images exclusively via Marie Claire/Micaiah Carter
The long awaited return of Missy Elliott is upon us.
The iconic performer and musical genius is gearing up to release her highly anticipated seventh studio album–her first since 2006’s ‘The Cookbook’ as previously promised.
Ahead of it’s release, Missy sat down for an interview with the good folks at Marie Claire for their August 2019 issue–to dish on the new music, her time away from the spotlight, her legendary career and more.
Get into some of the highlights and images below.
On her acceptance speech as she received her honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music earlier this year
“I didn’t even realize,” she says. “You know what’s so funny? I wrote a speech and got up there and choked up, and before I knew it, I was like, ‘Oh my God, where’s the paper?’ And it was just crumbled up on the podium.” However, she hadn’t closed her eyes to remember her speech or make a harried backup plan for giving one on the fly. She’s Missy Elliott. She went somewhere else entirely.
“I went to the side of my grandmother’s house where I used to play church. I used to shout and sing all kinds of gospel songs. Ones I had made up, ones that existed in the church…I was at that place.” Elliott considers herself a very spiritual person. For her, “God is real because I went to that place and felt like he had his hands on me from a child.”
Looking back on how her music and videos were so ahead of their time
“I was just going, going, going,” she says. “It wasn’t resonating what was happening. After I did the Super Bowl [in 2015], my friends called me and they are like, ‘So, what you about to do?’ I’m here mopping my floor, and I got to wash the dogs. And they are like, ‘What? You just finished doing the Super Bowl.’ And the same thing happened…I was in the car with Michelle Obama [for ‘Carpool Karaoke’ in 2016], and they called me like, ‘Girl, we got to celebrate; that’s huge!’ And I’m like, ‘I’m watching a movie on Netflix.’ Now that I’ve had a chance to slow down, I look back at stuff, and I look back at my ‘She’s a Bitch’ video [1999], and at the time I didn’t even think about it. But I look at it now and I’m like, ‘This is still so many years ahead.’” Now, new Missy music is coming. She says it’s time to make street dudes enjoy dancing again, like in the days of Soul Train. “It’s okay,” she says. “It’s not corny.”
On the first thing she did once she started making more money from music
“I told my mother, ‘I’m going to buy you a house, and I’m going to buy you an elevator incase your legs start hurting.’ And she would laugh and be like, ‘All right, okay.’” Elliott smiles. “But when I got my first check, I didn’t even buy myself a house first. I bought my mother a house. Put a Bible in the soil and built it from the ground up.” Of all the things we’ve discussed so far—her awards, videos, collaborations—this is the accomplishment she speaks of with the most visible pride. In this moment, she is not shy.
On her peers who imparted knowledge onto her, and how she does the same
“Mary [J. Blige], Faith [Evans], Puff [Sean Combs], all of them taught me so many things. I want to be that person that people say, ‘Hey, Missy said she did it like this.’ If a billionaire told me they read 400 books to become a billionaire, I’m going, ‘Where is the Barnes & Noble at? Let me get 400 books.’ And just giving wisdom, because that blessing don’t come for you, like my grandma said, to keep it for yourself. It is to share. And hopefully I have done that. I do want to make the generation behind feel like, don’t be afraid, because we are in a time where so many people can be artists. Now you can just post up, and if it gets to the right person, then it’s just viral. I want to be able to encourage those who don’t go viral….A lot of people out there that have 452 or 100 followers may be talented. I want them to not feel like they have to do what everybody else is doing to gain that attention. Just be you. It’s going to catch hold somewhere.”
What she wants fans to take away after listening to her new album
“There’s no one like Missy. No one.”
.@marieclaire Behind the scenes of the July Cover Issue & that’s @juneAmbrose who styled me for da shoot she cutting up to @Beyonce Adlibs in da back?? pic.twitter.com/EnQKB6aBf5
— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) July 15, 2019
Check out the full interview and all images via Marie Claire HERE
