Missy Elliott, also known as Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, is a Grammy Award-winning rapper, singer, songwriter, producer and actress. She has released several platinum albums while writing and producing hits for the likes of Aaliyah, 702, SWV, Total, Monica and Fantasia among others. She is also known for her creative music videos that took the visuals to the next level.

Born Melissa Arnette Elliott in Portsmouth, Virginia on July 1, 1971, Missy began making music in 1991 with an all-female group called Fayze. They met a rapper named Melvin “Magoo” Barcliff, who connected them with producer Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley and the group recruited Tim to produce for them. Their tracks caught the attention of DeVante Swing, the main producer and songwriter of the R&B group Jodeci. He renamed Missy’s group from Fayze to Sista and also gave Timbaland his name as he made them a part of his Swing Mob (a.k.a. Da Bassment Crew), which also included singers Ginuwine, Tweet, and the group Playa. Sista released the song “Brand New” in 1993 and Missy appeared on Raven-Symoné’s single “That’s What Little Girls Are Made Of” the same year. Missy and Timbaland contributed to Jodeci’s second album, Diary of a Mad Band, in 1993 and their third album, The Show, the After Party, the Hotel, in 1995. DeVante and Timbaland co-produced Sista’s album 4 All the Sistas Around da World but it was shelved and the Swing Mob dissolved, leading Missy, Timbaland, Ginuwine, Playa, and Magoo to form The Superfriends collective.

Missy and Timbaland formed a production/songwriting duo–a duo included on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. They created hits such as SWV’s “Can We”, Total’s “What About Us?”, and they crafted half of Aaliyah’s 1996 double platinum sophomore album One in a Million. Missy worked with Timbaland on her debut album Supa Dupa Fly, which was released on July 15, 1997 and featured game-changing music videos for the singles “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” “Sock It 2 Me,” with Da Brat, “Beep Me 911” with 702 and Magoo, and “Hit Em wit da Hee” with Lil' Kim. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and achieved platinum status. She followed that with another platinum album, 1999’s Da Real World featuring the singles “She’s a Bitch,” “All n My Grill” with Big Boi, and the remix to “Hot Boyz” with Nas, Eve, Q-Tip and Lil' Mo.

Missy began the 2000s with three platinum albums in consecutive years with 2001’s Miss E… So Addictive featuring the platinum hit “Get Ur Freak On,” 2002’s Under Construction featuring the double platinum hit “Work It,” and 2003’s This Is Not a Test!, while 2005’s The Cookbook was another platinum album featuring the triple platinum hit “Lose Control” with Ciara and Fatman Scoop. Missy also wrote, produced and featured on a number of songs, including the platinum hits “1, 2 Step” with Ciara and “Let It Go” with Keyshia Cole and Lil' Kim.

Missy is one of the most accomplished women in the music business. On top of selling over 40 million albums, she received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2019 MTV VMAs for her innovative music videos, honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2021, and she was the first female rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.

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