This time around I thought we should take
a closer look at Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. I’m not joking she actually
uses "Misdemeanor" in her name. After listening to her all I can
say is her “music” is anything but a minor crime; it is a major felony
on the eardrums. My first real exposure to Missy Elliot was her Gap commercial
where she basically ended every line with “Yo”. It seemed like she made
up the rap as the camera was rolling, because if those lyrics were prepared
before hand, then it brings to surface some serious questions about her
“talent”. If you missed that steller performance, count yourself
lucky that the Gap stopped running the commericial almost as soon as it
hit the airwaves.
I took some heat from a couple of
her fans because I called her a "talentless hack" in a recent rant. They
claim she is a visionary as well as an innovative artist and producer.
So I thought to myself, ok antiGUY, you have been wrong before why not
take a closer look at Missy Elliot’s music, seek out the profound poetry
in the lyrics, the deep meaningful thoughts she conveys with her “music”.
Here is what I found:
The following are some of her groundbreaking-thought
provoking lyrics:
From Mysterious
We started in 1997 And finished in 1999 Ha, she brought you "The Rain" "Sock it to me" "Beep me 911" And now it's a new year Not the year 2G But the year do G "She's A Bitch" Definitely the Bitch-to-be right about
now
From Beat Biters
By all means necessary You might catch me somewhere stickin'
yo baby daddy They say oh "Missy you wack" but yall
not ready Cuz I come back like a smack You hear my gats in yo back (blat-blat-blat) Huh, like spaghetti Half of yall MCs be stinkin' like boobetti So your record label cut you off like
confetti
From Smooth Chick
Party Time (Uh uh) Uh (Say what?) Uh huh (Yo) Uh (Say what) Uh huh, uh huh Uh Uh (What) Uh huh (One more) Uh (Yo, yo bring it to me)
… 1 - I'm a smooth chick, I'm a cool
chick I got gats but don't make me use it I'm quick to lose it, I'm 'bout to
do it Shake my ass down to the music I'm a smooth chick, I'm a cool chick I got gats but don't make me use it I'm quick to lose it, I'm 'bout to
do it I'mma shake my ass down to the music
Ok, I gave it a shot and that was what
I discovered. I find nothing innovative, artistic or thought provoking
in those lyrics. It’s not that hard to come up with a word to rhyme with
“it”. So why use “it” to end four lines in the same verse? For example:
" I got the Missy Elliot CD and listened to it / I gotta tell you, it was
totally shit / It was so bad I went into a fit / How the hell did this
become a hit". Some of the lines don't even come close to rhyming. This
is innovative? It looks like a shortcut to talent to me. I’m not bashing
Missy’s producing here, for all I know she could be the Phil Spector or
George Martin of Hip-Hop but her raps just leave me scratching my head
asking “why are people buying this shit?”. I’m not a big rap fan, but I
do recognize that there are a few rappers out there who do have a talent
for lyrical verse, they string words together and it flows like water.
I see Missy Elliot on MTV or VH1 or hear one of her songs and I just don’t
hear the talent that all the critics and her defenders claim is there.
Don't get me started on the delivery, it's anything but smooth, in fact
it sounds like she has a speech impediment.
If rap is modern urban poetry, then Missy
Elliot’s lyrics are the equivelant of modern urban nursery rhymes, but
then again, I don’t want to give nursery rhymes a bad name. Missy, leave
the rapping to those who know what the hell they are doing!
So for those who understand the Missy Elliot
mystery please enlighten me in the fan speak section below, because I just
don’t get it.
Lyrics are quoted here for
review purposes and are Copyright 1999 Missy Elliot/Elektra Records. All
Rights Reserved by Copyright Owners.
FAN
SPEAK: Agree or Disagree? Maybe I missed something here?
Do you agree with me on this? Or are you a fan that can explain what it
is about Missy Elliot that is cool?
Fan
Speak:
Posted by Wow: I see why she is popular by the mentality
of the people defending her here. Morons everyone of you, no wonder society
has gone down the drain. You people are sad ignorant fools who are making
that fat talentless hog rich. stupid mother f*ckers!
Posted byMr.
huh? saying, "My Generation Sucks!": Why do u f*cking defend what Missy's doing
she's got no Biz being a recordin artist She spit the dumbest rhymes beside
Lil'Kim and Lady Marmalade was hit becuz pop culturalists like you iz a
sap for sex appeal style over substance. And to all of her lovers u only
prove how damaging on the brain Ebonics iz
Posted byLil'Miss
Queen Bitch: Why do u f*cking care what Missy's doing
its none of your Biz. and if ya'll don't think she's pretty ya'll r f*cked
up She spit the wickedest rhymes beside Lil'Kim and Lady Marmalade was
a hit to me cuz Lil'Kim, Missy and Pink were in it.And to all of her haters
u only made her more creative
Posted byFace: I think this board is funny. I also thimk
its funny how that Sonic guy thinks he is gonna be big "in the next 2 years".
Funny stuff, keep up the good work.
Posted bypalmit: Ithink missy is the sh*t i buy all of
her CD's look att all of her apperances on television her lyrics are full
of reality heart break,realness that is why i think missy is the s*@t,
and that is it. missy 2002 4ever.
Posted byme: me like to f*** missy
Posted byMr.
huh? saying, "My Generation Sucks": This message board and some of the people
on it just go to show you how poisonous on the mind Ebonics can be. You'll
never hear a scientist or novelist speak in Ebonics. Why? Because it's
for idiots. It's primitive English is all. Also, Regulator needs to stop
thinking that she must be talented because of how sought after she is.
Any idiot knows that in this day and age, talent is the last thing a musician
needs to become famous, if they even have talent at all. Why is it that
though rap may be a fad, most rap artists are. Give me Public Enemy, Coolio,
Outkast, Iced T., and others. Sure music doesn't have to be profound all
time(sometimes artistic expression is about the fun things in life), but
there should be a hell of a lot more effort than whickedy, whickedy-wack,
yo, yo, uh, uh.
Posted by LithiumBliss: But then again, you probably won't believe
I'm white. You'll think I'm a well educated proper English speaking black
man, because too many white kids here talk like yo yo yo Missy be phat
I kik yo azz you dis da fine mama yo biaatch be ugly don't be callin Missy
ugly da fatt booty be da sweeetazz back yo yo i wish i waz a nigga so my
lil white johnson wuld be bigga wurd up knaa mean nome sane you crack ass
crackaz
Posted byLithiumBliss: Well first I got to say I'm as white as
a fresh slice of Wonder bread. So Sonic, don't be crackin all all us white
people. If you've checked this site out at all, you would know that I fight
racism every chance I get. Yes, I like rock better than rap, But one of
my favorite rock bands is Living Colour, and that band is all brothers.
So here it comes - Missy Elliott can't rap for shyt, and Timbaland's beats
suck. I give him props for trying to not bust the same old beat, but there
is a skill in doing the offbeats and still keeping the flow. His beats
lose all flow, and Missy relies on "yo, yo, yo" way too much. But I ain't
no hater. KRS-ONE and Chuck D are awesome. I do get into a GOOD rap, and
PE and BDP rocked the mike HARD! And yo you rockers - Ted Nugent sucked
ass!!!
Posted byAmaithuna: well, i agree with lil'nav ---all i can
say is....for me with missy it's not about the lyrics' philosophic quality...lol...it's
just about the beat! to be precise it's all about how timbaland is putting
together these beats perfectly and missy's style, the way she raps is the
only one matching with these funky beats. i put her new album in the stereo
on the last party i went to and suddenly everbody was just jumping and
grooving to the sound like there was no tomorrow. you just cant resist
it, you body starts moving automatically as soon as you hear it. sorry
for all you small-minded, cynical and most off all unhappy people out there
who can't stand a lil fun now and then.
