Master Missy - writer, singer, producer and label head Missy Elliott - Interview

Interview, June, 1999 by Michael Musto

There's no Svengali figure behind Missy Elliott. She's the Svengali - the writer, the rapper, the singer, the producer, the label head

Out of the musical fog created by bombastic belters, svelte sirens, and funkless divas, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott has emerged as a human wake-up call, a reel-deal bundle of sass and style who does things her way. The pleasingly plumpish star emanates genuine girl power with her distinctly female protestations about the resistance women face when they're confident and successful (which she is). In '97, the Portsmouth, Va.-born ex-choir singer, nee Melissa, released her smash debut, Supa Dupa Fly, and established herself as a singer-rapper-writer with a welcome penchant for humor and positivity. Since then she's performed at Lilith Fair, produced the soundtrack for Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998), developed artists for her own record label (Gold Mind), and worked with the likes of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. She's back with the CD Da Real World (Elektra), featuring guest stars Eminem, Aaliyah, and Destiny's Child, and the single "She's a Bitch," an answer to all the name-calling that greets her type of ambition. A more accurate epithet would be the distaff Quincy Jones - she's a bitch of a talent. And with her unconventional approach and severe distaste for BS, she's probably da realest girl in da biz right now.

MICHAEL MUSTO: Tell me about your new song, "She's a Bitch."

MISSY ELLIOTT: Music is a male-dominated field. Women are not always taken as seriously as we should be, so sometimes we have to put our foot down. To other people that may come across as being a bitch, but it's just knowing what we want and being confident. If I'm paying people and they're not handling my business right, I have to check them. 'Cause sometimes you're nice and people don't jump on what they're supposed to do, but if you go in there screaming at everybody - "Look, why aren't my posters up?" or "Why wasn't my single out on this day?" - then they jump right on it.

MM: A guy wouldn't have to do all that?

ME: For a guy, though, it's just considered aggressive. You don't hear people call males bitches. But I've heard that people talk that way about Chaka Khan. And Aretha Franklin: If it was cold in the studio, she'd put the mike down and leave. Someone who sees her act like that may say, "She's a bitch," but she just means business when she says, "Yo, please have the heat up when I get there." Of course, nobody's gonna call her a bitch to her face. But I hear makeup artists all the time saying, "Oh, I had to do such-and-such's makeup. She's a bitch." When it's just that such-and-such knows how she wants her face. With the new single, a lot of people were like, "Wow, you're taking a chance with that title." But it's really taking off.

MM: This is your second CD. After the big success of the first one, do you have sophomore jitters?

ME: Oh, yeah, you're gonna be nervous dealing with a sophomore, a junior anything. [laughs] There's always pressure for it to be hotter than the last album, so you critique it harder.

MM: Was it important for you to have a lot of guest stars on this record?

ME: I like collaborating, but I felt I should do my Fast single by myself so people don't think I'm leaning on other artists to be a success.

MM: I've heard it said you want to be a female Quincy Jones.

ME: People ask, "What do you think about being called Puff Mommy?" Puffy's a very successful young man, so 1 don't have a problem if that's what they wanna call me. If anybody calls me a female Quincy Jones, that's way, way complimentary. That's something I'll cherish for life.

MM: But are you afraid that focusing on the entrepreneurial aspect won't leave you enough time for your music?

ME: No, because I really enjoy writing and producing for other artists. Some people save their best songs for their own albums. I'd rather give another artist one of my songs. At the end of the day, it still represents me. MM: What do you feel is your strongest talent - the rapping, the writing?

ME: The writing. I've always had an imagination and I listen to a lot of different writers. If you listen to my songs, they tell stories. I don't write in song form, I write almost as if I'm in conversation with somebody. That's my way of getting something off my chest. The rapping is cool, but my lines aren't all that fly. People like Biggie Smalls or Jay-Z who say stuff that you have to rewind and listen to twice and be like, "Wow, what made them say that?" or "I would have never thought about saying that" - those are rappers I really look up to. As far as flows, I can give you flows all day.

MM: You produced the soundtrack for Why Do Falls Fall in Love, which had contemporary spins on Frankie Lymon's music rather than his music itself.

ME: Right. Frankie Lymon was hot in his day, but if you put that on the shelf right now, people wouldn't run out and say, "I have to get the Frankie Lymon soundtrack."

MM: But why make a movie if you have no confidence in the music it's based on? The studio seemed a little embarrassed in the way they put out a soundtrack that didn't have much to do with Frankie.