The following article contains descriptions of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
By age 4, Elliott already knew that she was destined to be a superstar.
“I never saw anything else, never dreamed of doing anything else,” she toldThe Guardianin 2003.
These days, everything she dreamed of has come to pass.
Elliott is the only female rapper to have achieved six platinum albums.
From her culture-defining music to her innovative style, Missy Elliott continues to reinvent hip-hop.
The Grammy winner has influenced an entire generation of performers, and her legacy is unmatched.
But in fact, the rapper has endured numerous tragedies over the years.
“It’s very important for me to be a big sister to those coming behind me.”
Back in their home state, the struggling family settled into a dilapidated shack.
The family lived without running water and had to use a pot as a makeshift toilet.
Throughout Elliott’s childhood, music was a place of refuge and a source of hope.
Little did she know that one day, her life would come full circle.
In 2022, Portsmouth, Virginia, dedicated a street to the Virginia-born musician.
Missy Elliott Boulevard now runs through the very city where her humble beginnings played out.
Unfortunately, these carefree childhood moments were short-lived.
At 8 years old, Elliott experienced an unimaginable trauma when she was sexually abused by a family member.
The abuser was Elliott’s 16-year-old cousin, who later died of a drug overdose.
Elliott revealed that the sexual abuse happened regularly over the course of a year.
At the time, she didn’t fully understand what was happening to her.
“Being molested … it don’t disappear.
You remember it as if it was yesterday.”
Elliott’s father beat her mother, Patricia, on a regular basis.
The vicious abuse resulted in black eyes, a dislocated arm, and untold amounts of psychological trauma.
As time advanced, so did the violence.
On one occasion, Ronnie threatened Elliott and her mother with a loaded handgun.
With the help of family members, Elliott and her mother managed to break free from their abuser.
Ooooh, that was the scariest time of my life.
I thought he would find us and he would kill us.
I lived in fear for a long time."
Elliott admitted that their financial dependence on Ronnie made it difficult to leave.
In honor of her mother’s courageous decision, she vowed to be successful in the music industry.
“That’s what really kept me going.”
She wasn’t very keen on academics however, the classroom became her personal performance space.
However, that all changed after Elliott scored in the genius range on an IQ test.
Feeling more lonely and isolated than ever, young Missy ventured inward to find the comfort that she craved.
Her bedroom became a hideaway and a place to daydream about the future.
Imagination wasn’t just a fun pastime for Elliott.
In many ways, it was a survival technique.
“My room would become a whole other world once I shut that door … " the superstar toldBillboard.
And I would write and sing and block out whatever was going on.”
Elliott’s visions would later inspire the surreal worlds that the artist created in her music videos.
Their collaboration blossomed immediately.
“After that, I found myself at his house doing music every day.”
Soon, the pair went from afternoon jam sessions to real-life recording booths.
In the late 1980s, Elliott joined a four-piece girl group called Sista.
Thanks to their work with Sista, the duo had captured the eye of several industry bigwigs.
“I was afraid!”
she confessed to Variety.
Elliott also wrote and performed a rap verse for the track.
In other instances, record executives told her to pursue a behind-the-scenes career.
“They’d broken my heart,” Elliott told The Guardian.
“They said I could sing, I could write, but that I looked wrong.
That was the lowest thing you could say.
I didn’t forget.”
Ultimately, Missy Elliott chose to take the music industry head-on by being unapologetically herself.
She doubled down on her iconic brand of racy, feminist lyricism.
Through her music videos, she subtly explored themes like Blackness, femininity, and body image.
Rather than accepting the status quo, Missy Elliott completely altered the rules of hip-hop.
Between her lyrical prowess and her visionary style, Elliott has never shied away from the unconventional.
In addition to her forward-thinking style, the rap legend is also known for her innovative hooks.
In 2002, Elliott famously added a gibberish hook to her hit song, “Work It.”
Thanks to her intuition, Elliott carved out a sound that was uniquely hers.
Despite her musical genius, the superstar had serious doubts that her sound would ever catch on.
“I was scared,” the superstar confessed.
At the time, Aaliyah was a rising teen superstar with a successful debut album under her belt.
Elliott and Timbaland signed on to create one song for Aaliyah’s upcoming second album.
Once the trio hit the studio, their creative chemistry unfurled.
The subsequent album, “One in a Million,” was released in 1996.
Thanks to its innovative sound, the record became a multiplatinum sensation.
On August 25, 2001, Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas.
Elliott was heartbroken by the loss.
The following year, she wrote inEntertainment Weekly, “Our relationship went beyond the work we did together.
It was more of a family vibe than just work.
We could tell each other anything.
Her death was a huge shock to me.”
As it turns out, Elliott’s health played a major role in slowing down her solo career.
In 2008, the superstar was diagnosed with Graves' disease, an autoimmune condition that causes hyperthyroidism.
Her diagnosis came after a cascade of disturbing symptoms that left the rapper unable to drive a car.
“It causes hair loss, your eyes bulge,” Elliott revealed toBillboard.
“My blood pressure was always up from just overworking.”
“You live with it for the rest of your life,” Elliott toldPeople.
In 2011, she shared a health update withUSA Today.
“I feel great.
Unfortunately, the stress caught up to her in 2015, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.
Months earlier, Elliott had received a phone call from pop star Katy Perry.
They arranged for Elliott to perform three of her hit songs during the show.
However, as the moment approached, Elliott was overcome with anxiety.
Thankfully, the panic attack didn’t stop Elliott from putting on a spectacular show.
