HIP HOP HISTORY MONTH: 5 Things To Know About Missy Elliot - Page 4

Source: ROBYN BECK / Getty

Missy Elliott is in a class of her own in the school of hip-hop. Elliott, who recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, is a proud one-woman-band, serving as the singer, songwriter, rapper and producer of most of her tracks. She’s also lent her production prowess and songwriting skills to a impressive roster of artists like Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, TLC, Ciara, Lil’ Kim, Jazmine Sullivan, Aaliyah, Ginuwine and the list goes on and on. When it’s time for the four-time Grammy winner to bring her tracks to life, she partners with music video directors like Dave Meyers and Hype Williams to create these innovative, ground-breaking music videos full of special effects that show there are no bounds to how far her imagination can go.

Take a look below and read five facts about the Virginia-bred femcee below.

Source: Chance Yeh / Getty

Missy Elliott Has An Honorary Doctorate

Thanks to her impressive two-decade career, she received an honorary degree from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In May 2019, she became the first female rapper to receive a honorary doctor of music degree from the institution. During her acceptance speech, she shared words of encouragement to the graduating class.

“I just want y’all to know there will be ups and downs,” she said. “Prepare for that, but don’t give up. I know y’all may hear that all the time, but if I had given up a long time ago I wouldn’t be standing here today. You have come too far to quit.”

She’s An Abuse Survivor

Elliott’s childhood was plagued with traumatic experiences. She witnessed her mother be physically abused by her father and even saw him pull a gun on her mother when she was 14-years-old.

“Missy saw that the fight was just beyond measures,” Patricia Elliott said on VH1’s Behind the Music. “My husband said, ‘This is it, I’m gonna kill you. It’s over!’ I was so tired of being beaten over and over I just said, ‘Fine, just do it.’”

Elliott was also molested when she was eight-years-old for a year by a 16-year-old cousin.

“Each day he wanted me to come to the house after school,” she said on Behind the Music. “It became sexual, which, for me at eight years old, I had no clue what that was, but I knew something was wrong…Being molested … it don’t disappear,” she added. “You remember it as if it was yesterday.”

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty

She Has Graves Disease

Elliott has had Graves’ disease since 2008. She told People that she noticed that something was wrong when she began having hand tremors, mood swings, hair loss, her eyes bulging and feeling like there were rocks in them and dizzy spells. At one point, her tremors were so bad that she couldn’t hold a pen or drive a car. Through radiation treatment and exercise, Elliott has been able to keep her symptoms under control.

Source: Erika Goldring / Getty

She’s In The Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame

In 2019, Elliott became the first female rapper to be inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. During her induction, she even received a special video message from Michelle Obama who thanked her for “sharing your gift with the world, but for being an advocate for so many people out there, especially young girls.”

In her own speech, she encouraged other songwriters to not let writer’s block deter them.

“I want to say one thing to the writers, to the upcoming writers, ‘Do not give up.’ We all go through writer’s block. Sometimes you just have to walk away from a record and come back to it. But don’t give up because I’m standing here. And this is big for hip-hop, too.”

RELATED CONTENT: ‘Turn My Music Up’: Missy Elliott Shares The Story Behind Recording Aaliyah’s Hit ‘4 Page Letter’