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Every Missy Elliott Song, Ranked
Missy has not just redefined pop music — she’s consistently reinvented it.
Slick Rick’s slippery flow has unquestionably played a heavy influence on Elliott’s delivery — check “Joy,” the opening track on The Cookbook, the parent album that also features their duet, “Irresistible Delicious.” A callback to Ricky D’s “Lick the Balls,” the ’80s big-up is all rhymes and chorus, the latter of which cuts to a tranquil slice of R&B. One of three remixes of Elliott’s track, this version rotated Ludacris for Jay Z, who drops a shrewd, self-referential verse that hat-tips lyrics from his single “Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)” and makes a comical nod to Destiny’s Child: “I’m tryna give you cab fare and directions / Get your independent ass outta here, question?” Opening her career-defining debut Supa Dupa Fly with a spoken-word intro from Busta Rhymes, Elliott isn’t the first voice you hear on a full-length track on the project — rather, it’s Lil’ Kim, lined up for what she terms the “million bitch march.” Unlike with “Hot Boyz,” which equates men’s worth with their possessions, “Hit Em Wit Da Hee” disassociates materialism from attraction, instead winning over suitors with innuendo for music as currency.
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