Missy Elliott is everywhere and getting all her flowers for the past two years, and we are so happy to see it.
Ahead of her headlining set at the 2023 Essence Festival, the music icon is gracing the cover of Essence Magazine and dishing between the pages.
During the interview, Missy dishes on her iconic career, upbringing, her recent induction as the first female rapper ever inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and more.
Everything she touches turns to gold… even the July/August cover of Essence! https://t.co/Zkflzkj24O pic.twitter.com/BhdmcfYrdo
— ESSENCE (@Essence) June 20, 2023
Get into some of the highlights below.
On New Music:
It’s been four years since Elliott’s last project, the EP Iconology, and nearly 20 since her last studio album with new songs. Since some of the fans dancing to her music on TikTok look like they have to adhere to curfews, it’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s been a lifetime. The streets wanna know when some new Misdemeanor will rattle their Jeep speakers.
“I got some new stuff in the works,” Elliott says, promising that it will be “fun” and “upbeat.” I can hear her grinning on the Zoom. I don’t get a chance to ask when we’ll get to hear it, but I’m praying it will be soon because it’s not really summertime until we hear her shout “NEW MISSY!” at the beginning of a track like a food-fight announcement. “I never tell dates,” Elliott explains. “‘Cause when I tell you dates, it will get you in trouble with them fans.”
She also dished on collaborations she’d like to make happen including one with Rihanna who she says she was set to work with a few times but things fell through due to schedules. She also dished on wanting to do a video for her 2003 collaboration ‘Signs’ with Beyonce from her debut album ‘Dangerously In Love.’
Despite the roster of well-respected artists she’s already worked with, she has more on her wish list. She names André 3000, Rihanna (“We were supposed to have worked a few times. I think the scheduling was off or something, I don’t know—we just never have!”), Erykah Badu and Jill Scott (“I want them to rap!”) as artists she’d love to collaborate with. Elliott also isn’t afraid to revisit old songs. She says she’s down to finally make a music video for “Signs,” a Beyoncé deep cut that taught generations the correct order of the zodiac signs. “Yeah, she gon’ have to pull that back out,” Missy says with girlish delight. If I’m quiet enough, I can hear her wheels turning.
You can view the full article HERE.
