Grammy-winning musician Missy Elliott is one of the most influential artists and producers of her generation. Although she got her start with the girl group Sista in the late '80s, it wasn't until Elliott's 1997 single "Supa Dupa Fly" that the world began to take notice of the artist's immense talent. In 2019 she became the first female rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Success didn't come easily to Elliott, however, and there is plenty of tragedy behind her massive fame. From an abusive childhood to going against industry ideals, here's why the tragedy of Missy Elliott is just beyond heartbreaking.
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00:00Grammy-winning rapper Missy Elliott is one of the most influential artists and producers
00:05of her generation, but she's had to walk through fire to get here.
00:09Keep watching for the tragic details that made Missy Elliott who she is today.
00:14Missy Elliott's early home life was not an idyllic one.
00:17According to The Guardian, her family lived in the midst of poverty in Virginia, in a
00:21home which was full of rats and riddled with domestic abuse.
00:25Elliott's father was so violent toward her mom, Patricia, that Missy was even afraid
00:29to leave the house out of fear of what her dad would do while she was away.
00:33"'Watching my father be abusive to my mother was, like, beating me.'"
00:40The situation took a heavy toll on Elliott, and her musical aspirations manifested as
00:45desperate plea-for-help letters to her idols like Janet Jackson.
00:49She kept trying to convince her mother to leave, telling the outlet,
00:52"'I guess my mother still loved my dad.
00:54I guess she thought things could be normal, but they never were.
00:57Every day I begged her to leave him.
00:59I said, "'Please, please, let's go.'"
01:01Elliott revealed on VH1's Behind the Music that her father even once pulled a gun on
01:06her mom, recalling,
01:07"'He pulled the gun out in front of me.
01:09I was screaming, "'Daddy, please don't kill my mother.'"'
01:12In 2011, Elliott discussed arguably the deepest trauma of her early years.
01:17She was the victim of sexual abuse when she was only 8 years old.
01:21The perpetrator was her cousin, who was twice her age at the time.
01:24She revealed to VH1,
01:25"'Each day he wanted me to come to the house after school.
01:28For me at 8 years old, I had no clue what that was, but I knew something was wrong.
01:33Being molested doesn't disappear.
01:35You remember it as if it was yesterday.'"
01:37As MTV noted, Elliott announced in 2005 that she was working on a movie based on her life,
01:43which would cover this devastating period, among other things.
01:46As of 2021, it appears to remain a work in progress.
01:50After Elliott turned 14, her mom decided that she was ready to escape the abuse.
01:55According to The Guardian, the pair got help from sympathetic relatives, who moved their
01:59belongings out while Elliott's dad was gone for the day.
02:02Though their financial situation became further strained, Elliott has no doubt that the decision
02:07was the right one.
02:08But even so, she was afraid that her dad might reappear in their lives.
02:12She recalled,
02:13"'We left my father with a fork, a spoon, and a blanket.
02:15That was the scariest time of my life.
02:17I thought he would find us, and he would kill us.
02:20I lived in fear for a long time.'"
02:22Elliott has since come to believe that her dad may have recognized why they had left
02:26and accepted the decision.
02:28Today it's probably fair to assume that there's no one doubting Missy Misdemeanor's credibility.
02:33As The New Yorker noted way back in 1997, Elliott first arrived on the scene as the
02:38epitome of cool, and when she made her return for Katy Perry's 2015 Super Bowl halftime
02:43show, outlets like Vogue and NPR immediately took note and showered her with praise.
02:48Back in her younger days, though, Elliott didn't always feel particularly cool.
02:53According to The Guardian, she was already so focused on music that she didn't care about
02:57school, except for the social scene.
02:59Still, when she was made to take an IQ test, her score revealed that she was genius-level
03:04intelligent.
03:05Some people might have been thrilled with this, but because the school then made Elliott
03:08skip two grades, she was separated from her friends.
03:11She recalled,
03:12"'I didn't want to be a genius.
03:14That ain't cool.
03:15I wanted to goof around.
03:16They wanted to mount me in the trophy cabinet.
03:19I was not that kind of kid.
03:20I was a joker.'"
03:21As fans know, singer Aaliyah's story was a deeply tragic one, from the 22-year-old's
03:27premature death in a plane crash in 2001 to her involvement with R. Kelly, who married
03:32her illegally when she was underage.
03:34But according to Billboard, Aaliyah's relationship with Elliott was a decidedly positive one.
03:39Elliott was still trying to find her way in the business when she and producer Timbaland
03:43seized a chance to work with Aaliyah, who was a fellow newcomer.
03:47Elliott's offbeat musical sensibilities resonated with Aaliyah, and the supposedly one-track
03:51collaboration turned into eight songs, including the singer's hit, One in a Million.
03:56Aaliyah's loss was a massive blow to Elliott, who had viewed the R&B star as a sister.
04:01Elliott told Entertainment Weekly in 2002,
04:03"'Her death was a huge shock to me.
04:05It's only in the last month that I'm coming to accept it a little.
04:08I've been having a lot of dreams about her.
04:10When somebody passes, you always go through a down period and healing takes time.
04:15It was so unexpected.
04:16I feel like I was just in the studio with her."
04:19It's clear that Elliott hasn't forgotten her early collaborator and friend over the years.
04:23In fact, her words about Aaliyah were just as warm in 2018 as they have ever been.
04:28As she told Billboard,
04:29"'We could only just imagine what she would be doing now.
04:32She'd be out of here and untouchable.'"
04:34Before Elliott made it big as a solo artist and star producer, she was the child of a
04:39struggling, financially disadvantaged single mother.
04:42But even so, she remained determined to make it in the music business.
04:46Even though her first attempt was a harsh reminder that the industry can be crushing,
04:49"'We performed like it was Apollo Night.'"
04:53After forming a group called Sista with a few friends in the late 80s, according to
04:57Vibe, Elliott was able to show off her songwriting flair, and by 1991, Sista was signed to Swing
05:03Mob Records.
05:04Unfortunately, the group's success was short-lived, to say the least.
05:08In 1994, Sista released their single, Brand New, but their full-length album for all the
05:14sisters around the world was eventually shelved.
05:17This marked the demise of Sista, and the group soon broke up for good.
05:21Still, Elliott wasn't giving up.
05:23Missy finally made her mark with 1997's Super Duper Fly.
05:27The album hit the Billboard 200 in a third spot, making history at the time as the most
05:32successful debut by a female rapper.
05:34But fans who then grew to love Elliott's seemingly never-ending string of hits might have been
05:39surprised when the single stopped coming in 2005.
05:42At least part of the reason she skirted the spotlight until a decade later was because
05:46of some unfortunate health issues.
05:49According to Billboard, in 2008, a rapid and significant weight loss caused her to seek
05:53medical assistance, and she found out she had Graves' disease, a thyroid gland-related
05:58disorder that disrupts the body's hormonal balance.
06:01But Elliott believes the condition may be related to her extremely hectic work schedule.
06:05She said,
06:06"'It causes hair loss, your eyes bulge.
06:08My blood pressure was always up from just overworking.'"
06:11According to People, Elliott's symptoms also included significant tremors, which almost
06:16led to a car accident.
06:17She remembered,
06:18"'I couldn't keep the brake down and almost crashed.'"
06:20These days, Elliott says that her condition is under control thanks to having had radiation
06:25treatment.
06:26And she didn't exactly stop working during her lengthy absence from the limelight, either.
06:30She said,
06:31"'If I wanted to do The Missing Files of Missy Elliott, I'd have probably six albums just
06:36sitting there.'"
06:37When you consider Elliott's track record of turning nearly everything she touches into
06:41gold, it seems outrageous that anyone within the industry would ever give her the cold
06:46shoulder.
06:47But as The Guardian noted, that's exactly what happened early in her career.
06:50Hip-hop's attitude toward women being historically biased, Elliott once faced rejection because
06:55her looks didn't fit the traditional mold, especially during her early days with Sista.
06:59"'Missy was a heavy, sad girl.
07:02That wasn't what the cameras was looking for.'"
07:05After she teamed up with Timbaland and proved herself to be a hitmaker, she broke through
07:09the industry's body image barrier.
07:11And her subsequent resume as an artist, producer, and businesswoman is a testament to her prowess.
07:17Despite the many bold and brave moves Elliott has made as an artist over her career, many
07:21outlets have noted that she's actually an introverted sort of person.
07:25In 2018, Elliott admitted as much on Twitter, sharing a throwback interview clip from The
07:30Ellen DeGeneres Show that features her fidgeting nervously and laughing.
07:34She posted,
07:35In fact, I'm so shy that I giggle all the time because of my shyness, or I keep rocking
07:40my leg or mess with my hands."
07:42This trait might seem to be somewhat at odds with her superstar status, but according to
07:46The Guardian, she has learned to remedy the problem by separating her performer persona
07:50from her everyday personality.
07:52In fact, she says that she learned this when she was still young.
07:56Since her family was aware of her musical talents, they would often pressure her to
07:59perform.
08:00She said,
08:01It's borderline impossible to imagine a groundbreaking artist like Elliott as anything other than
08:17a musician.
08:18But in 2019, she revealed that her friends and family weren't exactly supportive of her
08:22artistic dreams.
08:24In fact, her friends outright laughed at her when she repeatedly declared her intentions
08:28to become a star.
08:29Though this happened decades ago and clearly didn't hinder her in any way, it's something
08:33that has stuck with Elliott over the years.
08:35She told Marie Claire,
08:37I wonder do those kids remember me?
08:39Because I remember all of them."
08:41Her family wasn't exactly supportive of her dreams of musical superstardom, either.
08:45To them, the whole idea of becoming a big-name celebrity seemed a little far-fetched.
08:49Instead, they offered an alternate career plan, suggesting that Elliott enlist in the
08:54U.S. Army.
08:55Of course, the future icon was less than thrilled.
08:57I think that that just fueled her passion to prove everyone wrong."
09:01Regardless, young Missy chose to chase her dreams.
09:04And as it turns out, her family's initial lack of faith hasn't damaged her relationship
09:08with them at all.
09:09According to The Guardian, she cherishes the fact that her fame has enabled her to truly
09:13support her mom in every way.
09:15Elliott said in 2001,
09:16The real dream was to make enough money to take care of all the pain and suffering that
09:20my mother has been through.
09:23Missy Elliott's surprise appearance was one of the highlights of Katy Perry's Super Bowl
09:26halftime show in 2015.
09:28The iconic artist brought the house down with three of her biggest hits, Get Your Freak
09:33On, Work It, and Lose Control.
09:35But as Entertainment Weekly noted, Elliott's thrilling performance came in the wake of
09:39a health scare.
09:40In 2017, the rapper explained on Twitter that she had been in the hospital just before the
09:44event.
09:45While she didn't elaborate on the exact nature of the issue at that time, she had already
09:49touched on the subject back when it happened.
09:51In a 2015 interview with Billboard, she revealed that the lead-up to her three-song appearance
09:56had taken a heavy toll on her, and all that pressure culminated in a full-blown panic
10:00attack.
10:01She added,
10:02Like IVs in my arm, everything.
10:04Nobody knew.
10:05In 2019, Elliott told The Guardian that the Super Bowl guest spot had her feeling so worked
10:10up that she even neglected to use the chance to promote her upcoming comeback single, WTF!
10:16Where They From.
10:17She also revealed that she tends to have trouble with anxiety whenever she releases a new track.
10:22To be fair, Elliott did also note that it's typical for anyone to be nervous before returning
10:26to the spotlight after years spin away, especially during a Super Bowl halftime show in front
10:31of, you know, millions of fans.
10:34She said,
10:35I think any artist who has had a break such as that one would be anxious.
10:38In typical misdemeanor fashion, though, she crushed it.
10:42Fans were none the wiser as to what was going on behind the scenes, and were beyond thrilled
10:46to see their favorite rapper back in action.
10:48I try to make music that is far ahead, and with the blessing of God, you know, I'ma keep
10:55making music.
10:56If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available.
11:01Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline
11:06at 1-800-656-HOPE, 4673.