Missy Elliott

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Missy 'Missdemeanor' Elliott was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and wanted to be a superstar at the age of seven. Growing up neighbors with the now mega-mogul Timbaland made those dreams come true. Elliott growing up was in a few groups with minor success alongside producer Timabaland, and was involved with the record company Swing Mob until 1995 when the company folded.

After this Missy was heard on many hip-hop/rap tracks by people like MC Lyte, Destiny's Child, and Diddy. Missy also remained busy writing and collaborating on other artist's tracks, and released her debut solo album Supa Dupa Fly in mid-1997, with huge success for first single The Rain.

Next up was her 2nd album Da Real World which had slightly lower commercial success than her debut, selling 1.5 million copies in the US. Album singles included "All n My Grill", "Hot Boyz", and "She's A Bitch".

Miss E... So Addictive was released in 2001 and had massive hits including "One Minute Man" ft. Ludacris, "Get Ur Freak On" and the American and European club hit "4 My People" ft. fellow female rapper Eve. Around the time of the release of "4 My People" Elliott's good friend Aaliyah died and her words and pictures were featured in Missy's video "Take Away".

In 2002 Missy wrote and was featured on the song "Oops (Oh My)" by Tweet, and co-produced the Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya, and Pink cover of "Lady Marmalade" which went to No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Missy's next album release was also the same year; Under Construction spawned hits like "Gossip Folks" and her second biggest hit to date "Work It". "Gossip Folks" became the most played music video in 2002 on MTV and BET channels. The album is the best selling female rap album ever selling 4.5 million copies worldwide.

This is Not a Test! came out a year later with the singles "Pass That Dutch" and "I'm Really Hot" it didn't go as well as her last and Missy felt it was rushed. Elliott was also approached by Gap to star alongside Madonna in a commercial and she also collaborated with Madonna for the controversial 2003 VMA performance where Madonna shared a kiss with Britney Spears. In 2004 Elliott was featured on the hit Ciara song (which she wrote) "1, 2 Step".

Her sixth studio album The Cookbook was released in 2005 and debuted at No.2. The first single was "Lose Control" ft. Ciara and Fat Man Scoop which instantly became a Top 10 hit. At the 2005 MTV VMAs Missy premiered her new single "Teary Eyed" which charted low but displayed Elliott's ability to sing. In early 2006 the single "We Run This" was released, also being the lead single for the soundtrack to Stick It.

In 2006 Missy released her first greatest hits album outside the US, called Respect M.E. (as in 'respect me' or 'respect Missy Elliott'). Respect M.E. is also the name of her female clothing line produced by Adidas.

In January 2008 Elliott's song "Ching-A-Ling" was released as the lead single off the Step Up 2: The Streets soundtrack and she also supplied another song for the soundtrack called "Shake Your Pom-Pom" (produced by Timbaland). Both songs were released in a combined 2D/3D video and are expected to be on Missy's next album, Block Party. Slated for release in November 2008, the first single is "Best, Best".

Missy appeared on a special tribute episode of Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew, where the crews each performed a dance inspired by one of her music videos; on the episode she sat in as a judge on the panel.