Missy Elliott

Missy Elliott
a.k.a. Melissa Elliott, Melissa Elliott, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott

REPEAT OFFENDER

Missy Elliott Drops Her Sophomore Album, and It's All About Da Real World
With her second album, a dope video debut, and a busy, busy songwriting calendar, Missy Elliot is back. It's been two years since her million-selling first album, SUPA DUPA FLY, dropped. In that short time, she's evolved into a pop-music icon, turning conventions in music and notions of beauty inside out. At 26, Missy directs not only her own career but those of artists on her Elektra imprint, Gold Mind. With longtime friend and songwriting partner Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, she's produced hit singles for such hot R&B acts as Total, Whitney Houston, SWV, and Aaliyah. And it doesn't stop there. Her music videos for "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," "Beep Me 911," and "She's a Bitch" have blazed trails, as when the admitted class clown of yesteryear introduced herself to the world through a fish-eye lens, sporting a giant inflatable vinyl jumpsuit. Since then, she's been on the cover of Time and landed a deal to create and promote her own lipstick. Still, as she tells barnesandnoble.com's Martine Bury, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott is happiest when she's in the studio, writing songs, and inventing beats.

barnesandnoble.com: What's the difference between DA REAL WORLD and your debut album, SUPA DUPA FLY?

Missy Elliott: Last time I was just doing a record. I had nothing to prove, even though people on the scene knew me as a songwriter and producer. This time I was like, "Dang, it's gotta be hot. I can't go backwards." And since people copied Timabaland's and my beat so much, we had to totally change our whole sound.

bn: What did you do?

ME: DA REAL WORLD is not a "Missy" record. It's really fast. And most of the new hooks are down South, where I'm from. This is a dance record. To me it's a happier, ghettoed-out, and straight-to-the-point record.

bn: You've been criticized for male-bashing before. With the new record, do you think you'll get as much flak?

ME: I've experienced so much in these two years. I am only speaking on the female side of things. This is what females go through. But there are some straight Jeep joints on the record that the guys are gonna feel.

bn: Who do you like collaborating with best?

ME: I work side by side with Timbaland all the time. We came from the same scene. We have great chemistry, and we feed off each other. We're both edgy and do our beats off-center instead of on. Radio has only just started to get it, with [Aaliyah's] "Are You That Somebody," which we produced.

bn: You seem to have shattered the stereotype of beauty in pop music. What do you think?

ME: In the beginning I was very conscious about the way I looked. I was like "I ain't got long hair. I ain't light-skinned. I ain't wearing tight clothes." After people had seen me in videos, I realized that maybe I didn't have to change. I think it opened a lot of doors [for other women].

bn: What's your earliest memory of the showbiz bug?

ME: I pretty much always thought I was gonna be in this business. From the little girl standing on the trash can singing, to the kid being at the cookout singing, to the kid winning all the talent shows in my high school years -- I felt like it was something there. And God blessed me to run into Devante of Jodeci. He introduced me and Tim to a lot of entertainers. I knew it would happen somehow. Though how successful I would be, I didn't know.

bn: Who inspired you?

ME: People like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Five Star, Chaka Khan, Marvin Gaye, Patti LaBelle -- all the old-school people. I worked with Janet. I rapped on one of her remixes. But just to be able to work with those people or to have them call me is a dream come true. I can't explain the feeling. And I love Whitney. She's so real. Working with her, sometimes I had to stop myself and remember, This is Whitney! But she was just like your homegirl. She was crazy cool.

bn: Anything else in the works?

ME: I'm beginning to write movies. I always want to be far left of everyone else, and I feel, doing the videos that I do, that I could write a movie. Me and Busta [Rhymes], have so many offers for cartoons for HBO. They showed me drawings the other day. Maybe&but right now I've got a lot of people waiting for me to write songs for them.