Missy Elliott, who celebrates her 50th birthday on Thursday, made her mark in music with hits like “Get Ur Freak On,” “Work It” and “Lose Control.”
The four-time Grammy winner was born Melissa Arnette Elliott in Portsmouth, Virginia, on July 1, 1971.
Elliott worked as a songwriter and producer with artists such as Timbaland and Aaliyah before going solo in 1997 with the debut album “Supa Dupa Fly.”
Her fearlessness and creative style yielded numerous awards and five platinum albums in a row.
In June of 2019, she became the first woman rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
“Every time I come up to a podium ... even with all the work that I’ve done, I don’t know, and I’m assuming it’s just God, I don’t know why I am here,” Elliott said at the award ceremony. “I want to say one thing to the writers, to the upcoming writers, ‘Do not give up.’ We all go through writer’s block. Sometimes you just have to walk away from a record and come back to it. But don’t give up because I’m standing here. And this is big for hip-hop, too.”
She was honored at the MTV Video Music Awards with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in August 2019 — the same month she released the album “Iconology,” her first collection of new music in 14 years.
The hip-hop icon kicked off her 50th birthday this week by getting her car wrapped, according to Wrap Stars ATL. The business tweeted a photo captioned, “We finished up the amazing Missy Elliott’s ride yesterday! Wrap Stars ATL wants to wish Missy a very happy birthday! Hope she’s ridin’ fly today!”
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