[MUSIC PLAYING]
You know what it is Bodega Boys in the building.
We are coming to you live from Cam Kirk Studios in where?
Atlanta.
You know the vibes.
With the one-and-only Missy Elliot.
Nothing but iconic guests.
I thought you was going to be doing your stuffs at the door.
Oh, stuffs.
Listen, I got--
I got bad ligaments.
He fell.
We climbed a gate yesterday.
He fell.
To get to Waffle House, I tried to jump a fence.
And I busted my ass. - Stop playin'.
- I busted my ass. - Yeah.
But we'd never been to Waffle House before.
That was our first time. - Never been to Waffle House?
And we got there.
We were trying to get alcoholic drinks.
And apparently you can't get alcoholic drinks there.
Oh, at Waffle House?
Is that like-- apparently Waffle House is, like,
a regular thing down here?
Like--
- Well, see, I'm from Virginia. - Right.
So--
Do they have Waffle Houses down there?
Yeah, we got Waffle House, IHOP, Shoney's.
DESUS: Wow.
Captain D's.
What's the power-- what's the power rankings of all of them?
Mm.
Because people were saying Waffle House is the top,
but that's if you're drunk?
They called it-- they told him,
now, let's go to Waffle Home.
Now, see, I used to smoke.
So back when I used to smoke, either one of them
was fine with me.
That's why we went.
That's why I hopped the fence into Montclair
to get to Waffle House.
I have, like, a little whipped cream, a little funny face
pancake.
That was a little bit more diverse.
You want to get excited?
You be like, Joe, let me get a crepe.
Mm-hmm.
Also, it's international.
I go coast to coast to get boysenberry.
[LAUGHTER]
Yes.
Yes. - You know what I'm saying?
DESUS: How you doing today, Missy?
I'm good.
Do you really have a misdemeanor?
No.
Nah.
Boom! Mystery solved.
There you go. - Thank you.
Thank you.
That's the whole interview right there.
Yeah.
Magoo-- Magoo-- big shout out to Magoo.
He gave me that name.
Yeah, so you've been in--
in countless studio sessions.
Yes.
You brought up a lot of artists.
You put a lot of people on.
What is one of your favorite studio sessions?
It's hard to say my favorite.
But the first studio session was Master Sound.
And then I would have to say Hit Factory
because that's where I used to hang out with Jodeci and Mary.
And so those were--
Iconic.
What were those days like?
Party days.
We dodged the-- the internet.
Yeah!
We-- thank god social media was not out.
Those was the get-down days.
Like, we really-- those days--
yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
Shit was going down.
That's all I'm saying. - Yeah.
We had-- we had a ball.
But I would say Master Sound first.
So you took a break for a minute.
And then you came back.
And everybody was like, yo!
Missy back!
How did that feel?
Because a lot of artists take a break, and they come back,
and it's just like, eh.
But you came back, and it was just like, yo!
Yeah, it was a big thing on Twitter.
The love always is going to be--
I'm just always like, wow, you know?
I'm always humble and grateful.
Yeah.
And it's-- it's not a-- a easy thing when you been
in the industry that long, when you're talking about,
like, 24, 25 years.
Having success, though, because there's
a lot of people in the industry for 30 years,
and you're still like, yo, 38.
You know what I'm saying?
Yo, new mix tapes on Monday.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
I got 38 links.
I'm gonna drop the drop.
Yes.
But you know, it's good, because it's-- it's like, you know,
when you see somebody like a Chaka Khan come in, she
gonna always get that respect.
Mm-hmm.
Who were some of your inspirations growing up?
Because your music is, like, even when it first came out,
it was, like, not to say modern, but it was, like, futuristic.
And it was completely-- and it's always sounded different.
Well, my inspiration came from,
you know, I listened to Chaka Khan,
Prince, Michael, of course.
But I think when-- when me and Timbaland came out, you know,
we had-- we were under Jodeci.
And so we didn't get a chance to-- we
didn't listen to a lot of music.
Like, we only just listened to what we were doing.
So we didn't know that we even had a different kind of sound
because we didn't see nor hear.
We created something without knowing it.
In, like, this bubble and just working.
And then you come out.
You're like-- everybody's like, [MUTED] delicious.
We like, what?
You know, because we had been doing what the world
had heard for years before.
So probably like three or four years before, we had--
that was the same sound that we had before.
And so when it came out and people was like,
you know, what is this?
And people that-- I don't know if people knew
whether to like it immediately.
It was, like, seeing "The Rain," the video, and then it kind of,
like, connected, like, OK, maybe I could--
I could like this.
Because in New York, we had The Box.
You remember that?
It was, like, this camera you call,
and you have to pay for the videos.
I remember The Box.
But it was weird.
Because if you didn't have cable,
that was the only way to watch videos.
And when "The Rain" came out, we was like, yo, what?
That was in the Bronx, like--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
Every music video we've seen up
until this point is dudes, like, yo,
stamping with the Timbaland--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
You know what I'm saying?
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
You know what I mean? Blah, blah, blah.
And then you came out with the suit and everything.
I was like, yo!
[IMITATES EXPLOSION]
That was the whole team.
You know, they had called--
the label called Hype Williams.
Shoutout to Hype. MISSY ELLIOT: Yes.
You're--
Yes, Hype, amazing.
And they called him.
And he listened to my music.
And he got with June and Billy B and, you know,
just the whole team.
And they felt like the music was so futuristic.
And he was like, you know, you just
got a different vibe about you.
And you know, I'm thinking about,
like, Michelin Man or something like that.
And because I was so crazy anyway,
it wasn't like I-- you know, it wasn't a-- we wasn't in an era
where people were trying to look fly.
It was originality, whatever.
Because I felt like if I wanted to do something,
I wanted to be where there--
you couldn't say there was a Missy
Elliott before a Missy Elliott.
You have a lot of cars and lot of sneakers?
Yes.
How sneakers you got?
Because I have a sneaker room.
But I'm pretty sure you're about to crush
me with sneaker collection.
I have a warehouse of sneakers.
Missy, it was good talking to you.
Best of life.
I am out of here.
[LAUGHTER]
She said, I have a sneaker warehouse!
Jump out the window, like, peace, y'all.
[LAUGHTER]
You're just like, stomped on my dreams.
How many sneakers are we talking?
If you think of a warehouse, wall to wall, side by side.
All right.
What brand do you have the most sneakers?
Yeah.
I have a lot of old Jordans, a lot of Adidas, you know,
because I was with them for a long time.
I have a lot of Adidas.
But now every color of Chain Reaction there is, every color.
This is--
This is the part I'm gonna stop in the conversation,
because I--
I can't-- I can't relate.
It's a Versace report.
Every color.
Yeah, if this is "Star Wars right now,
this is Obi Wan Kenobi putting me onto the Versace trip.
MISSY ELLIOT: [LAUGHING]
Sensei, how do I achieve the drip
level that you have achieved? - Oh!
No!
[LAUGHTER]
Look, your sneakers are nice and clean.
The sneakers are nice and clean?
But if we're doing-- if we're doing a live show or something,
he always comes out heavy with the Versace.
Yeah, I have to.
How many pairs you think you got?
(IN A HIGH VOICE) Not a warehouse.
You know what I'm saying?
Oh, my voice is getting high pitched because I'm
about to play myself.
MISSY ELLIOT: [LAUGHING]
Some-- a couple dozen. You know what I'm saying?
Maybe. - That's still good.
You said you have hundreds of these Versaces?
Oh, I have-- no, I have--
I just started getting money, though.
You've been doing this. I just started getting money.
True. It's true.
You know what I'm saying? I might catch up.
It's all right. It's all right.
I'm catching-- MISSY ELLIOT: And you will!
It's all right, big man. Let that pain out.
You don't speak that.
You will.
You will catch up.
Trust me.
You know what I'm saying?
Because I had to--
I was over on the other side watching other people
drive around in fly cars.
And I said, one day I'm gonna get that.
What was the first big purchase you did that you was
like-- that was unnecessary.
This is-- I'm wasting money.
But you know, I want this.
It wasn't-- the first purchase I made wasn't a waste,
but it was-- the first check that I got, I got my mother
a house built from ground up.
And that's hard to do.
That's hard to do!
I know someone, went past like are
like, ooh, Missy, good girl.
Oh, she's a good girl.
See, at home training.
We got her a house ground up.
- Nice. - Yes.
Oh.
I want to do that.
My mother was like, hell no.
She's like, yo, we're moving into a house that is already
built. She's like, because when you
build a house from the ground up,
you've really got to be in there.
MISSY ELLIOT: Oh, it's a lot. - I want this like this.
I want this like that. Like--
It's a lot.
Well, the first thing I did was I
had a Bible placed in the soil and then covered up.
And so when you walk in, I put my signature in the floor.
So--
Just to let mom know one time, yo.
[LAUGHTER]
We got this.
[LAUGHTER]
I like that.
I did the same thing.
I did the same thing, but I just--
I fixed the sidewalk in front of my mom's house.
And I wrote my name in graffiti. Like, y'all
You know what?
[LAUGHS]
DESUS: So you came up before social media.
Yes.
How do you think your career would've been different
if social media was around at the time
when you were, like, just getting into the industry?
Because, like, as you said, like, now everything gets
revealed.
People are always tweeting stuff.
People are always, like--
Photographing people on the low.
--photographing.
Also, just having that instant criticism from fans
and just like--
Luckily, I have my--
my assistant over there.
She always, you know, cheer leading.
DESUS: She got you.
Yeah.
She be like,
Yeah!
Something like that.
Like, you been hot.
Like, are you sure?
[LAUGHTER]
And it's like some 14-year-old somewhere, like--
[LAUGHTER]
Also, what broke my heart the other day
was there was a tweet.
And someone was like, yo, if you reverse what Missy says,
it's like she just reversed the tape.
I was like, that made me feel old.
That really-- I was like, wow.
And they're starting to do it.
Like, and I'm like, yo, this is 18 years ago--
18 years ago.
Y'all are just putting this on Tik Tok and reversing this?
Is there one song that just is just your song.
The cheek mode.
That you're just like, yo, this song--
As soon as the beat drop, crowd go crazy, tearing--
throwing chairs, wildin'.
Ooh.
For me, it would be "Hot Boyz."
You know what?
The "Hot Boyz" is one of my favorite.
And I always tell people that "Hot Boyz," they--
you know, actually it had got a bad call out.
And so the radio stations started taking it off.
But it ended up turning around.
And it ended up being in the Guinness Book of Records
out of all my records.
It beat all of my other records.
It ended up being number one for 18 weeks.
Like, we know musicians and stuff.
And so the problem nowadays is, like, you'll work, like,
two years making an album.
It comes out.
And then 30 seconds in, and then it's like, this is garbage.
Right. [LAUGHS]
What is it like to--
I'm like, how did you do that?
I just-- this just--
Like, you literally could not hear the whole album.
The album was an hour and half long.
How are you calling it a flop already?
But what's it like to, like, create something,
a song like that, and then going through that motions of it
wasn't accepted at first and then having it come back?
What is that whole experience like?
That experience felt-- well, it felt crazy when,
you know-- because me and Tim, we thought that record was fly.
And it was like, are you kidding me?
The whole hood thought it was fly.
And then, you know, one radio station led to another.
So they started taking it off.
And then something happened.
And it was like, see, I told you.
I knew it.
Like, I knew this was the lick.
When you were doing these songs,
was it like, yo, I am an icon.
I'm a legend.
I'm banging these out.
Or was it like, you, I'm just making music.
I'm just making music the whole time.
Somebody does-- they asked me, when
did I feel like I had made it?
And I was like, probably just now.
Like, you know, that time of--
all-- all these years I've just been doing music
and never thought about it.
But last year, the ending kind of like of last year.
And I got some news today that I can't say, but it's making me,
like, feeling my--
feeling myself a little bit.
[LAUGHTER]
Just a little, little, little bit.
I make music every day, every day.
I mean, that ain't saying every joint hot.
I got a lot of blackmail joints in there
that if they ever came out, my career probably would be over.
But I make music every day.
Artists and creative people that-- like, you know,
everybody's different.
But, like, do you wake up in the morning and just be like,
you know, you hear something in your head, like,
or you hear a melody?
Like, how does-- how does a song come about for you?
You know what I'm saying?
I hear stuff all the time.
Like, if we sit here long enough and it's quiet,
I'm going to hear something.
Like a little spring or something?
Something's gonna make it like, yo, that could be it.
Yeah, something.
And that comes from you know Timbaland and myself back then,
you know, just making music with spoons.
- Baby noises. - Yeah.
Yeah.
I watched him make a snare with a ceiling fan.
Ceiling fan, yo!
Yeah.
So, you know, because we didn't have, like,
everything at our fingertips at that time.
So, you know, it was with whatever we could get our hands
on because a lot of times the songs that y'all hear now,
they were created at the--
and sung over just probably two sounds.
So he may do a kick and one noise.
And then I'll create a song.
And then he'll put all of the other music.
That's so-- wow.
What is in the water?
What is in the air in Virginia?
And the water.
Something in the water.
You know what I'm saying?
You and Timbaland, Pharrell, Chad Hugo--
Allen Iverson, everybody.
Chris.
Trey.
MERO: Everybody.
I want to make sure--
Big, Lex, Drama.
Yeah, it's a lot of-- lot of talent in Virginia.
I don't--
Is it just like just--
The positioning of the state?
Like, are you kind of, like, up here and down there?
Y'all above Florida.
You're below--
Well, we all had to create our own sound,
too, because, you know, we--
I felt like we were getting stuff late.
Like, you know, New York--
by the time we got stuff, when--
when Eric B & Rakim came out with something,
by the time they came out with their second single,
we was just getting the first singe.
And so we were late getting a lot of stuff.
And I felt like we created, once again, just because we wasn't
on time with everything, that we started
creating different sounds.
And even, you know, Farrell with The Neptunes sound, I just--
and the great thing about what we always did,
we always encouraged each other because we always
listened to The Neptunes.
And even though we all was from Virginia, like, yo, [MUTED]
crazy.
And you know, that he would do the same for us.
So I don't know what it is.
[LAUGHS]
The V-A.
V-A. Two up, two down.
Yeah, you know the vibe.
Two up, two oh, y'all know that.
Hey.
We usually don't try to get super personal.
But your nails, ma'am, can you just hold
them up to the camera, please?
MERO: All right, yo, nail cam, we out here.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
I don't know anything about nails.
But, like, this whole interview, I'm--
it's shining.
Like, how long did that take?
Like four hours. DESUS: Like four hours?
Yes.
And you got the patience to just be like?
You just be sitting there like?
Yes. Yeah.
I'll be watching "ID."
I'd be on the couch, like, he put them in a trash bag?
Yo, I was like, nah, [MUTED] wife.
His wife did it.
It really make you think like, yo, there's
some crazy people out here.
It's, like, always this man voice is always real scary.
Then I go in the house, start locking up stuff.
I'm looking around.
I'm looking outside.
So I don't know why I watch it, because all I'm doing
is scaring myself. [LAUGHTER]
It's crazy.
Yes.
Do you ever come with the idea that you were like,
you're wildin'?
Well, a funny thing when we did She's a Bi*ch I
remember Puff calling me like, your money,
you're wildin' right now.
Like, he was really mad.
[LAUGHTER]
I can hear his voice.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
What did you want right now?
Like, what you doing?
Like, I was like, yeah.
And so-- but oh, probably when-- when I got a chance to look
back at "Get Ur Freak On."
And I seen the head come out.
And I was like--
What yo?
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
You were just like, yo, I was wildin'
I was wildin'. I was wilding.
Was I wildin'?
I was wilding.
And I was like, you know--
but everything kind of, when I look back at it,
is one of those risk-taking moments.
But I love it, though.
And it worked out for you.
Definitely.
If there is one thing you've learned in your career
that you could tell the younger version of yourself,
what would it be?
Just keep being yourself, unique,
and continue to work as if you're trying to shop a demo.
That has always been my thing, is never
get lazy and lackadaisical.
Always work like you trying to get a deal.
Right, like it's your first job.
Nice.
Wow.
Drop taht knowledge.
Came through with the drip.
Came through with the nails.
What?
You got the resume.
MISSY ELLIOT: [LAUGHING]
- Yo, give it up for Missy. - Missy Elliot, y'all.
Thank you so much for sitting down with us.
Ah, thank y'all.
Thank y'all.
I had a lot of fun.
Oh, my god.
Oh, man, They gonna be mad at me at Versace now.
I got a-- got a lady for you at the-- at the--
MERO: The leather joint? - Yeah.
The blessings.
The blessings coming in.
The blessings come in.
That's when the blessings come in.
The blessings come in.
She'll hook you up.
And she'll make sure you get first dibs on everything.
You got have the money, though.
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
But not before me, though, because I don't want
you rocking the joint. - See?
Now you got to work.
Now you're like, yo.
I don't want to get that record phone call like--
"Yo, this is Missy.
What's Mero wearing?"
[LAUGHTER]