke viewing records on MTV, MTV2 and BET.
While much of hip-hop followed the blueprint of ’90s luxury rap culture, Missy gave artists permission to push the boundaries in the booth and in front of the camera.
“That was my favorite rapper and that would be why I made so many sounds,” Lil Wayne said of Missy’s influence on his previous records. “So the song ‘Block Burner’ was my top favorite song because my favorite artist was Missy Elliott.”
Although the iconic artist would later complain about the pressure she felt to release her 2004 album, This is a test!the project was still platinum, with dance numbers like ‘Pass That Dutch’ and ‘I’m Real Hot’ rejected. That same year, she helped newcomer Ciara continue her chart dominance by appearing on ‘1.2 Step’, the second single from her debut album. Delicacies. The song would earn them a Grammy nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
After the success of 2005 Cookbook, With an album that saw her step away from her usual peers in search of a new sound, and the meteoric performance of lead single “Lose Control,” including a Grammy for Best Short Form Video, Missy took a well-deserved break as one of music’s biggest rap acts. However, she did not leave the studio. Instead, she once again turned to her writing and producing talents to help other women find the charts.
And she did it in true Missy fashion. From 2005 to 2010, she released epic singles including Keyshia Cole’s ‘Let It Go’, Jazmine Sullivan’s ‘Need U Bad’, Fantasia’s ‘Free Yourself’ and Monica’s ‘Everything To Me’, all of which were nominated for Grammys after topping the Billboard charts. Although she never reached the milestone herself, Missy has the Midas touch to help other women reach No. 1, with many of them recognizing her ability to be more than just a producer, but also a sister.
“Missy is one of the greatest producers of our time, but to me she is a sister first. I learned everything I needed to learn working with her,” Monica told Fader in 2016. “When Missy and I work on music, we don’t look at times, clocks and who said we had to be in a certain place. We did things on our own terms and talked about life and what was happening. That’s what makes it special. No one had control over it but us and our true emotions.”
In 2015, Missy’s star power was broadcast around the world when she took the Super Bowl XLIX stage to perform a medley of her biggest hits as a special guest of Katy Perry. A new generation of music lovers witnessed Missy’s genius and kept coming back for more. The performance quickly became the most-watched halftime event in the league’s history at the time, with 118.5 million views.
The record breaking would continue for years to come, with Missy becoming the first female rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019, while also accomplishing the same feat at the MTV Video Music Awards, taking home the Michael Jackson Vanguard award. Two years later, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, prior to the unveiling of Missy Elliott Blvd in her hometown. And in 2023, she became the first female rapper (and only the third rap artist in history) to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Today, Missy’s influence can be seen in any artist who dares to define themselves on their own terms, but especially in female rappers who have shaped the industry to their will. From the sexually liberated Cardi B and Yung Miami to the bold and daring lyricism of Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion, Missy’s genius permeates the music.
“A lot of your sex was huge for me,” Doja Cat told Missy during a sit-down Interview magazine. “When I was little, I would sit in front of my TV every day and dance to your videos. I would think, ‘This is my Beyoncé.'”
When it comes to Missy Elliott, no matter how you spin it or reverse it, she is a living legend in every lane.
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