Missy Elliott Issue #36

"When I walk in, I know what I want," says the rapper-producer. As one of the world’s most important leaders in hip-hop, the Virginia-born artist says she works “like she’s never had a deal.” Judging from her major-league success, her confidently

By Makkada Selah
Published: June 1st, 2008 | 4:20pm

Don't ask Missy Elliott who she backs for president.

“I made a promise the other night that I would never answer that question,” she says. “Me and my friends got into a big debate in my kitchen. It was not nice and went on and on. There was a lot of screaming, and I just stormed off and said, ‘I’ll never talk about this again.’”

Though the singer, songwriter, rapper, producer, and video diva may argue with her friends, Elliott treats them well. In 1991, her all-girl singing group Sista was signed by Elektra imprint Swing Mob, a label started by Jodeci’s Devante Swing. She persuaded the label to take childhood friend Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley — now known as pop producer of the decade, hit-maker for Justin Timberlake, Björk, Aaliyah, and Nelly Furtado — along for the ride. The two formed a songwriting partnership that rivals Sager and Bacharach.

If anyone is to blame for hip-hop going Hollywood, it’s most likely Sean “Diddy” Combs, but Elliott deserves some blame, too. Diddy and Elliott worked with R&B group Jodeci in the mid-1990s. Elliott’s collaborations with Diddy, Timbaland, and other producers were critical in solidifying the amalgamation of pop music and hip-hop. Like Combs, Elliott wrote vocal tracks early in her career but began incorporating hip-hop sounds to propel her music, eventually becoming a rapper herself. And like Combs, she’s a master adapter and adventurer. “P-U-F-F, Ima make ’em go deaf,” she raps in one 1996 track she collaborated with Diddy called “Trippin” by vocal trio Total.

More than 10 years later, Elliott is the only female hip-hop artist to have six certified platinum albums. There’s even a movie in the writing stages about Elliott’s life, which is being written by Dianne Houston, who wrote Take the Lead. Jennifer Hudson is being considered to play the starring role.

“I’ve learned to always work like I’m trying to shop a demo,” Elliott says. “I never get relaxed and feel like I’m that hot. I always work like I ain’t never had a deal.” Though she’s collaborated with “just about everybody,” including childhood idols Janet Jackson and Madonna, she still hasn’t written a song with Kanye West, and she’d like to. So, Kanye, holla at your girl.

We spoke with Elliott by phone in March, while she was in the midst of recording her new album. She invited fans to name the record and after receiving some 20,000 entries, selected the title FANomenal. The album is a signature excursion into the fantastical realm of Missy, framed around highly danceable hip-hop beats peppered with lyrical phrasing by the queen of alliteration and quick wit. She rekindles her longtime partnership with Timbaland on several tracks including “Shake Ur Pom Pom” stacked with playful taunts: “There is no escape when I shake it in your face.” Elliott reveals a softer side as she sings with sweet timbre on “Milk Cookies,” a joint this self-proclaimed shy artist will probably never perform live. In her anthemic “Hip Hop Don’t Die,” she confesses her devotion to the old school with lady producer T Gooch on the beats. Here is Missy at her most lyrical, weaving her unabashed self-image in clever rhymes that speaks to her legions of fans, “Never was a model, Body built like a bottle.”

What do you look for in people whom you collaborate with?
If you want to be creative, original, or different, then do that. People want to hear something fresh, something new, and you can’t be scared. You have to take that risk. I’d rather do it than somebody else do it and then I kick myself in the ass for not doing it. Sometimes I go on YouTube and just look to see if there’s anything up there.

Hopefully I’ll get to work with Amy [Winehouse]. I had a chance to meet Amy when she wasn’t even out in the States. I don’t even think she had a deal yet. She performed overseas, and I was like, “Who is this girl?” And me and Tim[baland] went up to her and told her, “Yo, you hot.” Immediately when I saw her, I was like, “She gon’blow.” It was something different. Something refreshing. So it didn’t surprise me that she’s as big as she is.

She wasn’t giving you flash or a sequins gown or nothing. She was just giving you raw and uncut — “Yo, take me as I am. I just came from the crib. Somebody just called me up to come sing.” And her content, even though it was far out, there was so many people that could relate to what she was singing because it was just raw — it was coming from a real place and her vocals were out of control. It was a rock feel, but she had a southern twang to it. She stood out. And it wasn’t because she had on some name brand ho outfit that had a bunch of gleaming diamonds on it. It was just her. That was the thing that made me and Tim be like, “She’s dope, and she can sing, and she’s giving you raw, uncut lyrics.”

How did your collaboration with Keyshia Cole for “Let It Go” come about?
I had given that record actually to Fantasia. But the label had too many songs, so they didn’t take it. I had the beat, and when I was in the studio with Keyshia, I went to play that one, but then I said, “I don’t know, the label might take it.” But as soon as Keyshia heard it, she was like, “That’s mine.” I’m coming in to record it tomorrow, and I’m going to write the song right now.” So I called Fantasia’s label and told them I’m going to give the record to Keyshia, and then I told Keyshia, “Let’s put Kim on it,” because we hadn’t had a record since “Ladies Night” with all females on the track.

Hip-hop has almost become pop music now. Do you think it’s lost touch with the underground?
I think it most definitely is missing something. I am happy that hip-hop most definitely has crossed over because who would have thought 12 years ago — or back in Public Enemy and Salt-N-Pepa and them days — that we would even be this far and matter so much in mainstream. But I think these kids don’t know the old hip-hop. Some kids have just mastered a formula: “Let’s talk about this, and let’s make our beat like this ’cause this is the new sound and these are the new topics,” as opposed to back in the day, you couldn’t compare artists. You couldn’t compare Salt-N-Pepa to MC Lyte. You couldn’t compare Big Daddy Kane to Public Enemy. Everybody was different and original. They showed their skills. It wasn’t about how many people they done killed or how many keys they done sold. It was about “You don’t have the rhymes to battle me on the mic.” Back then it wasn’t as materialistic as it is now. It was about my skills, my art. But you can’t be mad at the development because of how hip-hop touched the world. I went to Japan, and it’s like a whole other world. You go to a store and they may have a Heavy D rap that I’ve never heard before. They’re really deep into hip-hop. Just to be able to touch so many places like that — that’s the greatness that’s come out of hip-hop becoming mainstream.

What MC have you learned the most from?
Between Salt-N-Pepa and MC Lyte, I don’t know which one I was the biggest fan of. But what I like about Lyte, her delivery was insane, and she was saying some stuff. Like “Cappuccino” — what makes someone rap about coffee? I remember first hearing “Paper Thin” at a house party, and I was young. And they just kept playing it over and over again. And honestly I thought it was a guy because she was spittin’ so hard. I was like, “Yo, who is this dude?” They were like, “No, it’s this girl, MC Lyte.” Every time I see Lyte, I’m always rapping something from her first album, and she always laughs and says, “Get out of here,” knowing that I know every lyric from top to bottom. Females back then, most definitely, could get in the ring with any dude.

A lot of mainstream rappers — men and women — are coming under attack for use of the word “bitch.” But one of your most popular songs is called “She’s a Bitch,” and you’ve defended your use of the word. Why?
When men are aggressive and come in and take a stand, that’s seen as normal. When women do that, the first word out of a person’s mouth is “she a bitch.” And if you’re secure in knowing what you are, you’re not threatened by that. Of course, we don’t want the kids growing up walking around saying “bitch,” but it’s about how you use it. Honestly, I have friends that sit around and address each other as that, and it’s never a problem. You can kind of feel when somebody’s calling you that in a derogatory way. So, for me, it’s just a woman taking a stand.

What about the word “ho”?
I haven’t thought too much about the word “ho” [laughs].

I’m secure in who I am. You called me a “ho,” but I know I ain’t no ho.

Parents need to stop depending on TVs and videos being children’s guardian. When they start getting on MCs, they need to stop it. I grew up hearing stuff like that, but I was taught that’s not correct. Parents need to realize that artists aren’t role models. We’re human, too.

Has there been pressure from other people for you to lose weight?
There’s never been pressure from my fans or even my label to ever lose weight. So I never felt like because someone said I needed to lose weight, or because this is the “look” right now, that I need to lose weight. The reason I lost weight is because I have high blood pressure. I take two blood pressure pills a day. And my doctor told me, “If you want to be around, you’re going to have to lose weight.” So that was my focus.

But once you lose it, you also feel good. You not tired. I can walk up the steps and not feel like I’m gonna fall down 30 steps. And you do feel good when you can fit into those jeans you haven’t worn since junior high school. Sometimes we make excuses and say we’re fine with our weight, but that’s because we don’t want to get out there, go to the gym, and work it off. But if people could come down pounds, they would.

If there’s any time that my weight was an issue, it may have been high school — dealing with those type of kids — but I still could move, I still could dance, I still wore the clothes I liked to wear, so by the time I became an artist I had become comfortable. I had been joked by my cousins all my life, so I was prepared. Friends and family used to joke, and sometimes it would be a fat joke, and I’d be like, “OK, cool.”

How do you and Timbaland work so well together?
I just talked to Tim the day before yesterday. We’ve known each other 17 years, so we handle each other like family. We get on each other’s nerves, and we love each other to death. In the studio, there are times when he might feel strongly about a record, and he’ll be like, “Are you crazy? This joint gon’ be the record.” And then I may be like, “This gon’ be the record,” and he may be like, “It’s all right, but I like this one better.” So we love to go back and forth, but we still respect each other’s opinion, because I think he’s a great talent, and I know he feels the same about me. I believe if he’s feeling a track, he’s got a great ear for it. And I think he looks at me like, “She’s not just listening to the record. She’s thinking about her video, too, so I’ma ride with her on this one.”

How have you been able to command so much respect from men in the industry, and what do you think needs to happen for more opportunities to become available for women in the music industry?
I’ve never compromised my music or my videos for whatever was hot at that moment. When I walk in, I know what I want. I don’t allow people to come in and speak for me and say, “We think you should do it like this or that.” I go in saying, “This is my vision.” When you walk in with confidence, you make people believe that you know what you’re going to do, and there’s no doubt that it’s going to work. Men like to see that.

When they see weakness — even a little bit of weakness — it makes them doubt. I think that’s how women gotta be. Like Mary [J. Blige], she knows. That’s why she’s been around for so long. Because she can walk in a room and say, “This is where I wanna go this album,” so she makes the world believe. That’s what females need to do — hold their own, and be confident and have no doubts about what they’re doing. Make everyone else believe.