Her obsession with all things future took firm hold on its follow-ups, 1999’s Da Real World and 2001’s Miss E … So Addictive, and inevitably doubled back on itself with the retro-leaning Under Construction and This Is Not a Test! It culminated in 2005’s The Cookbook, an album that was a confluence of its predecessors - looking backward, moving forward, and upending the trends of the day.īeyond the individualized visions of her solo discography throughout the years, Elliott has become a songwriting and production titan, penning hits for 702, Aaliyah, and Monica, among many others. On her 1997 solo debut, Supa Dupa Fly, she diverged from the often stiff beats-and-rhymes template of the time for a sound that concentrated funk, soul, and late-20th century R&B into a surrealist sonic masterpiece, as weird as it was refreshingly palatable. Since transitioning from Fayze into the quartet Sista - whose New Jack Swing–indebted 1994 debut, 4 All Da Sistas Around the World, was never officially released but is now available on streaming services - Elliott has always put one foot ahead of the rest.

It’s the type of genius that never got bigger than itself, eccentric and outrageous yet easily accessible, yielding mind-melding confections that challenged the notion of what mainstream pop music could be. Alongside partner-in-rhyme Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley, the Virginia Beach native has bridged gaps across genre lines, proffering a sort of creativity that gave us a glimpse of the sound of the future before it even happened. From the start of her career as one-third of the long-defunct rap trio Fayze, Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott has not just redefined pop music - she’s consistently reinvented it.

Busta rhymes break ya neck zippy