Supafly

Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott is a female music artist who is widely known for her innovative beats and raps.  She’s also known for her close working relationship with producer/rapper Timbaland.  I remember the first song I heard from Missy Elliott was “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” back in the last ‘90’s.  I wasn’t all that into her stuff, so I poo-poo’d it.  I thought MTV was playing the video too often or that the video itself was weird.

Not until a few years later did I really listen to her music.  Her record Miss E…So Addictive was a smash and had a couple of songs that I really dug:  “One Minute Man” (both versions), “Get Ur Freak On”, and “Whatcha Gon’ Do”.  Her following album, Under Construction, was also pretty cool (“Gossip Folks” is probably my favorite all-time track from her).  After that, it’s almost as if she vanished.  I see that she released a couple of albums after Under Construction, but by then I had unplugged and was on to Queens of the Stone Age and other bands (to be discussed another time).  Miss E…So Addictive was a commercial and critical success and is the subject of this entry.

#32 – Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, Miss E…So Addictive (Metascore = 89)

I don’t think this is the first time I heard the word “crunk” used, but Missy uses it in the opening track to set up the album, saying you don’t need weed or alcohol to get addicted to this.  Redman and Method Man, both of who were red hot at the time, appear on “Dog in Heat”, a dance song that does not hide its intentions.  I have always been a fan of the styles of Redman (check out Muddy Waters) and Method Man (Tical is a classic), but Missy surprises with her flow here, which locks right into the beat.  “One Minute Man”, which is perhaps the most popular from this album and one of the best, is self-descriptive; if you need help with this, I suggest Googling it.  Ludacris’ raps here are my favorite part.

“Get Ur Freak On” was the first single released from the album.  This track is unique in that Elliott effectively raps around start-stop beats crafted by Timbaland (a style he has used on other artists’ songs).  According to online sources, the beats are based off of bhangra, a popular music and dance from from the Punjab state of India.  “Take Away” with Ginuwine is another killer track from this record; it has that classic 1990’s R&B beat to it combined with Elliott’s rap balancing Ginuwine’s singing.  “Whatcha Gon’ Do” features Elliott’s PIC Timbaland in a Fast and Furious vibe song (why I call it that, I don’t know…just seems like it would fit that movie).

The reason I think this album works so well is the uniqueness of the beats used.  I don’t find the raps necessarily great, but they don’t define the record for me.  Elliott’s flow is definitely better than I expected, but it’s not as good as Kanye’s or Jay-Z’s.  Speaking of Jay-Z, the second version of “One Minute Man” feature Jay rapping in the spot where Ludacris raps in the original; obviously the other two have different styles but both are just as effective.