Missy Elliott
Photo: Josh Brasted/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Missy Elliott Is Ready To Get The World Dancing Again
The GRAMMY-winning superstar Missy Elliott has been an influential powerhouse for years, making a name for herself starting with her successful debut album Supa Dupa Fly in 1997, featuring her classic jam "Sock It 2 Me." Since then she released five more studio albums and countless hit singles and collabs, although her last LP was 2005's The Cookbook. She has released some juicy, one-off singles and has been on some hot features over the past 13 years, but the world is ready for more Missy. Luckily, she is ready to give the world what it wants, teasing a 2019 LP in a recent social media post. What can we expect?
The rap pioneer recently took to Twitter to announce that she's ready to "get y'all a**es dancing again," hinting she'll have new music for us in 2019. The tweet featured a clip of a new unreleased track of hers called "Cool Off," which sounds like it will be a dancefloor-ready banger. Five days before that post, in another tweet, she touched on why it's been so long since she's put out an album. "For so long I was hesitant to put out music in fear no one would get it because people said music has changed & my sound been so different," she shares. "But now I'm like hey, bump it make music that feels good to me, let me get y’all a**es dancing again."
We are ready, Missy. Ready for whatever new jams you have been cooking up. She raps on the sneak peek of "Cool Off, "Missy in this b***h/doing s**t you ain't ever seen." I think we're ready to see it, but for now we will have to hope for whatever magic the hip-hop queen has been preparing for us.
We hope her and longtime friend and collaborator Timbaland have been spending at least some time in the studio together so that he can add his magic, futuristic touch through producing at least a few songs on her upcoming album. The list of Elliott's Timbaland-produced classics is nearly endless, including "Sock It 2 Me" and "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" from her debut Supa Dupa Fly, "One Minute Man" and "Get Ur Freak On" from Miss E…So Addictive and "Work It" and "Gossip Folks" from Under Construction. It is hard to deny how amazing and dynamic the music they put out together is, with his forward thinking production bringing her sound to the next level every time.
Timbaland was the lead producer on all of her studio albums other than her sixth, which he played a smaller role on, and they were working on her seventh album set to release in 2008, along with Pharrell and others on production, until, after delays, the album was never released. Pharrell and Elliott eventually released two singles in 2012 "9th Inning" and "Triple Threat," both of which featured classic slow-jam/future-sound Timbaland beats along with his vocals.
Two years later, in 2015, Elliott teamed up with Pharrell to release the viral hit "WTF (Where They From)," a booty-bouncing, highly danceable track featuring the producer's catchy, joyful beats, as well as some verses from him as well. We can only hope and pray Elliott's latest studio sessions have and will include both GRAMMY-winning mastermind producers to keep lifting her amazing flow and bold presence to the next level with joyous, future-ready beats.
Elliott has always confidently pushed the envelope and set the tone for what it means to be a female hip-hop artist in the male-dominated industry. There is no doubt that she will keep bringing her unique brand of sexy, empowered, independent female to the table in her new music. This year she has already given us a taste of that on the remix of Ciara's girl power track "Level Up." The two celebrate their greatness as women, recognizing they won't settle for less than they deserve, with Elliott confidently rapping, "Original, no klepto'/ Got a new flow, got a new glow./Level up, I'm beautiful/My a**, bounce like a yo-yo."
The remix of the GRAMMY-winning R&B star's recent single reunites the pair, along with Fatman Scoop, the three of whom collabed on "Lose Control," the biggest—and still classic dance-inducing jam—single from Elliott's The Cookbook. Elliott is also featured on "borderline," a bouncy, shiny Pharrell-produced song on Ariana Grande's Sweetener, released this August.
We can only hope these recent features point to some heavy doses of female-empowerment, along with some unexpected yet heavy-hitting, female-dominated collabs on Elliott's 2019 album. The cherry on top that would tie it all together would have to be provided by Timbaland and Pharrell's powerhouse production skills. We will wait patiently and practice our dance moves until then.
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