| Missy Elliott | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Birth name |
Melissa Arnette Elliott |
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Also known as |
Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott |
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Born |
July 1, 1971 |
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Genre |
Hip hop, R&B |
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Occupation(s) |
Rapper, singer, record producer |
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Years active |
1991-present |
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Label |
The Goldmind Inc., East West, Elektra, Atlantic, Violator |
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Associated acts |
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Melissa Arnette Elliott (born 1 July 1971), better known by her stage name Missy Elliott, is an American rapper, singer and record producer. Elliott began her career with female R&B group Sista in the early 1990s and later became part of the Swing Mob collective with childhood friend Timbaland, with whom she worked on projects for Aaliyah, 702, Total and SWV. Following several guest appearances, she launched her solo career with the release of her debut album Supa Dupa Fly in 1997, which spawned the hit single "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" and "Sock It 2 Me". The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200, the highest charting-debut for a female rapper at the time. Her following album Da Real World in 1999 produced the signles "She's a Bitch", "All n My Grill" and the top five hit "Hot Boyz".
With the release of Miss E... So Addictive, Under Construction and This Is Not a Test!, released in three consecutive years beginning in 2001, Elliott established an international career and followed with the hits "Get Ur Freak On", "One Minute Man", "4 My People", "Gossip Folks" and "Work It", the latter of which won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance, followed by Elliott receiving five additional Grammy Awards and selling over 30 million records in the United States. Elliott is the only female rapper to have six albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one double platinum for her 2002 album Under Construction. Elliott is also known for a series of hits and diverse music videos, including "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", "Hot Boyz", "Get Ur Freak On", "Work It", and the Grammy Award-winning video for "Lose Control".
Accolades and Achievements:[]
Elliott has won four Grammy Awards, eight MTV Video Music Awards, two American Music Awards, six BET Awards, and a Billboard Women in Music award for Innovator.
Elliott was among the inaugural inductees for the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.In November 2021, Elliott was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
She has sold 40 million records worldwide, is the best-selling female rapper in Nielsen Music history,
She became the first female rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and received the MTV VMAs Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for her impact on the music video landscape.
Billboardranked her at number five on the 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time.
She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2023, She became the first female hip-hop artist nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Legacy and Influence:[]
Elliott has been referred to as the "Queen of Rap",the "Queen of Hip Hop", and the "First Lady of Hip Hop" by several media outlets. Elliott's experimental concepts in her music videos changed the landscape of what a hip-hop video had as themes at the time. Her catalogue of songs have included themes of feminism, gender equality, body positivity and sex positivity since the beginning of her career, being one of the first to center on these topics among hip-hop and R&B performers. The Guardian and The Observerconsidered her America's first Black female music mogul, as she gained in 2001 total control over her image and music, and the opportunity to sign artists. The Observer's Ted Kessler stated that, with her studio albums, she has "revolutionized the sound of R&B and hip-hop" and reintroduced the notion "of fun and fantasy" to urban Black music—a style that matched the "futuristic, much-copied new sound" of her 1997 debut album, Supa Dupa Fly. Destiny's Child, Eve and Macy Gray have credited her for "clearing a path" in the American music industry towards "their own pop pre-eminence" as Black female R&B/hip-hop performers. The Recording Academy and Evening Standard have called her a "hip hop icon". The Economist considered that Elliott "is to rap what Princewas to R&B" due to their "impact upon the genre" and her ability to "weave in styles and strands from outside it."
The New Yorker stated that Elliott became the first Black female rapper to reach the mainstream in Middle America. An article from Vibe credits Elliott's debut album Supa Dupa Fly for "changing the rap game for women", noting the rapper's "refusal to be pigeonholed" with her image, and instead, embraced "the complexities inherent with Black womanhood", with the author commenting that female rappers tend to be placed into one of two categories: androgyny or hyper-sexualization. The New York Times and The Bulletin have called her the "Queen of the Beats". Jem Aswad of Variety commented that Elliott and longtime collaborator Timbaland "reshaped the sound of hip-hop", as they made songs "out of pings and bips and bloops (both vocal and electronic) that quickly became part of the foundation of virtually all that followed." Similarly, Doreen St. Félix of The New Yorker wrote that her debut album "expanded the definition of rap" and "defined a new hip-hop aesthetic", with Elliott and Timbaland developing a grammar by "collecting extra-musical noises", "crafting" a new R&B sound, and incorporating a "singsong technique" in her flow. The author noted that, a generation later, the majority of rappers "are also vocalists". For Los Angeles Times writer Gerrick D. Kennedy, Elliott "ushered in a new era of creatively ambitious music videos." The aesthetic for the music video for "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" inspired several others released afterward.Commercially, Missy Elliott led female hip hop album sales during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Missy Elliott in addition to Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and The Clipse are considered to have an intricate part of establishing Virginia as one of the East Coast's strongholds in hip hop. As of 2015, she has remained the best selling female rap album artist in the US. ABC website editor Gab Burke expressed that Elliott "railed against the male-dominated mainstream rap scene throughout her career, constantly pushed the boundaries, and cemented a place for women in hip hop."
Missy Elliott has influenced several music acts visually and vocally. Cardi B, Lil Wayne, Lizzo, Tyler, the Creator, Solange Knowles, Chloe Bailey, M.I.A., Janelle Monáe, Anderson .Paak, Rapsody, Ciara,Bree Runway, Doja Cat, Ivy Queen, Ari Lennox, Tayla Parx, Sean Bankhead, ASAP Ferg, Leikeli47, Tierra Whack, Noname, Okenyo, Little Simz, Coda Conduct,Dawn Richard, Banks, Rich the Kid, Crystal Caines, Coi Leray, Lady Leshurr, Stefflon Don, Flo Milli, Krept and Konan, Rye Rye,Le1f, Qveen Herby, Saweetie,Nicki Minaj and Erica Banks have cited Elliott's work as an inspiration.
Discography[]
- 1997: Supa Dupa Fly
- 1999: Da Real World
- 2001: Miss E... So Addictive
- 2002: Under Construction
- 2003: This Is Not a Test!
- 2005: The Cookbook