Hall of Fame for magnificent Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott: First female rapper to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Bizarrely, Missy Elliot is the first female rapper to receive the award, which is incredible when you think of the wonderful women who have graced the platform over the decades. Lauryn Hill, Roxanne Shante, Sha-Rock, MC Lyte and many more have blessed the mic. Queen Latifah, who introduced Missy on the night, was one of many pioneers who blazed the trail for female MC’s, said it best; ‘Nothing sounded the same after Missy came on the scene. And that’s because Missy has always been a futurist, someone who is always looking ahead. She is avant-garde without even trying.’
It’s not the first time Missy has kicked down the doors. Having already achieved a degree of success with her own group Sista and writing for heralded acts such as Jodeci, it was her partnership with Timbaland that really helped change things up in the 90s. As an up and coming DJ playing hip-hop and r&b back in the mid 90s there was nothing that could have prepared me for the music they made together for both Missy herself and for other acts of the day (SWV, 702, Aaliyah). The second Aaliyah album revolutionised the game for me and her own debut album soon followed. This was like nothing we’d ever heard before.
This was the first time tracks of such slow BPM rocked dancefloors. Previously, slow jams or other music with a lower beats per minute, could prove successful, but they didn’t have the kind of drums that Timbaland was programming. Himself and Missy became a prolific production team, and Aaliyahs “One in a Million” and Missy’s own “Supa Dupa Fly” were some of the most influential records of that or any other era. I used to DJ every saturday night in the Back Bar of Sir Henrys at the time, and this music changed everything. At first, I used to play the songs when people were coming in, as they were so slow, but later on, they worked later in the night too.
The BPM levels worked well with music such as reggae and helped make the dancefloor open to many other styles. This music also pre-dated trap by many years, and while it’s typical to have 80 bpm tunes now, back then it was a new style really. Over 25 years on, we take it for granted, but Latifah was right, Missy changed everything.
The songwriting and delivery was also amazing, and whether it was Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Destiny’s Child or Missy herself, these were songs which were immaculately constructed. Missy was a multi talented artist in her own right, who was as good a singer as she was a rapper, and her own solo career was no surprise. Her artistic vision was demonstrated not only in her cutting edge music but in her music videos too, and she has always remained avant garde and futuristic throughout her career. She has remained respectful to the roots and essence of hip-hop too, and is as universally loved as anyone within the culture, from the old school to the new school.
Missy is an abuse survivor who has always used her own experiences to help empower women everywhere and Queen Latifah was gushing in her praise; ‘Missy has never been afraid to speak out about the misconceptions, the stereotypes, and the straight-up misogyny that has been placed — and the obstacles — that have been put in place in the way of women.’ She added, ‘Missy’s message really is for everyone, and that message is, “It’s possible to do everything and to be great at it.
In this 50th year of hip-hop I can’t think of anyone who embodies the culture more. An incredible rapper, singer, writer and producer who is also a style icon and visionary who is always quick to use her talents to promote other artists too. This once, it’s fitting that Missy takes center stage, and gets her just recognition of being one of not only hip-hops but music’s greatest ever artists.
