Missy Elliott

Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.

Melissa Arnette Elliott was born at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Portsmouth, Virginia, on July 1, 1971, the only child of power company dispatcher Patricia and former Marine Ronnie Elliott.

She grew up in an active church choir family, where singing was a normal part of her youth.

At the age of four, she wanted to be a performer, with biographer Veronica A. Davis later writing that she "would sing and perform for her family".

In later years, she feared no one would take her seriously because she was always the class clown.

While her father was an active Marine, the family lived in a manufactured home community in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

She blossomed during this part of her life, enjoying school for the friendships that she formed even though she had little interest in schoolwork.

When her father returned from the Marines, the family moved back to Virginia, where they lived in extreme poverty.

Life in Virginia saw many hardships, and Elliott has talked about seeing her mother suffer domestic abuse at the hands of her father; she refused to attend sleepovers at her friends' homes out of fear that she would find her mother dead upon returning home.

When she was eight, she was sexually abused by a cousin.

In one violent incident, her father dislocated her mother's shoulders; during another, Elliott herself was threatened by her father with a gun.

When Elliott was 14, her mother decided to end the situation and fled with Elliott on the pretext of taking a joyride on a local bus.

In reality, the pair had found refuge at a family member's home, where their possessions were stored in a loaded U-Haul truck.

Elliott told her mother that she feared her father would kill them both for leaving.

She later stated, "When we left, my mother realized how strong she was on her own, and it made me strong. It took her leaving her home to be able to realize that."

In 1988, Elliott formed an all-women R&B group called Fayze (later renamed Sista) with friends La'Shawn Shellman, Chonita Coleman, and Radiah Scott.

She began on her musical career as a member of the R&B girl group Sista during the 1990s, of whom were part of the larger Swing Mob musical collective—led by DeVante Swing of Jodeci.

She and her mother lived in the Hodges Ferry neighborhood of Portsmouth, where Elliott graduated from Manor High School in 1990.

She later said that she occasionally speaks to her father, but has not forgiven him for abusing her mother.

She was introduced to her neighborhood friend Timothy Mosley (Timbaland) by Melvin Barcliff (Magoo) who was trying to recruit his Dj Timbaland to be the group's producer and began making demo tracks, among them included the 1991 promo "First Move".

Later in 1991, Fayze caught the attention of Jodeci member and producer DeVante Swing by performing Jodeci songs a cappella for him backstage after one of his group's concerts.

In short order, Fayze moved to New York City and signed to Elektra Records through DeVante's Swing Mob imprint and also renaming the group Sista.

Sista's debut song was titled "Brand New", which was released in 1993 Elliott took Mosley & Barclif whom DeVante re-christened the duo as Timbaland & Magoo.

All 20-plus members of the Swing Mob—among them future stars such as Ginuwine, Playa, and Tweet —lived in a single two-story house in New York and were often at work on material both for Jodeci and their own projects.

While Elliott wrote and rapped on Raven-Symoné's 1993 debut single, "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of", she also contributed, credited and uncredited, to the Jodeci albums Diary of a Mad Band (1993) and The Show, the After Party, the Hotel (1995).

The former group's debut album, 4 All the Sistas Around da World (1994) was released by Elektra Records and met with positive critical reception despite commercial failure; she collaborated with album's producer and Swing Mob cohort Timbaland to subsequently write and produce material for other acts, including 702, Aaliyah, SWV, and Total.

She then re-emerged as a solo act with numerous collaborations and guest appearances by 1996, and in July of the following year, she released her debut studio album, Supa Dupa Fly (1997).

The album quickly saw commercial success and became her mainstream breakthrough, peaking at number three on the Billboard 200 and spawning the Billboard Hot 100-top 20 single "Sock It 2 Me" (featuring Da Brat).

Elliott's second album, Da Real World (1999) produced the singles "She's a Bitch", "All n My Grill" (featuring Big Boi and Nicole Wray), and "Hot Boyz" (remixed featuring Lil' Mo, Nas, Eve and Q-Tip).

The latter song set the record for most weeks atop the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs by January 2000 (until Lil Nas X's 2019 single "Old Town Road"), and spent 18 weeks atop the Hot Rap Songs chart from December 1999 to March 2000.

Her third and fourth albums, Miss E... So Addictive (2001) and Under Construction (2002) made her the sole recipient of both Grammy Awards for Best Female Rap Solo Performance with their respective songs "Scream a.k.a. Itchin" (featuring Timbaland) and "Work It."

Furthermore, the albums peaked at numbers two and three on the Billboard 200, while "Work It" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

Her fifth album, This Is Not a Test! (2003) was followed by The Cookbook (2005), her sixth album which matched Under Construction as her highest charting release while spawning the Hot 100 top three single, "Lose Control" (featuring Ciara and Fatman Scoop).

Following a long-term hiatus, her debut extended play, Iconology (2019) marked her first release in 14 years.

Elliott has received numerous accolades, including four Grammy Awards.

Her overall discography has sold 40 million records worldwide, making her the best-selling female rapper in Nielsen Music history according to Billboard.

She was the first woman rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and received the MTV VMAs Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for her impact on the music video landscape.

In 2020, Billboard ranked her at No. 5 on their list of the 100 greatest music video artists of all time.

In 2021, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2023, she became the first woman rapper to be nominated and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.