Feminist icon: Missy Elliott
by A Prouten
Dear Missy Elliott,
Thank you for putting out the best booty wiggling, bass-thundering, dance tracks of our time, which we can't but dance to in any way other other than hip-rolling lustiness. We love your tush-shaking splendour and your candid sex banter which challenges the boy rappers, competes with the gangstas and still leaves the buggers speechless (unless, of course you've paid them to be on one of your tracks). You've shown us that you can shake a whole lotta ass without showing a whole lotta ass and that you can talk dirty without actually being a dirty ho at the mercy of your producers and record label.
You've pioneered the way in new hip hop electro, but still with a funky respect towards old school. You're the mega big business-woman with bling the size of the universe but haven't made it wearing a skimpy bikini and rubbing up some rapper dude's thigh.
When other girly rappers were dieting to size zero so they could gyrate in a Dolce and Gabbana thong and a pair of kinky boots, you celebrated your ample curves and rapped about the wonders of the flesh until health concerns forced you to shed a few pounds.
Respect laydee!
Big love, the Mookychicks xxx
Mooky Factor:
A strong runner for a 10! Mega successful bad-assed babe with huge quirky talent, potty-mouthed lyrics and vids that are as mad as a box of frogs. And we could all try that old line, bla bla bla' to the boyf after he's been particularly skilful in the sack. Oh, and talking of sacks, did we mention her bed. Missy sleeps in a mega-bling converted Ferrari. How mooky is that? You go girl!
Missy Elliott Links:
Ultimate queen of hip hop
Missy 'Misdemeanour' Elliot started life in 1971 as Melissa Elliott in Virginia, US. She began her singing career in a group called Sista, which never quite made it to vinyl. After that she became a featured rapper on Puff Daddy's tracks. But it wasn't until she collaborated with old neighbourhood chum Timothy Mosley (aka Timbaland) that things started rocking and a string of hits followed, both as a solo artist in her own right and as a writer for others. Get Yer Freak On was undeniably her first global dance hit. It wasn't your average stereotypical rap offering, and neither was the video which features all sorts of monsters, including herself with a strange morphed stretchy head and tongue. Since then Missy Elliot has gone from strength to strength, with 7 albums, many of them going platinum, and numerous industry awards, including 4 Grammys. She's also had her own TV show in the states called The Road To Stardom.
Dance always features strongly in her vids with some stunning choreography and visual puns. In Work It we see Missy breaking and popping like a pro, whilst a load of flies buzz around her (yo fly girl!). Check out Missy Elliot on www.youtube.com. You'll find all sorts of funky videos, including rare mixes and funny clips of complete tossers doing their own Missy Elliot dance vids. Surrealism also features strongly in many of the Missy vids. In Lose Control she emerges from the ocean in a black rubber wetsuit with big spiky things all over it. Indeed, she's as eccentric as 'Grandaddy Funk', George Clinton. Oh, and she can bogle like a bad-ass and do a mean moonwalk as well!
De rigeur Missy tracks to have on your ipod:
4 My People
Get Ur Freak On
Work It
Pass The Dutch
Lose Control
Bad Man
We Run This
Missy's own fashion label:
Respect M.E. for Adidas.
Best Missy Elliott lyrics:
Sex me so good I say blah-blah-blah
Work it! I need a glass of wat-ah
Boy oh boy its good to know ya
(Work It)
I got a cute face, chubby waist Down South girls got them real BIG BUTTS Being the best, wittiest female rapper in the whole known universe. Ever. Notorious for her potty-mouthed lyrics and having pride in being a chubby rump-jiggler. Famed for producing and working with just about everyone from Lil' Kim and Christina Aguilera to Pharrell Williams, Justin Trousersnake, Pink, Janet Jackson,Nelly Furtado, Beyonce and even old Whitney Houston. She was even a fish called Missy in the animated film, Shark Tale and had all the little penguins dancing in Happy Feet (OK, that last bit's not strictly true, but it's on youtube). Performing in a bikini, making the headlines through wearing no knickers in public, shagging footballers or gangstas. Seriously, little known facts include Elliott's dog Poncho, a Yorkshire Terrier, appearing in the Lose Control video. She is also the spokesperson for 'Break The Cycle', an anti-domestic violence charidee. It's also a little known fact that Missy was in a branding battle with the Queen of Denmark, whose monogram is rather similar to the Respect M.E. clothing range logo that Elliot fronts for Adidas.
Thick legs, in shape
Rump shakin, both ways
Make you do a double take
Planet rocker, show stopper
Flow proper, head knocker
Beat styler, tail dropper
Do my thang, motherfucker
(Lose Control)
Real big butts make ya man wanna look (OH!)
Back it up, flip it up, skinny girls - eugh!
Love my guts, so fuck a tummy tuck
(Pump It Up)Missy Elliott Best Known For:
Missy Elliott Least Known For:
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