Grammy-winning rapper Missy Elliott is one of the most influential artists and
producers of her generation, but she’s had to walk through fire to get here.
Keep watching for the tragic details that made Missy Elliott who she is today.
Missy Elliott's early home life was not an idyllic one. According to the Guardian,
her family lived in the midst of poverty, in Virginia, in a home which was full of rats and
riddled with domestic abuse. Elliott's father was so violent toward her mom, Patricia, that
Missy was even afraid to leave the house, out of fear of what her dad would do while she was away.
"Watching my father be abusive to my mother was like…beating me."
The situation took a heavy toll on Elliott, and her musical aspirations
manifested as desperate plea-for-help letters to her idols like Janet Jackson.
She kept trying to convince her mother to leave, telling the outlet,
"I guess my mother still loved [my dad]. I guess she thought things could be normal,
but they never were. Every day I begged her to leave him. I said, 'Please, please let's go.'"
Elliott revealed on VH1's Behind the Music that
her father even once pulled a gun on her mom, recalling,
"He pulled the gun out in front of me. I was screaming, 'Daddy, please don't kill my mother!'"
In 2011, Elliott discussed arguably the deepest trauma of her early years. She was
the victim of sexual abuse when she was only 8 years old. The perpetrator was her cousin,
who was twice her age at the time. She revealed to VH1,
"Each day he wanted me to come to the house after school. [...] For me at eight years old,
I had no clue what that was, but I knew something was wrong. […] Being
molested [doesn't] disappear. You remember it as if it was yesterday."
As MTV noted, Elliott announced in 2005 that she was working on a movie based on her life,
which would cover this devastating period,
among other things. As of 2021, it appears to remain a work in progress.
After Elliott turned 14, her mom decided that she was ready to escape the abuse. According to the
Guardian, the pair got help from sympathetic relatives, who moved their belongings out,
while Elliott's dad was gone for the day. Though their financial situation became further strained,
Elliott has no doubt that the decision was the right one. But even so,
she was afraid that her dad might reappear in their lives. She recalled,
"We left my father with a fork, a spoon and a blanket. […] That was the scariest time of my
life. I thought he would find us and he would kill us. I lived in fear for a long time."
Elliott has since come to believe that her dad
may have recognized why they had left and accepted the decision.
Today, it's probably fair to assume that there's no one doubting Missy Misdemeanor's credibility.
As The New Yorker noted way back in 1997, Elliott first arrived on the scene as the epitome of cool,
and when she made her return for Katy Perry's 2015 Super Bowl halftime show,
outlets like Vogue and NPR immediately took note and showered her with praise.
Back in her younger days, though, Elliott didn't always feel particularly cool. According to The
Guardian, she was already so focused on music that she didn't care about school — except for
the social scene. Still, when she was made to take an IQ test, her score revealed that she
was genius-level intelligent. Some people might have been thrilled with this, but because the
school then made Elliott skip two grades, she was separated from her friends. She recalled,
"I didn't want to be a genius! That ain't cool. I wanted to goof around,
they wanted to mount me in the trophy cabinet. I was not that kind of kid. I was a joker."
"What's up, I'm Aaliyah." "I'm Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliot."
As fans know, singer Aaliyah's story was a deeply tragic one;
from the 22-year-old's premature death in a plane crash in 2001, to her involvement with R. Kelly,
who married her illegally when she was underage. But according to Billboard, Aaliyah's relationship
with Elliott was a decidedly positive one. Elliott was still trying to find her way in the business,
when she and producer "Timbaland" seized a chance to work with Aaliyah, who was a fellow newcomer.
Elliott's offbeat musical sensibilities resonated with Aaliyah, and the supposedly
one-track collaboration turned into eight songs — including the singer's hit, "One in a Million."
Aaliyah's loss was a massive blow to Elliott,
who had viewed the R&B star as a sister. Elliott told Entertainment Weekly in 2002,
"Her death was a huge shock to me. It's only in the last month [that] I'm coming to accept
it a little. I've been having a lot of dreams about her. When somebody passes,
you always go through a down period, and healing
takes time. It was so unexpected — I feel like I was just in the studio with her."
It's clear that Elliott hasn't forgotten her early collaborator and friend, over the years. In fact,
her words about Aaliyah were just as warm in 2018 as they have ever been. As she told Billboard,
"We could only just imagine what she would be doing now. She'd be out of here and untouchable."
Before Elliott made it big as a solo artist and star producer, she was the child of a struggling,
financially disadvantaged single mother. But even so, she remained determined to make it in the
music business…Even though her first attempt was a harsh reminder that the industry can be crushing.
"We performed like it was 'Apollo' night."
After forming a group called Sista with a few friends in the late '80s, according to Vibe,
Elliott was able to show off her songwriting flair. And by 1991, Sista was signed to Swing
Mob Records. Unfortunately, the group's success was short-lived, to say the least. In 1994,
Sista released their single, "Brand New," but their full-length album "4 All the Sistas Around
da World," was eventually shelved. This marked the demise of Sista, and the group soon broke
up for good. Still, Elliott wasn't giving up. Missy finally made her mark with 1997's "Supa
Dupa Fly." The album hit the Billboard 200 in the third spot, making history at the time as
the most successful debut by a female rapper. But fans who then grew to love Elliott's seemingly
never-ending string of hits might have been surprised when the singles stopped coming,
in 2005. At least part of the reason she skirted the spotlight until a decade later,
was because of some unfortunate health issues. According to Billboard, in 2008,
a rapid and significant weight loss caused her to seek medical assistance, and she found out she had
Graves' Disease — a thyroid gland-related disorder that disrupts the body's hormonal balance.
But Elliott believes the condition may be related to her extremely hectic work schedule. She said,
"It causes hair loss, your eyes bulge. My blood pressure was always up from just overworking."
According to People, Elliott's symptoms also included significant tremors,
which almost led to a car accident. She remembered,
"I couldn't keep the brake down and almost crashed."
These days, Elliott says that her condition is under control,
thanks to having had radiation treatment. And she didn't exactly stop working during
her lengthy absence from the limelight, either. She said,
"If I wanted to do 'The Missing Files of Missy Elliott,' I have probably six
albums just sitting there." When you consider Elliott's
track record of turning nearly everything she touches into gold, it seems outrageous that
anyone within the industry would ever give her the cold shoulder. But as The Guardian noted,
that's exactly what happened early in her career. Hip-hop's attitude toward women being historically
biased, Elliott once faced rejection because her looks didn't fit the traditional mold,
especially during her early days with Sista.
"Missy was a heavy set girl. That wasn't what the cameras was looking for."
After she teamed up with "Timbaland," and proved herself to be a hit maker,
she broke through the industry's body image barrier. And her subsequent resume as an
artist, producer, and businesswoman is a testament to her prowess.
Despite the many bold and brave moves Elliott has made as an artist over her career,
many outlets have noted that she's actually an introverted sort of person. In 2018,
Elliott admitted as much on Twitter, sharing a throwback interview clip
from The Ellen DeGeneres Show that features her fidgeting nervously and laughing. She posted,
"Fun fact I'm soooo SHY that I giggle all the time because of my shyness,
or I keep rocking my leg, or mess with my hands."
This trait might seem to be somewhat at odds with her superstar status. But according to the
Guardian, she has learned to remedy the problem by separating her performer persona from her
everyday personality. In fact, she says that she learned this when she was still young. Since her
family was aware of her musical talents, they would often pressure her to perform. She said,
"After an hour of them begging me, I would finally get on the table and become this other little kid.
Then they couldn't get me off. Once I set foot on the stage, I block out everything.
I can be in my own world." It's borderline impossible to
imagine a groundbreaking artist like Elliott as anything other than a musician. But in 2019,
she revealed that her friends and family weren't exactly supportive of her artistic
dreams. In fact, her friends outright laughed at her when she repeatedly declared her intentions
to become a star. Though this happened decades ago, and clearly didn't hinder her in any way,
it's something that has stuck with Elliott over the years. She told Marie Claire,
"I wonder, do those kids remember me? Because I remember all of them."
Her family wasn't exactly supportive of her dreams of musical superstardom, either.
To them, the whole idea of becoming a big-name celebrity seemed a little far-fetched. Instead,
they offered an alternate career plan, suggesting that Elliott enlist in the U.S.
Army. Of course, the future icon was less than thrilled.
"I think that that just fueled her passion to prove everyone wrong."
Regardless, young Missy chose to chase her dreams. And as it turns out,
her family's initial lack of faith hasn't damaged her relationship with them at all.
According to The Guardian, she cherishes the fact that her fame
has enabled her to truly support her mom in every way. Elliott said in 2001,
"The real dream was to make enough money to take care of all the pain
and suffering that my mother has been through." Missy Elliott's surprise appearance was one of
the highlights of Katy Perry's Super Bowl halftime show in 2015. The iconic artist brought the house
down with three of her biggest hits — "Get Ur Freak On," "Work It," and "Lose Control." But,
as Entertainment Weekly noted, Elliott's thrilling performance came in the wake of a health scare.
In 2017, the rapper explained on Twitter that she had been in the hospital just before the
event. While she didn't elaborate on the exact nature of the issue at that time,
she had already touched on the subject back when it happened. In a 2015 interview with Billboard,
she revealed that the lead-up to her three-song appearance had taken a heavy toll on her,
and all that pressure culminated in a full-blown panic attack. She added,
"Like, IVs in my arm, everything. Nobody knew."
In 2019, Elliott told The Guardian that the Super Bowl guest spot had her feeling so worked up
that she even neglected to use the chance to promote her upcoming "comeback" single,
"WTF (Where They From)." She also revealed that she tends to have trouble with anxiety whenever
she releases a new track. To be fair, Elliott did also note that it's typical for anyone to
be nervous before returning to the spotlight after years spent away — especially during
a Super Bowl halftime show, in front of — y'know — millions of fans. She said,
"I think any artist who has had a break such as that one would be anxious."
In typical "Misdemeanor" fashion, though,
she crushed it. Fans were none-the-wiser as to what was going on behind the scenes,
and were beyond thrilled to see their favorite rapper back in action.
"I try to make music that is far ahead. And
with the blessing of God, you know, I'm gonna keep making music."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault,
help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact
RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).