But Melissa Arnette Elliott was
Born in the Summer of 1971 in Portsmouth, Virginia, Melissa, or 'Missy'
as her family called her, always knew she wanted to be a superstar.
Her mother experienced daily physical abuse at the hands of Missy’s father.
It wasn’t until Missy was 14 that her mother finally packed up their things
and the two of them started a new life.
In high school, Missy formed an all-girl rap group called Fayze, which eventually changed its name to Sista.
She started cutting class to sneak the group into her living room for rehearsals.
Her mother and teachers were baffled by how someone with such a high IQ could be in danger of failing every subject.
Sista performed at talent shows and local colleges.
The group caught the eye of Jodeci’s DeVante Swing who got them a short-lived recording contract.
After Sista faded and fell apart, Missy and Tim began writing and producing tracks.
The traumatic experience of writing Raven-Symoné’s
'That's What Little Girls Are Made Of’ in 1993 and rapping a verse
Instead, she and Tim wrote hits for R&B acts such as SWV, 702, Ginuwine, Monica, and, of course, Aaliyah.
‘One in a Million,’ Aaliyah’s sophomore album released in 1993, was penned and produced
by Missy Elliott and Timbaland. They also had a hand in her self-titled project
that was released a few months before Aaliyah’s tragic death in August of 2001.
In 1995, Missy struck a deal with Elektra Entertainment Group at the age of 24.
She had a solo record deal and founded her own label, The Goldmind Inc.
With a more secure grip on her career, Missy was ready to redefine rap.
Missy Elliott’s debut studio album ‘Supa Dupa Fly’ arrived in 1997
under the moniker Recorded in only a week,
Even decades later, the video for ‘The Rain,’ directed by Hype Williams, is a fixation of hip-hop heads
still in love with its use of fish-eye lens and Missy’s wavy, baggy, intergalactic style.
♪Look like it's bout to rain, what a shame♪
♪I got the Armor All to shine up the stain♪
Singles such as ‘Get Ur Freak On’ kept her momentum going with another insane beat
to get bodies movin’ and parties jumpin’.
Missy’s 4th studio album ‘Under Construction’ was certified platinum only a month after
its release in 2002 and double platinum a year later.
♪Is it worth it? Let me work it I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it♪
Despite how close Missy is with fellow creatives Timbaland and Pharrell Williams,
the only two people in the industry she believes truly understand her,
she has always insisted on recording her music in privacy.
Aside from her dogs, no one is allowed in the studio with her. In the midst of success,
'Seeing, you know, my eyes changing, your hair fall out, your skin change.'
'Everything. For me, that was traumatic.'
Facing her mortality, Missy did what was best for her, but
The mid-2000s saw two more Missy Elliott projects, ‘This is Not a Test’ in 2003
and ‘The Cookbook’ in 2005, but then she went radio silent for nearly a decade.
Artists such as Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and Fantasia still called upon Missy
for her expert ear and pen, but music of her own was placed squarely on the back burner
while she managed her Graves disease and gave her creativity time to refresh.
In 2015, she re-entered the spotlight in a big way.
Katy Perry was the headliner for that year’s Super Bowl halftime show, and called up Missy for an appearance.
Katy invited the hip-hop icon to perform three of her classic jams for millions.
Missy knew she had to strike while the iron was hot, but things needed to be just right.
In April 2015, the music video for single ‘WTF (Where They From)’ made a splash.
that took four months to complete.
♪The dance you doing is dumb How they do where you from♪
♪Stickin' out your tongue girl But you know you're too young♪
In 2017, Billboard recognized Missy Elliott as the best-selling female rapper in Nielsen history,
a testament to her talent that was underscored by her becoming
the first female rapper to be nominated for the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.
She took hip-hop by the horns and bent it to the will of her refreshingly unique style.
Missy has been teasing fans with short clips of unreleased music on Instagram,
promising a new project is on the way for 2019.