It’s official! Missy Elliott is now the first female rapper to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Missy Elliott Makes History at the 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
On Friday (Nov. 3), Missy Elliott made hip-hop history by becoming the first female rapper to be enshrined at the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall Fame at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Hip-hop icon Queen Latifah presented Missy for induction, praising the Virginia rhymer’s groundbreaking work with producer Timbaland and her seminal rap album Supa Dupa Fly.
“We had never heard anything like that in our lives,” Latifah said of the album, according to Rolling Stone. “They opened the door to new possibilities in all aspects on contemporary music, very much including rock and roll, but trust me, nothing sounded the same after Missy came on the scene.”
“All the kick snares and everything changed — the bass lines changed, the pockets changed, the cadence, the writing,” she continued. “And that’s because Missy has always been a futurist, someone who is always looking ahead. She is avant-garde without even trying.”
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Missy Elliott Performs at Rock Hall and Delivers Empowering Induction Speech
Following Queen Latifah’s speech, Missy Elliott took the stage and performed a medley of her hits, including “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” and “Get Ur Freak On.” The rap superstar, dressed in a glittering gold outfit, was backed by several dancers and showed why she is such an influential figure in rap. Missy closed her performance with her groundbreaking songs “Work It,” “Pass That Dutch,” and “Lose Control.” You can watch her performance below.
Afterwards, Missy delivered an empowering speech thanking several women in rap that paved the way and inspired her to become an artist herself.
“I didn’t wanna call out any names, but I have to say Pepa who is here from Salt and Pepa. Her and Queen Latifah, [MC Lyte], Roxane Shante, so many. [Monie Love], all those ones before me gave me their shoulders to stand on,” she said according to Pitchfork. “So I just wanna take the time. My people say, ‘Hey, go up there, and you know, people wanna hear from you, how you feel.’ But these are the people who inspired me. And if it wasn’t for them and their music, I probably wouldn’t be standing here.”
You can watch Missy Elliott’s full induction speech below.
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Check out videos featuring Missy Elliott at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame below.
