Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
One day, they’ll look back at Missy Elliott’s career and say, wow, how is it that she had it all? She sold over 40 million records. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Her sound helped change the sound of hip-hop, and her videos helped change the look of videos. Billboard named her one of the greatest music video artists of all time and MTV agreed. She was creative, innovative, colorful, brilliant and full of joy. She was giving us body positivity before that was a term. She was a feminist and an afrofuturist. In a time when it was hard for women to get a chance to rap and all but impossible for women to produce music, she did both well and successfully. Now a broad crop of massive artists say they look at her as an inspiration — Lil Wayne, Lizzo, Tyler, the Creator, MIA, Doja Cat, and on and on.
It makes sense that Missy was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because she’s had an incredible career. Decades from now, when they look back on her generation, they’ll have to talk about her.
I remember the first time I saw Missy like it was yesterday. She burst into the culture in a very loud way. I was watching MTV when I saw her — this was back when MTV played videos all the time so we watched MTV all the time. When the video for “Supa Dupa Fly” came on, I heard this funky beat and the sample from Ann Peebles’s unforgettable “I Can’t Stand The Rain,” a song I’d always loved. I’m thinking, OK, this sounds cool. And then I saw her. Some chick I’d never seen before was dancing in a giant inflated garbage bag like she was hip-hop’s…
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