On July 1, 1971, Melissa “Missy” Arnette Elliott made her debut into the world in Portsmouth, Virginia. She is the only child of Patricia Elliott, who works as a dispatcher for a power business, and Ronnie Elliott, who served in the United States Marine Corps in the past.
Her upbringing in a religious household led her to begin her musical career at an early age in the choir of the local church. During the time that her father was serving in the Marine Corps, the family made their home in Jacksonville, North Carolina; however, they ultimately relocated to Virginia.
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When Elliott was fourteen years old, she and her mother ran away from their home in Portsmouth to the Hodges Ferry area to escape the physical and emotional abuse that Elliott had endured at the hands of her father. There, Elliott earned his high school diploma from Woodrow Wilson in the year 1990.
A Career in Music
Fayze was an all-female R&B group that Elliott established in the year 1991. Her close pals La’Shawn Shellman, Chonita Coleman, and Radiah Scott were among the group’s participants.
They collaborated with Elliott’s neighbor and friend Timothy Mosley (also known as Timbaland) as their producer, and producer DeVante Swing was impressed by their demo recordings. Soon after that, Fayze and Timbaland relocated to New York City, where they soon after got a recording contract with Elektra Records via DeVante’s Swing Mob imprint.
It was at this time that they decided to change their name to Sista. The more than 20 people who were a part of Swing Mob all lived together in a house in New York that had two stories and worked on a range of projects and materials together. During this time period, Elliott worked on projects with musicians such as Raven-Symoné and Jodeci, while the band Sista published their lone album, titled “4 All the Sistas Around da World” (1994).
At the close of the year 1995, Swing Mob came to an end, and shortly thereafter, Elliott and Timbaland began collaborating as a songwriting and producing duo. They collaborated to produce music that was later used by artists such as SWV, 702, Aaliyah, Total, and Destiny’s Child.
In addition, Elliott established a career for herself as a solo vocalist, contributing to the works of musicians such as Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, MC Lyte, New Edition, and Men of Vizion, among others.
In 1996, she entered into a contract with East-West Records, which was then a branch of Elektra Entertainment Group, in order to establish her very own record label known as The Goldmind Inc. Midway through 1997, she released her first solo album, titled “Supa Dupa Fly,” which would go on to be awarded the Platinum certification.
Particularly successful was the album’s lead track, “The Rain,” which was released earlier this year. At the 1998 Grammy Awards, “Supa Dupa Fly” was up for Best Rap Album, but it ultimately fell short behind “No Way Out” by Puff Daddy. “No Way Out” won the award. In the meantime, Elliott continued her successful career behind the scenes as a producer and composer. She crafted music for famous artist Whitney Houston, and she also featured on Spice Girl Melanie Brown’s debut solo record titled “I Want You Back.”
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Elliott’s second studio album, which was released in 1999 and titled “Da Real World,” was just as successful as the first and sold 3 million copies all over the world. Her third studio album, titled “Miss E…So Addictive,” was released in 2001 and was another huge commercial success. It contained performances by musicians such as Ludacris and Trina.
In the end, she was awarded the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2002 for her performance of the song “Get Your Freak On,” which was featured on her third studio album.
She also featured on tracks for a number of other singers, including Timbaland & Magoo, Wyclef Jean, and Eve. Other significant work by Elliott from this period includes the cover of “Lady Marmalade” (2001) by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, and Pink, which she co-produced. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, her fourth studio album, titled “Under Construction” (2002), was up for consideration for both Best Rap Album and Album of the Year.
In November of 2003, she released her fifth studio album, titled “This Is Not a Test!,” which has subsequently been awarded the Platinum certification by the RIAA. Elliott had the status of being the female rapper with the most best-selling albums during the latter half of the 1990s and the early 2000s. She sold more than 7.6 million copies of her albums in the United States.
The Cookbook, Elliott’s sixth studio album, was released in 2005 and was shortlisted for the Grammy Award in the category of Best Rap Album that same year. After this, she devoted the majority of her time and energy to working as a producer, and she was responsible for producing several singles that reached number one on the charts, including Keyshia Cole’s “Let it Go” (2007), Jazmine Sullivan’s “Need U Bad” (2008), and Monica’s “Everything to Me” (2008). (2010).
Fantasia’s “Free Yourself” and Jennifer Hudson’s “I’m His Only Woman” are just two examples of the many singles that Elliott has created that have gone on to be nominated for Grammy Awards. She has also worked with a wide range of musicians as a featured vocalist on their recordings, and these tunes have been released.
The Pussycat Dolls, Demi Lovato, J. Cole, Eve, G-Dragon, Little Mix, Kelly Rowland, Faith Evans, Ariana Grande, and Lizzo are some of the musicians that fall under this category. The “Iconology” EP was released by Elliott for the first time in August of 2019. Since the release of her album “The Cookbook” in 2005, this was her first collection of works.
Other Work
In addition to his work in the music industry, Elliott has also participated in a number of movies and countless television shows over the course of his career. In episodes of television shows such as “All That” (1997), “Family Matters” (1997), “The Wayans Bros.” (1998), “Party Monsters Cabo” (2009), and “What Chilli Wants,” she played the role of herself (2010).
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Additionally, in 2005, she appeared in her very own reality television show called “The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott.” She contributed the vocals for the animated film “Shark Tale” (2004), and she also made appearances as herself in the films “Honey” (2003), “Fade to Black” (2004), and “Just for Kicks” (2004). (2005).
Personal Life
Elliott maintains a strict level of confidentiality regarding her private life. In spite of this, she disclosed in June 2011 that the reason for her extended hiatus from the music industry was that she was dealing with health concerns. She was eventually determined to have Graves disease, a hyperthyroidism ailment after she came dangerously close to crashing a car due to the limb spasms she was experiencing.
Net Worth
The American rapper, singer, songwriter, and music producer Missy Elliott has a career that has earned her a total of $50 million in earnings. In addition to being the first female rapper to be admitted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, she is responsible for the sale of more than 30 million records in the United States.