Missy in action: why pop needs Missy Elliott to get her freak on again
Writer Brittany Julious believes that the return of Missy Elliot is exactly what pop needs.
From the Guardian:
Elliott represents pop music at its purest. I am sure she was calculated in each album’s singles or the videos she produced for each record, but Elliott feels like a bygone product of a simpler time when what really mattered was the music. She often used classic theatrics like slick dancing from child prodigies or progressive music videos featuring afro-futurist themes like in The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly). But her music truly made her a star.
Listening to Elliott was a study in genius, the kind we rarely witness today. To know her music was to know what it meant to be a true artist, not someone who simply pulled in the hottest or freshest producers, not someone who curated the right fashion aesthetics, not someone who solely wore costumes to distract from what lacked in her sound. Everyone remembers the garbage bag-like puffer costume of The Rain, but they also remember the flawless Ann Peebles sample and the stark, hypnotic beat.
We see bits and pieces of this in pop today. Taylor Swift removed her music from Spotify, certain that her fans would purchase her music – and they did. Sam Smith and Adele have broken through not with showy performances but with the strength of their voices and the universality of their lyrics. Beyonce dropped her most accomplished album overnight in 2013 with no warning. But for the most part, the pop world chugs along and we suffer because of it.
Read the rest at the Guardian
Photo: Missy Elliot/Facebook
