WEBVTT - Missy Elliott 0:00:15.436 --> 0:00:22.356 Pushkin. Hey, y'all, today, we have one of the great 0:00:22.396 --> 0:00:26.676 innovators in popular music ever on the show. And I 0:00:26.676 --> 0:00:32.156 don't say that lightly, Missy Misdemeanor Elliott. This year is 0:00:32.196 --> 0:00:36.476 the twenty fifth anniversary of Missy's certified classic debut album, 0:00:36.756 --> 0:00:41.236 Super Dupa Fly. When that album first dropped, Missy's unconventional 0:00:41.316 --> 0:00:44.796 rhyme scheme and unique flavor, paired with her childhood friend 0:00:44.836 --> 0:00:49.676 Timberland's futuristic production, set a precedent for what was creatively 0:00:49.756 --> 0:00:54.076 possible in hip hop, and throughout her career, Missy's maintained 0:00:54.156 --> 0:00:57.636 that level of playful creativity. You can hear it on 0:00:57.756 --> 0:01:00.556 her slew of radio hits like get Your Freak On, 0:01:00.876 --> 0:01:04.876 Work It, Lose Control, and definitely on her album cuts. 0:01:05.516 --> 0:01:08.476 As of this year, Missy has more platinum albums than 0:01:08.596 --> 0:01:13.076 any other female rapper. Of course, Missy can also flex 0:01:13.156 --> 0:01:16.436 as a producer and songwriter. She's the first female rapper 0:01:16.476 --> 0:01:18.956 to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, having 0:01:18.956 --> 0:01:23.276 written songs from Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Destiny's Child, and of 0:01:23.316 --> 0:01:27.356 course Aliyah's biggest hits One in a Million and If 0:01:27.396 --> 0:01:30.916 Your Girl Only Knew Today. Rick Rubin talks to Missy 0:01:30.956 --> 0:01:35.316 Elliott about her wide reaching influence and creative process. She 0:01:35.396 --> 0:01:37.836 explains what it was like writing for Eliah, who was 0:01:37.876 --> 0:01:40.556 one of the first artists to embrace Missy and Timberland's 0:01:40.636 --> 0:01:43.996 unique style. She also talks about why she and Timberland 0:01:44.036 --> 0:01:47.156 made a pact not to listen to any other music 0:01:47.316 --> 0:01:54.156 while recording her debut. This is broken record liner notes 0:01:54.156 --> 0:01:57.996 for the Digital Age. I'm justin Richmond. Here's Rick Rubin 0:01:58.196 --> 0:02:04.036 and Missy Elliott. Hello, Hello, what, I'm Laddie. Hello. What 0:02:04.156 --> 0:02:07.956 have you been listening to these days? To be honest, nothing. 0:02:09.316 --> 0:02:13.036 Do you not listen to music regularly? Well, you know 0:02:13.596 --> 0:02:16.716 it's weird because I do listen to a lot of 0:02:16.956 --> 0:02:19.916 a lot of music, but a lot of it. I 0:02:20.036 --> 0:02:23.556 catch it when I catch it, especially when I'm starting 0:02:23.556 --> 0:02:26.556 to work on stuff. I go into this place of 0:02:26.676 --> 0:02:31.196 not listening to anything. And that's how, you know, pretty 0:02:31.276 --> 0:02:34.876 much started. When I first started, me and Tim just 0:02:34.956 --> 0:02:39.596 like not listening. You know, we were forbidden to listen 0:02:40.116 --> 0:02:44.836 to other people's stuff or watch videos, and I think 0:02:45.116 --> 0:02:49.356 in a crazy way, that ended up working in our 0:02:49.396 --> 0:02:53.756 favor because we didn't see nor hear, so we ended 0:02:53.836 --> 0:02:57.716 up creating a sound that we didn't know we were creating. 0:02:57.836 --> 0:03:00.356 We just didn't know what was hot, so we didn't 0:03:00.396 --> 0:03:03.756 know it was hot to mimic it. And I think 0:03:03.836 --> 0:03:07.356 that always works because then it allows you to not 0:03:07.516 --> 0:03:11.076 be so afraid to try something new because you don't 0:03:11.076 --> 0:03:13.156 know what's hot out there to know if yours is 0:03:13.236 --> 0:03:18.116 too far or not enough. What about listening to classics? Yeah, no, 0:03:18.316 --> 0:03:20.876 I know, people get in my car and feel like 0:03:21.476 --> 0:03:25.476 day in the eighties and the nineties because I'm gonna 0:03:25.556 --> 0:03:31.076 always play those joys, like those classics, the timeless records 0:03:31.076 --> 0:03:36.196 will always stay in my car. I know. My little 0:03:36.196 --> 0:03:41.756 cousins hated know, they hate it. They be like, don't 0:03:41.756 --> 0:03:45.716 you got don't you got the TikTok those? Nah, But 0:03:45.876 --> 0:03:52.396 listen to this, Listen to this one twelve record. It's 0:03:52.476 --> 0:03:57.316 just something about it that warms my heart for whatever reason. 0:03:57.716 --> 0:03:59.676 What was the music playing in your house when you 0:03:59.676 --> 0:04:01.476 were growing up? Was their music in your house when 0:04:01.516 --> 0:04:04.516 you were growing up? Oh? Yeah. So the funny thing 0:04:04.556 --> 0:04:09.276 about when I was growing up, my mother was into 0:04:09.276 --> 0:04:14.476 gospel and my father was into R and B, which 0:04:14.836 --> 0:04:17.516 you know in the gospel world they say worldly music. 0:04:18.196 --> 0:04:22.956 So I had the best of both worlds, because I 0:04:22.996 --> 0:04:27.436 had my mother playing gospel records and and then you know, 0:04:27.556 --> 0:04:33.756 my father would be playing Marvin Gay, Prince Michael. Then 0:04:33.836 --> 0:04:37.356 he would go to minute work, I remember whipp It, 0:04:38.116 --> 0:04:40.836 you know, Grace Jones or whatever like he So it 0:04:40.916 --> 0:04:45.356 was Gospel on one side and R and B on 0:04:45.396 --> 0:04:48.596 the other side. Did your parents listen to each other's music? 0:04:48.876 --> 0:04:50.756 Did your dad like the gospel and did your mom 0:04:50.876 --> 0:04:58.236 like the R and B? No? Absolutely not. That's probably 0:04:58.236 --> 0:05:03.236 why they didn't stay together. No, my mother was really 0:05:03.276 --> 0:05:06.676 in the gospel, and I would be in my room 0:05:06.836 --> 0:05:10.876 and I'm the only child, so you they would turn 0:05:11.036 --> 0:05:15.316 the music up on both ends. And when you come 0:05:15.356 --> 0:05:18.996 from a gospel world, you know, hearing R and B 0:05:19.316 --> 0:05:23.396 and especially Marvin Gay's sexual healing, it's like what you know, 0:05:23.516 --> 0:05:26.916 my mom was not having it, and my father didn't 0:05:26.916 --> 0:05:30.156 want to hear the gospel either, so they it was 0:05:30.236 --> 0:05:35.876 like a DJ contest that for whatever reason, it felt 0:05:35.916 --> 0:05:39.356 like that. Do you feel like you were more influenced 0:05:40.196 --> 0:05:44.156 by hearing the R and B or the gospel? I 0:05:44.196 --> 0:05:49.076 was influenced by both. I think I learned harmonies by 0:05:49.196 --> 0:05:55.316 listening to the gospel. I think I learned feeling by 0:05:55.396 --> 0:06:00.996 listening to the gospel. Something about gospel music just has 0:06:01.036 --> 0:06:05.636 a conviction when you hear the singers. The R and 0:06:05.676 --> 0:06:10.916 B side, there was a sauce that that I learned 0:06:10.996 --> 0:06:18.276 from that and lyrical content love, you know, heartache, what's 0:06:18.316 --> 0:06:21.476 going on in the world, And so I think God 0:06:21.556 --> 0:06:25.756 I had the best of both. A matter of fact, 0:06:25.756 --> 0:06:29.316 I know I did in a weird way, being in 0:06:29.356 --> 0:06:32.996 the middle in the in my room hearing both sides, 0:06:33.116 --> 0:06:37.716 I was absorbing both like a sponge at the time. 0:06:37.756 --> 0:06:39.316 Did you like them both when you were a kid? 0:06:39.316 --> 0:06:41.996 Do you remember liking them both as a kid? I 0:06:42.036 --> 0:06:44.996 feel like I did like them both, because you know church, 0:06:45.716 --> 0:06:48.956 you go to church. You're going to church Wednesday for 0:06:49.076 --> 0:06:54.236 prayer meeting, Thursday for choir rehearsal Sunday. You know, you 0:06:54.316 --> 0:06:56.596 just it's like church, church, church, church. So you had 0:06:56.676 --> 0:07:00.116 no choice but to like that. And I liked it 0:07:00.196 --> 0:07:03.876 anyway because I just come from a spiritual family. The 0:07:03.996 --> 0:07:07.436 R and B side I loved like I stayed in 0:07:07.476 --> 0:07:13.316 the mirror memoryking these artists, and I would get in 0:07:13.356 --> 0:07:18.476 the mirror and I would make up these speeches that 0:07:18.756 --> 0:07:21.676 you know, I was at the awards thinking Michael and Janet. 0:07:21.916 --> 0:07:24.956 I hadn't even met these people yet. I you know, 0:07:25.036 --> 0:07:27.996 it was like, thank you, Madonna for letting me write 0:07:28.076 --> 0:07:31.036 records for you. I hadn't met none of them, and 0:07:31.676 --> 0:07:34.476 I was constantly doing that in front of my doll babies. 0:07:35.116 --> 0:07:37.596 So it was something about that that I knew I 0:07:37.676 --> 0:07:41.516 was gonna go in that direction. Were your parents supportive 0:07:41.676 --> 0:07:44.756 of your interest in music or did they laugh at 0:07:44.796 --> 0:07:47.316 you for, you know, thinking this is what you were 0:07:47.356 --> 0:07:51.396 going to do. By the time I decided to become 0:07:51.436 --> 0:07:55.476 an artist, my mother and father had separated. My mother 0:07:56.236 --> 0:07:58.956 was trying to get me in the military, and I 0:07:58.996 --> 0:08:02.836 was like, I can't even walk from here to the 0:08:02.876 --> 0:08:05.316 car without getting tired. I know, you don't expect me 0:08:05.356 --> 0:08:10.236 to go and nobody's navy or army and be running 0:08:10.356 --> 0:08:13.436 for my dear life, you know. So they in my 0:08:13.556 --> 0:08:18.636 family they didn't take me serious because in Virginia at 0:08:18.676 --> 0:08:23.636 that time, artist wasn't going through Virginia like that, you know, 0:08:23.796 --> 0:08:27.316 maybe a show here there, It wasn't like it is now. 0:08:27.436 --> 0:08:30.956 So it was hard to believe that I'm gonna go 0:08:30.996 --> 0:08:33.996 away and I'm gonna be famous. But I have been 0:08:34.036 --> 0:08:37.116 saying that since I was a little girl, like I 0:08:37.156 --> 0:08:41.076 remember in kindergarten. Every Friday, the teacher would ask what 0:08:41.116 --> 0:08:43.716 we want to be, and I would listen to the 0:08:43.796 --> 0:08:46.196 kids saying, I'm gonna be a fireman, I'm gonna be 0:08:46.236 --> 0:08:48.836 a policeman, I'm gonna be a teacher, and I'm gonna 0:08:48.836 --> 0:08:50.476 be a doctor. And they come around to me and 0:08:50.516 --> 0:08:52.516 I'm like, I'm gonna be a superstar in a whole 0:08:52.556 --> 0:08:55.596 class with just bust out laughing, and I never wavered. 0:08:55.956 --> 0:08:59.116 Every Friday I said the same thing, and they laughed 0:08:59.196 --> 0:09:02.076 every Friday, And I always wanted to do those kids 0:09:02.116 --> 0:09:05.716 remember me because I remember them, I remember them well. 0:09:06.356 --> 0:09:11.196 But yeah, my family they didn't think that that could happen, 0:09:11.436 --> 0:09:13.836 and they didn't think it was best for me because 0:09:13.836 --> 0:09:16.236 they I think they thought that I would be naive 0:09:16.276 --> 0:09:19.916 and go out there and be willing out and get 0:09:19.956 --> 0:09:23.116 on all kind of situations that I had no business, 0:09:23.156 --> 0:09:26.996 So they didn't think it was good for me at first. 0:09:27.836 --> 0:09:29.676 Tell me about growing up in Virginia. Just tell me 0:09:29.716 --> 0:09:32.356 about Virginia a little bit. Describe the place you grew 0:09:32.436 --> 0:09:38.396 up in the area Virginia. I grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia, 0:09:38.476 --> 0:09:44.236 and everybody knew everybody. Small town feeling, yes, very small town. 0:09:44.476 --> 0:09:47.516 Like you know in New York, you may run into 0:09:47.556 --> 0:09:49.956 somebody and you may never see them ever again. In 0:09:49.996 --> 0:09:54.116 life in Virginia, you're going to no matter whether you're 0:09:54.196 --> 0:09:59.636 from Virginia, Beach Hampton, Rose, Newport News, Suffolk, Norfolk, in 0:09:59.676 --> 0:10:04.356 those places, you're going to run into them again. And 0:10:05.316 --> 0:10:10.716 you know, in Virginia everybody is just like family. You know, 0:10:11.276 --> 0:10:13.756 I remember time where we used to we can't do 0:10:13.796 --> 0:10:16.156 that now, but we used to go up to each 0:10:16.196 --> 0:10:18.116 other house and just knock on the screen door and 0:10:18.156 --> 0:10:21.436 be like coming in. We didn't lock our doors, and 0:10:21.916 --> 0:10:25.396 you know, we all played together and it just was 0:10:25.596 --> 0:10:28.956 a fun place growing up. Was it more like the 0:10:29.036 --> 0:10:31.076 country or was it more like the suburbs? Would you 0:10:31.116 --> 0:10:37.796 say Portsmouth was country? We had the dirt roads. Yeah, yeah, 0:10:37.836 --> 0:10:42.676 like we had the dirt roads like mad Woods, and yeah, 0:10:42.796 --> 0:10:46.596 we didn't see we didn't see like paved roads like that. 0:10:46.676 --> 0:10:49.396 And I and were I used to stay in a 0:10:49.476 --> 0:10:52.996 place called pews Bill and we didn't see that for 0:10:53.036 --> 0:10:57.556 a long time. Like our roads were very rocky now 0:10:57.756 --> 0:11:01.036 where Tim and for Real is from, they were kind 0:11:01.036 --> 0:11:03.756 of like the upscale in Virginia Beach, so they might 0:11:03.756 --> 0:11:08.276 have had paid roles in Portsmouth. Nah, we when coming up, 0:11:08.316 --> 0:11:10.876 we had a lot of dirt roads. I've only been 0:11:10.916 --> 0:11:13.716 in Virginia Beach one time, and that was to visit 0:11:13.836 --> 0:11:18.636 Teddy Riley in his studio back a while Bure. I 0:11:18.676 --> 0:11:21.356 think it was Future Records. Yes, do you know I 0:11:22.116 --> 0:11:25.996 love Teddy? When I tell you I love Teddy? And 0:11:26.916 --> 0:11:30.996 my group went to Teddy and sung for him like 0:11:31.156 --> 0:11:33.916 we were so scared. We used to drive past his 0:11:34.036 --> 0:11:37.796 studio all the time, and we finally got up the 0:11:37.836 --> 0:11:44.076 nerve to go to his studio and sing, and it 0:11:44.156 --> 0:11:49.676 was maybe like five of us and we sang and 0:11:49.756 --> 0:11:52.796 he was like, I see five of y'all, but I 0:11:52.876 --> 0:11:59.636 only hear two part harmony, like no, and he didn't 0:11:59.756 --> 0:12:04.356 sign us. I was like, oh my god, I like 0:12:04.476 --> 0:12:06.916 it was like starting all over again because we had 0:12:07.116 --> 0:12:10.436 spent so much time working up the nerve to finally 0:12:11.196 --> 0:12:13.756 go to his studio because we used to always drive 0:12:13.836 --> 0:12:18.116 past it see all of these fly cars, and finally 0:12:18.196 --> 0:12:20.596 got in there and he was like, I see five 0:12:20.636 --> 0:12:24.596 of y'all, but I only heard two far How old 0:12:24.596 --> 0:12:27.116 were you at that time? Do you remember? Um? We 0:12:27.276 --> 0:12:31.956 had to been nineteen. How much did you record with 0:12:31.996 --> 0:12:35.316 the group. Oh, we did a whole album. Yeah. I 0:12:35.396 --> 0:12:38.596 used to be in a group called Sister, which was 0:12:38.676 --> 0:12:43.916 signed to Jodicee and we were signed under Sylvia Ron 0:12:45.116 --> 0:12:51.756 and Sylvia Roone let DeVante label go, which means we 0:12:51.916 --> 0:12:56.356 got dropped two any anybody that was under him, and 0:12:56.396 --> 0:13:01.356 then she came back and signed me as a solo artist. Yeah. 0:13:01.716 --> 0:13:04.036 We always me and her always joke about that and 0:13:04.116 --> 0:13:07.876 it's like you dropped me and then you signed me. 0:13:09.116 --> 0:13:12.396 It all worked out. It all worked out. When the 0:13:12.476 --> 0:13:14.476 group ended, was it clear that you were gonna do 0:13:14.556 --> 0:13:16.676 solo as opposed to either continue with the group or 0:13:16.676 --> 0:13:19.996 put together a new group. I had no clue I 0:13:20.036 --> 0:13:24.356 was gonna ever go solo. So the story behind that 0:13:24.596 --> 0:13:29.276 is I was in the group, we got signed, We 0:13:30.236 --> 0:13:34.836 went to a Joe to See show, and we performed 0:13:34.916 --> 0:13:39.356 for Dalvin, and then Dalvin made us perform for Casey. 0:13:39.596 --> 0:13:43.436 Casey made us perform for Jojo, and then we ended 0:13:43.516 --> 0:13:47.996 up performing for Devonte and so he said, Hey, you know, 0:13:48.076 --> 0:13:51.276 I'm gonna sign y'all. I'm gonna fly y'all up to 0:13:52.036 --> 0:13:55.876 New York next week. We didn't believe him, but he 0:13:55.996 --> 0:14:01.756 really did, and so I signed with him and I 0:14:01.836 --> 0:14:05.516 kept telling him, Hey, you know, I got this guy 0:14:05.636 --> 0:14:07.916 and he does all of our music and I'm telling 0:14:07.956 --> 0:14:12.756 you he is amazing and his name is DJ Timmy Tim, 0:14:13.276 --> 0:14:15.916 and he was like, I don't care who he is. 0:14:16.756 --> 0:14:20.796 He say, you know me, and I'll be sure, are 0:14:20.796 --> 0:14:25.636 gonna do you all album? And I said, please, please, 0:14:25.916 --> 0:14:28.436 you know, bring him up here? Can I please bring 0:14:28.516 --> 0:14:32.876 him up here? And I begged and begged until he 0:14:32.956 --> 0:14:37.436 finally bought Tim. And then once Tim came, I said, hey, 0:14:37.476 --> 0:14:40.076 I got another friend. His name is Magoo. I promise 0:14:40.196 --> 0:14:43.436 he is so dope. He was like, you're not gonna 0:14:43.636 --> 0:14:49.076 bring everybody from Virginia, and so I got them up there. 0:14:49.876 --> 0:14:54.116 So I ended up leaving and I was the first 0:14:54.116 --> 0:14:58.556 one to leave, and I didn't know where I was going. 0:14:58.596 --> 0:15:02.316 I didn't know what I was going to do. I 0:15:02.356 --> 0:15:05.716 had no plans or nothing. It was a scary thing 0:15:05.716 --> 0:15:09.156 because you know, mind you my family had already thought this, 0:15:09.116 --> 0:15:11.796 this was a bad idea. So I go somewhere and 0:15:11.836 --> 0:15:15.676 now I'm back at the crib. I'm home and it's like, oh, 0:15:15.836 --> 0:15:17.716 what are you doing here? I thought she was going 0:15:17.756 --> 0:15:21.236 away to be a star and I'm like, no, I'm back. 0:15:22.236 --> 0:15:28.356 But before any of that, Magoo introduced me to Timp, 0:15:29.116 --> 0:15:32.916 So I know I'm going backwards. But we were in 0:15:33.036 --> 0:15:38.316 high school and Magool I always asked him, like, I 0:15:38.356 --> 0:15:42.516 don't even remember how I met Magoo, but it's so crazy. 0:15:42.596 --> 0:15:45.996 He Magoo ended up giving me the name Misdemeanor because 0:15:45.996 --> 0:15:48.436 he said it was a crime for one to have 0:15:49.076 --> 0:15:53.556 as many talents as I had, and I stuck with 0:15:53.636 --> 0:15:56.996 that name, and he was just like, hey, I got 0:15:57.036 --> 0:16:00.636 this guy. And he actually didn't introduce Tim to me 0:16:01.476 --> 0:16:04.036 for work. It was really for us to just hang out. 0:16:04.716 --> 0:16:08.796 And so I went to Tim's house and he was 0:16:08.836 --> 0:16:14.036 a j He didn't even understand his gift that he had, 0:16:14.916 --> 0:16:17.436 and when I got there, he was just you know, 0:16:18.076 --> 0:16:20.916 scratching and stuff. He was dope as a DJ too, 0:16:21.716 --> 0:16:24.756 And then he started He had a little Cassio keyboard 0:16:24.796 --> 0:16:27.876 and he started playing on the Cassio keyboard and I 0:16:27.916 --> 0:16:29.956 don't know if you remember Cassio's back then they had 0:16:29.996 --> 0:16:32.396 the little dog sounds, and this is where I believe 0:16:32.476 --> 0:16:36.396 all of this sounds came from in the songs, because 0:16:36.436 --> 0:16:40.996 the Cassio had those like front and me just like 0:16:41.436 --> 0:16:46.556 animal sounds, and he found a genius way to make 0:16:46.676 --> 0:16:52.236 beats with that stuff in it. And he really at 0:16:52.276 --> 0:16:56.396 the time wasn't calling himself a producer at all. And 0:16:57.076 --> 0:16:59.356 he one day he was just doing a beat on 0:16:59.476 --> 0:17:05.476 the cassio and I started rapping, and he was like, Yo, 0:17:05.636 --> 0:17:08.236 that's crazy. And I remember all of us being in 0:17:08.276 --> 0:17:12.236 the room and it's just going just rapping. I went 0:17:12.276 --> 0:17:15.116 from rapping and singing, rapping and singing, and he just 0:17:15.356 --> 0:17:18.676 kept doing beats and then McGoo would come in and 0:17:18.676 --> 0:17:21.476 we was having a cipher and you know, we just 0:17:21.876 --> 0:17:26.636 this was something that this was our pastime. Yeah, at 0:17:26.636 --> 0:17:28.996 the time, we didn't think, oh, we're gonna go on 0:17:29.116 --> 0:17:33.716 to make records. We just was having fun. And every 0:17:33.796 --> 0:17:37.036 day after school, me and McGoo would get together and 0:17:37.116 --> 0:17:41.636 we started going to Tim's house and just started doing 0:17:41.716 --> 0:17:45.516 records and we were recording from tape that to take that. 0:17:46.036 --> 0:17:49.076 I don't know if you remember how people recording like 0:17:49.196 --> 0:17:55.116 that until the song sounded real fuzzy and muffled, But yeah, 0:17:55.156 --> 0:18:02.876 we was recording like that. Yes, yes, So if people 0:18:02.876 --> 0:18:06.316 don't people don't don't under the artists these days, They 0:18:06.756 --> 0:18:09.076 they don't realize how good they got it. I said, 0:18:09.516 --> 0:18:13.796 I have these reels in my house and I'm trying 0:18:13.796 --> 0:18:16.796 to get them converted over And I say, these artists 0:18:16.836 --> 0:18:22.556 don't even realize these reels, what these reels was like, 0:18:22.836 --> 0:18:26.556 cutting them and all the stuff is crazy. It's funny 0:18:26.596 --> 0:18:29.076 now looking back, like it's easy now. But there was 0:18:29.156 --> 0:18:33.516 something about the limitations that we had back them that 0:18:34.116 --> 0:18:36.716 forced us to make more interesting things, you know, just 0:18:36.876 --> 0:18:43.116 forced forced you to be creative. Yes, absolutely, because when 0:18:43.156 --> 0:18:46.796 you think about those reels, when you think about tape 0:18:47.516 --> 0:18:51.756 recording from tape that, the tape that like I always 0:18:51.796 --> 0:18:55.956 wonder who came up with that? Like who thought to 0:18:56.196 --> 0:18:59.236 do that? And to be able to I was able 0:18:59.276 --> 0:19:04.796 to put harmonies that way without us even having a studio. 0:19:05.396 --> 0:19:08.716 It's so crazy. And you've worked with Tim from the 0:19:08.716 --> 0:19:13.876 beginning throughout your career pretty much. Yes, oh yeah, from 0:19:13.956 --> 0:19:18.476 that day, that first day of going to Tim's house, 0:19:18.556 --> 0:19:22.796 and his dad hated when that doorbell would ring because 0:19:22.796 --> 0:19:25.916 his dad, I think, drove trucks and so he would 0:19:25.916 --> 0:19:29.836 be driving late at night and he would just be fussing, 0:19:29.916 --> 0:19:32.876 like y'all got the go, y'all gotta get out of it, 0:19:33.396 --> 0:19:35.996 making all that boom bab I got to drive like 0:19:36.276 --> 0:19:39.996 he would be fussing us out, but we we were 0:19:40.076 --> 0:19:45.276 so and we were so intrigued. It's so crazy when 0:19:45.276 --> 0:19:49.236 I tell you, I think back to just the beginning, 0:19:49.436 --> 0:19:52.876 like the first song that I ever heard, because I 0:19:52.916 --> 0:19:55.276 heard him. I've seen an interview with him not too 0:19:55.276 --> 0:19:57.796 long ago, and he was like, you know, Missy taught 0:19:57.836 --> 0:20:01.916 me so much. And it's funny because I learned so 0:20:02.036 --> 0:20:06.276 much just from the first song. I remember Donna Summer 0:20:07.236 --> 0:20:12.396 Last Dance, and and I said, at a young age, 0:20:12.916 --> 0:20:16.556 I was so intrigued at the structure of that record, 0:20:17.156 --> 0:20:22.676 and like, I was like, what made her start this slow? Yeah, 0:20:22.716 --> 0:20:24.876 it starts slow and then it turns into a dance 0:20:24.876 --> 0:20:26.636 song and you're not expecting it to turn into a 0:20:26.676 --> 0:20:30.036 dance song. Yeah, Like and I and at a young age, 0:20:30.236 --> 0:20:34.476 that intrigued me that I hadn't heard a record do that. 0:20:34.916 --> 0:20:40.476 And till this day, that is a structure that I 0:20:40.596 --> 0:20:44.076 always say. It was just so amazing to me. That 0:20:44.156 --> 0:20:46.916 was the first record that caught my attention. So I 0:20:46.996 --> 0:20:50.636 always gravitated to things that probably people wouldn't have paid 0:20:50.676 --> 0:20:55.076 attention to. But then when we by the time I 0:20:55.156 --> 0:20:59.516 met Tim and we started getting into hip hop really crazy. Well, 0:20:59.516 --> 0:21:00.996 I was in the hip hop before I met Tim, 0:21:01.036 --> 0:21:05.356 because you know, I'm quite sure he was into it too. 0:21:05.636 --> 0:21:07.996 Round junior high school, we were you know, in the 0:21:08.156 --> 0:21:13.116 UTFO Run DMC days. But by that time we was 0:21:13.156 --> 0:21:17.476 in the Public Enemy when I met Tim, and everything 0:21:17.876 --> 0:21:25.276 was Chuck d like and play, everything was yeah boy, 0:21:26.196 --> 0:21:29.756 And we would just sit and listen to the eight 0:21:29.756 --> 0:21:34.236 oh eights and stuff that they would have in their records, 0:21:34.356 --> 0:21:40.996 in the breakbeats that they would use in Public Enemy records, 0:21:42.276 --> 0:21:45.636 and we were just always so so amazed. Then, you know, 0:21:45.716 --> 0:21:48.996 we were most definitely in the tribe. And I always 0:21:49.076 --> 0:21:51.476 used to say, Magoo, you sound just like Q Tip. 0:21:53.116 --> 0:22:00.476 Everybody tell me that. So those days really shaped us 0:22:00.516 --> 0:22:06.236 to just in in the whole hip hop culture. Like 0:22:06.676 --> 0:22:11.796 we were so heavy, heavy, heavy heavy into it. We'll 0:22:11.836 --> 0:22:13.956 be right back after the break with more from Missy 0:22:13.956 --> 0:22:21.636 Elliott and Rick Rubin. We're back with more from Missy Elliott. 0:22:21.916 --> 0:22:26.596 Tell me about Tim as a person, Tim timber Lad. 0:22:27.076 --> 0:22:30.796 First he was DJ Timmy Timber So he was so quiet, 0:22:31.476 --> 0:22:37.476 a quiet genius. And what I always say about Tim 0:22:37.476 --> 0:22:42.036 Ann for real just amazed me in two different ways. 0:22:42.116 --> 0:22:46.716 Tim because he didn't play. He went off a feeling 0:22:47.276 --> 0:22:52.036 when he created music. Somebody that went to school probably 0:22:52.076 --> 0:22:57.316 would technically say these sounds put together are wrong, this 0:22:57.396 --> 0:23:01.436 is not in the correct key. But he because he 0:23:01.476 --> 0:23:05.236 went off a feeling if it was right, it was wrong, 0:23:05.316 --> 0:23:07.836 but it was right and it was new and it 0:23:07.916 --> 0:23:14.516 was new. Yeah, and you know, we really showed people 0:23:14.636 --> 0:23:19.876 how to wrap and sing over a catenance that hadn't 0:23:19.916 --> 0:23:26.476 existed before us. That cadence was so off two people. 0:23:26.636 --> 0:23:29.996 I remember One in a Million was hard to get 0:23:30.036 --> 0:23:33.516 played because they were saying a lot of people were 0:23:33.556 --> 0:23:36.956 saying a lot of the program directors were saying that 0:23:36.996 --> 0:23:39.876 they couldn't mix it in or blend it in with 0:23:39.916 --> 0:23:45.436 the record before it or after because of the rhythm 0:23:46.036 --> 0:23:50.716 of it. And it was weird because although it was 0:23:50.756 --> 0:23:54.996 so slow, it still made you bounce in the weirdest way. 0:23:55.036 --> 0:23:58.716 Like all the songs that we did just had this bounce, 0:23:58.796 --> 0:24:03.676 even if they were slow records. So I think that's 0:24:03.676 --> 0:24:06.636 the genius in that is that sometimes it's not just 0:24:06.716 --> 0:24:10.996 about just being technical, because I've had people who are 0:24:11.116 --> 0:24:16.116 amazing technically, but the feeling is not there. And so 0:24:16.156 --> 0:24:19.516 that's why I think Tim was always so great at 0:24:19.596 --> 0:24:22.636 what he did because he went off a feeling it 0:24:22.836 --> 0:24:25.556 felt right. It's amazing that there was a time that 0:24:25.636 --> 0:24:28.116 that was too unusual to you know, to go on 0:24:28.156 --> 0:24:31.236 the radio when it had so much of an effect 0:24:31.436 --> 0:24:33.436 in all music that came after it. Tell me the 0:24:33.476 --> 0:24:35.596 story of that song from the beginning. First time you 0:24:35.676 --> 0:24:40.676 heard the beat. I was out working with seven or 0:24:40.676 --> 0:24:43.036 two and Tim called me and was like, hey, you know, 0:24:43.396 --> 0:24:48.876 we got this opportunity to do something on Aliyah. Now 0:24:49.556 --> 0:24:54.596 you know, we still knew like nobody really knows who 0:24:54.636 --> 0:24:58.716 we are. So when me and Tim got together, I'm like, Tim, 0:24:59.236 --> 0:25:02.316 you know what we're gonna do because she was already 0:25:02.676 --> 0:25:07.476 a superstar, So I'm like, Yo, let's just give her 0:25:08.036 --> 0:25:13.156 our old sound. Nobody never heard it, so it'll be 0:25:13.196 --> 0:25:18.876 like a new sound because we that sound was probably 0:25:20.156 --> 0:25:25.276 four years old to us, wow, because we had been 0:25:26.156 --> 0:25:29.556 signed and no, you know, we the stuff didn't come out, 0:25:30.036 --> 0:25:34.796 so we have been on that way, that that whole rhythm, 0:25:34.836 --> 0:25:39.076 and I said, let's just give her that. So Tim 0:25:39.236 --> 0:25:42.636 was like you show him? Like yeah, like dude, that 0:25:43.636 --> 0:25:47.596 you know, we were still in a place of we 0:25:47.676 --> 0:25:50.916 didn't know what was hot or not all we knew 0:25:50.996 --> 0:25:54.036 was what we did. Yeah, you know this, this this 0:25:54.116 --> 0:25:57.916 is hot, not knowing it was really hot, but it 0:25:57.956 --> 0:25:59.876 was hot to us because that's all we had been 0:25:59.916 --> 0:26:04.196 hearing the song. The song was already written. I mean 0:26:04.236 --> 0:26:07.636 I played it for after I had demo the vocals, 0:26:07.676 --> 0:26:10.356 so because that's me at the again and saying love, 0:26:10.596 --> 0:26:15.356 love you baby, Me and Tim went in and recorded 0:26:15.396 --> 0:26:18.876 it and then I played her you know, the version 0:26:18.916 --> 0:26:23.236 with my vocals on it, and she loved it and 0:26:23.356 --> 0:26:28.316 she got it immediately, which when I think about it, 0:26:28.316 --> 0:26:34.596 it just shows that she was aligned with us musically anyway, 0:26:34.676 --> 0:26:39.956 because we had to show people how to sing and 0:26:39.996 --> 0:26:44.236 wrap over something that, like I said, that hadn't existed before. 0:26:44.556 --> 0:26:47.996 People didn't know where to place this music. They didn't 0:26:48.036 --> 0:26:50.596 know whether to go to the R and B and 0:26:50.716 --> 0:26:53.236 hip hop or to the pop. They didn't know where 0:26:53.356 --> 0:26:57.396 to place it. But she got it immediately. But that 0:26:57.756 --> 0:27:01.196 actually wasn't the first record that she did. The first 0:27:01.236 --> 0:27:04.756 record she did was if Your Girl Only Knew And 0:27:05.156 --> 0:27:08.676 even for her to get that record and it went 0:27:08.836 --> 0:27:12.396 were only supposed to do one record on Aliah, and 0:27:12.516 --> 0:27:14.716 it went from one to two to three to four 0:27:14.756 --> 0:27:18.476 to five, like it just kept going Wow. And she 0:27:18.596 --> 0:27:22.716 took a chance because she was Aliah already to the world, 0:27:23.516 --> 0:27:25.796