Missy Elliot - Classic or Dud?

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― man, Monday, 13 January 2003 17:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

Always interesting. Classic. Singles comp will be absolutely wonderful.

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 13 January 2003 18:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

classic. well the one record I have is, anyway.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Monday, 13 January 2003 18:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

can anyone really come up with a decent argument for her being Dud that is NOT based on the idea that 'she's really nothing special actually' (but failing to really explain why, other than you're not really into that kind of music anyway, actually)??

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 13 January 2003 18:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

Many heads would say her rhymes are too simple or she's just a pop singer, which is obviously a pointless argument outside the cipher of a hip hop fan who takes themselves too seriously.

― Bobby D Gray (bedhead), Monday, 13 January 2003 19:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

Playing the Devil’s advocate (I don’t think that Missy is a dud):

She can’t rock a live show (from what I’ve heard)
Too many off-rhymes
She too often sacrifices coherency for the sake of rhyming
She’s rhythmically on point, but I’ve never heard anything substantial out of her
I’ve never heard her freestyle
Too many gimmicks

And I realize that this isn’t necessarily fair, but these are things that some listeners may look for in an MC.

Bobby: Why devote a considerable portion of yr life to something you don’t take at least somewhat seriously?

― S>C>, Monday, 13 January 2003 19:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

how many things have you read about missy elliot that don't mention timbaland? this is not just a case of "george martin syndrome" as the beatles were good songwriters to begin with. missy elliot is the most ridiculously untalented vocalist i've ever heard in my life. she's one step away from being wesley willis. seriously. compare "work it" to "rock'n'roll mcdonalds". not that different.

so ... dud. but if you factor in that she has somehow garnered the (occasionally patronizing) adoration of middle-aged white male rock critics and other indie snobs everywhere with her puerile "rhymes" about booty ... classic. definite classic.

and the line "put the pussy on ya, like i tol' ya". so classic. even my girlfriend likes it.

and "ba-bomp-a-bomp-bomp". so side-splittingly classic.

aw shit.

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Monday, 13 January 2003 20:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Please demonstrate how "Work It" and "Rock n Roll McDonalds" aren't that different

― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 13 January 2003 20:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

I really liked Supa Dupa Fly. I haven't played it in a little while but I enjoy it every time I play it. I didn't really like So Addictive except for "Get Ur Freak On". Can't give a coherent argument why or anything though. "Work It" is cool but I'm less taken than some people.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Monday, 13 January 2003 20:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

someone just walked in while Work It was playing and said they thought it was disgusting and perverting the minds of "the kids".
Classic then.

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 13 January 2003 21:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

I think it's sad that everyone has been so taken with these last few records whilst sort of forgetting how Supa Dupa Fly remains her shining, most coherent, razzle-dazzling moment. But maybe I just feel that way since the singles seemed so fresh at the time, sounding unprecedented (One in a Million was just foreshadowing). I wonder if she'll ever supass it. I do have to admit that Under Construction is probably her 2nd best overall, and I like it much better than albums 2 & 3, (even though "Hot Boys" is still one of my faves) which were really inconsistent. Classic, but she only works best w/ her team, and one wonders how many interesting sonic tricks are left in Timbaland's "sound factory"

― Vic (Vic), Monday, 13 January 2003 22:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

Am I the only person on ILM who likes Missy who really could do without _Supa Dupa Fly_?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 13 January 2003 22:45 (twenty-one years ago) link

Please demonstrate how "Work It" and "Rock n Roll McDonalds" aren't that different

they're both silly songs sung by people who have one way or another gained reputations as lyricists. despite showing a lot of heart and (apparent) dedication, neither has any real talent for said discipline. their respective rises to "fame" have been catapulted largely by irony, condescension, accident/luck, and a tinge of pity.

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Monday, 13 January 2003 23:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

But fos, that has absolutely nothing to do with their music, just your readings of who they are!

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Monday, 13 January 2003 23:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

But fos, that has absolutely nothing to do with their music, just your readings of who they are!

i don't believe that's true. despite what i said earlier, i believe that missy's music is very honest and is a _reflection_ of "who she is". i don't intend to criticize the person behind the music, but rather criticize the fact that so many people seem to think she's the greatest thing since sliced bread despite the fact that most of her talent seems to be cribbed from bathroom stalls and junior high locker rooms.

i can hear a thousand "that's what makes her so endearing"s but ask yourself if it's good enough reason for her to be championed by such bastions of pretention as the wire as a poster girl for the music we wish we were all unpretentious enough to fully relate to.

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Monday, 13 January 2003 23:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

Supa Dupa Fly is good but song for song may actually be her weakest albums (worst rhymes, least distinctive melodies etc.). Da Real World is maybe my favourite - I can't believe how severely people underrate it, I mean how could you not adore an album with "Mr. DJ", "Sticking Chickens", "Smooth Chick" and "U Did It" on it?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 01:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

I really don't believe she exists without Timbaland.

I really don't see her flow as anything particularly original. She suffers from Janis Joplin syndrome wherein a dirty Southern Rapper (bluesman) inhabits the body of a dumpy little girl (Missy/Janis). If I want to listen to off axis dirty rhymes I'll listen to Luda.

I've never heard her freestyle.

Associations with Nelly (Furtado)

Token blackgirl associations with Lilith (Fair)

I prefer Jean Graye.

― jm (jtm), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 03:50 (twenty-one years ago) link

six months pass...

bump so there won't be so many goddamn dud votes.

― Mike Ouderkirk (Mike Ouderkirk), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 08:26 (twenty years ago) link

some interesting points here
i think definitely classic,based on some of the best tracks i've ever heard,and the fact that it seems so ridiculous she can get away with releasing such amazing,fucked up singles,but there are certainly some tracks i'm ambivalent about
also she probably isn't the best mc around
i don't really care though,she's done some amazing stuff and i don't really care if everything she does isn't amazing,enough of it is a laugh for her to be classic in my book

― robin (robin), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 12:02 (twenty years ago) link

Thought she was a dud when she first hit the big time in the US but she endeared herself to me through her cameo on Lil Kim's 'Ladies Night' and the sheer genius that is 'Beep Me 911'. Was nearly converted by Da Real World but gave it up for 'Get Ur Freak On' in a big way. Missy co-producing Under Construction is a big thing for her-'Gossip Folks' is the shit and 'Work It'! Heck, her remix of 'American Life' was the best thing about that single (the worst being that it was 'American Life').

Classic for her singles alone, more classic for the above-mentioned, 'All N My Grill' and 'Hot Boyz Remix', and she may yet sustain her future on her own merits.

― Barima (Barima), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 13:43 (twenty years ago) link

ten years pass...

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/hb6q55h623u7uu2/Lose%20CTRL.mp3

Here is a really crazy remix of Lose Control I did a few years ago.

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 7 December 2013 21:13 (ten years ago) link

Sorry to drop a direct file link here please don't ban me, if it's against rules you can take it out.

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 7 December 2013 21:13 (ten years ago) link

one year passes...

The new single has been blowing my mind all morning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO_3Qgib6RQ

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 24 November 2015 19:26 (eight years ago) link

one year passes...

bruuuuhhhh 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/kghxpYvYFE
— Dirty Glove Bastard (@DGBastard) September 13, 2017

― Spottie, Thursday, 21 September 2017 19:13 (six years ago) link

one year passes...

Ranking her five best.

― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 19 October 2018 02:00 (five years ago) link

da real world robbed

― ANU (sisilafami), Friday, 19 October 2018 09:03 (five years ago) link

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