Missy Elliott
photo: atlantic records · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Melissa “Missy” Elliott is a Virginia-born rapper, singer, and producer who, with longtime collaborator Timbaland, reengineered the sound of late-1990s and 2000s hip-hop and R&B with skittering, futuristic beats. A former member of the R&B group Sista, she became one of the best-selling female rappers in history and one of pop's most inventive music-video auteurs.
The call-and-response vocal stacking and gospel-choir precision Missy grew up on in a Baptist household — she's said she'd play a Clark Sisters tape when she couldn't get to church — surface in the layered ad-libs and vocal runs across her records.
listen forCue The Clark Sisters' 'You Brought the Sunshine (Into My Life)' before Missy's 'Lose Control' — listen for the same stacked, joyous vocal chanting driving the track's energy.
Missy's early apprenticeship inside DeVanté Swing's Swing Mob — the same crew that built Jodeci's sound — shows up in her love of hip-hop-inflected R&B vocal texture over programmed, off-kilter beats.
listen forPlay Jodeci's 'Freek'n You' next to Missy's 'Sock It 2 Me' — listen for the same smoky, hip-hop-soul vocal stacking over a stuttering drum pattern.
Prince's minimalist, synth-forward funk arrangements — stripped to a beat, a bassline, and attitude — echo in Missy's own sparse, futuristic production choices; the two admired each other and had discussed collaborating.
listen forPut Prince's 'Kiss' next to Missy's 'She's a Bitch' — listen for the same trick of making a track feel huge with almost nothing in it but rhythm and voice.