MISSY ELLIOTT

Born: Melissa Elliott; Portsmouth, Virginia, 1971

Genre: Hip-Hop, R&B

Best-selling album since 1990: Miss E . . . So Addictive (2001)

Hit songs since 1990: "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," "Get Ur Freak On," "Work It"

Hip-hop has always relied on outsize personalities to attract an audience, and Missy Elliott is no exception. She differs from many of her peers, however, in the way her individuality informs her music—rather than simply boast about her skills and fame, she employs a comedic and conceptual sophistication that makes her innovative. Since her debut in the mid-1990s, she has produced a string of hits for herself and other artists. They are at once giddy and sexually forceful, and they cut mercilessly through stereotypes. Though first pegged as a female rapper oddity, Missy Elliott has become a hip-hop visionary.

Partners for Success

Missy Elliott endured an abusive upbringing in Portsmouth, Virginia, in which music was her only escape. She instantly took to the new sound of hip-hop, and in her teens she began to write her own lyrics. In the early 1990s she was discovered by DeVante Swing, the Jodeci singer, who signed her to his roster of singers and musicians, which included Timbaland, her future production partner. She released a record with the group Sista titled 4 All the Sistas Around da World (1994), but the label folded soon after its release. She remained close to Timbaland, who asked her to write lyrics for songs he was producing for R&B singer Aaliyah. The resulting album, One in a Million (1996), was a smash hit and led to more work and exposure for the pair as hired guns. Later in 1996 Elektra Records signed Missy Elliott for her solo debut.

Supa Dupa Fly was released in 1997 to outstanding critical acclaim and sales. The interplay of Elliott's bold raps and Timbaland's retro-futuristic beats took radio by storm with a sound that was alternately catchy and disarmingly strange. The first single, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," floats on Timbaland's "typewriter-funk" beat, creating a charged atmosphere with a smooth Ann Peebles sample and Elliott's lockstep flow. "Hit'Em Wit da Hee," a funk workout performed with Lil' Kim, expresses Elliott's self-confidence with the line, "It wasn't your car that had me all in love with you / Cause I've got my own ride and a trunk full of tunes." Although she is on the lookout for love, Elliott makes it clear that she refuses to compromise for anyone; the same philosophy applies to the eclectic music. Elliott displays her songwriting and vocal versatility with soulful, sultry R&B tracks like "Friendly Skies" and "Best Friends," recorded with Aaliyah.

So Addictive

After the massive success of Supa Dupa Fly, the Elliott/Timbaland sound extended throughout the music industry. The team wrote hits for other artists and rival producers adopted their twisted sonics. By the release of Da Real World (1999), their signature sound was dangerously close to feeling dated. They rebounded with an even stronger set of songs, racking up more hits and proving that the true force behind their work was Elliott's gift for songwriting. Da Real World is a darker affair; it confronts the stereotypes of rap and females in rap with a firmer hand, especially in the single "She's a Bitch." Missy Elliott's potent sexuality shines through in "Hot Boyz," a gender-twisted take on the typical hip-hop cat-call song. Timbaland's jittery, propulsive beats give each song a futuristic flair, making for deceptively simple soundscapes that elevate both the mind and the body. Da Real World established Missy Elliott as the most formidable force in hip-hop.

At the same time Missy Elliott began to appear in TV and print advertisements, further solidifying her position as a rap icon. In a series of music videos, she set herself apart from the typical hip-hop female. She boldly positioned herself as a well-proportioned woman and disarmed naysayers by wearing an inflatable bag suit and robot armor, among other costumes. By moving against the grain, she defined the state of hip-hop and the female viewpoint within it.

This momentum brought great expectations for her third album, Miss E . . . So Addictive (2001). A stylistic paean to the sensual joys of the club drug ecstasy (which she describes in the song "X-tasy" as "a place of fulfillment and fantasies / Where your dreams become realities"), the album explores deeper textures, traversing styles from hard-core rap to dance to soulful ballads. Timbaland's sonic design is at its most effective, with nuanced sounds and samples supporting Elliott's vocal and compositional talents. The single "Get Ur Freak On" imagines a crossroads of rap and dance. Its dense and dazzling beat drives Elliott's unmistakable rhyming. She addresses rappers Method Man and Redman in the steamy "Dog in Heat." Her need for love, but demand for respect, crystallize in the line, "When you come home from work, I'm gon' make you do more work." The gorgeous "Take Away," a nearly psychedelic ballad recorded with R&B singer Ginuwine, balances the visceral thrills of those songs with a swirling backing track. The two singers debunk the superficiality of rap in the chorus, "Take away, your gold and platinum chains / Cause I'm gon' love, love you anyway / I'm not in it for, for the love of cash / Cause if you go broke, I gotta make it last." Miss E . . . So Addictive is Missy Elliott's warmest album to date.

Back to the Future

Missy Elliott and Timbaland switched gears for Under Construction (2002), a retrospective tribute to hip-hop's glory days. The album celebrates the joyous grooves of Miss E . . . So Addictive while venerating the simple party atmosphere of golden age rap. The single "Work It" finds Elliott in top form, spinning rhymes about her sexual and artistic prowess ("Let me work it / I put my thing down flip it and reverse it") over a beat loaded with 1980s touchstones like cowbells and dizzy record scratches. She ratchets up the fun with "Gossip Folks," a playful diatribe recorded with the manic Ludacris, and "Nothing Out There for Me," in which she convinces R&B diva Beyoncé Knowles to leave her man at home and party. "Back in the Day" sets the theme of the album: Elliott longingly asks, "What happened to those good old days, when hip-hop was so much fun / those parties in the summer y'all, and no one came through with a gun." The record concludes on a reflective note with "Can You Hear Me," a tribute to deceased singers Aaliyah and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.

Missy Elliott's work is consistently engaging. Whereas some rappers choose a demeanor and create songs to reinforce it, Elliott writes lyrics that emanate from a strong, powerful soul.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Supa Dupa Fly (1997, Elektra); Da Real World (1999, Elektra); Miss E . . . So Addictive (2001, Elektra); Under Construction (2002, Elektra).

WEBSITE:

www.missy-elliott.com.

sean cameron