MISSY ELLIOTT

Melissa Arnett Elliott (a.k.a Missy Elliott) began her journey as a musician in 1991 when she founded Sista, an all-women R&B group that worked with producer Timbaland, a close friend of Elliott’s who produced the group’s first demo tracks. Shortly after, Elliott founded her own Record Label ‘The Goldmind Inc.’ after her success grew rapidly and she began being sought after by labels.

Missy Elliot was and continues to be a huge voice within the music community for women; she established her name and career in an era where misogyny in hip hop was at an all-time high. Elliott’s remarkable ability to place herself within the industry as black female rapper creating empowering feminist songs gave her an audience of young women who saw in her an idol; her daring individual style paired with promotion of self-love and refusing to conform to the male gaze is truly something that changed the scope of the music industry forever.