1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,160 Speaker 1: Y'all already know that navigating the online world can be 2 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: tricky and complicated. That's why here at There Are New 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: Girls on the Internet. We just launched a brand new 4 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 1: newsletter where I'll be taking your Internet questions and conundrums. 5 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: To subscribe and submit a question, just go to Tangoti 6 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: dot com slash newsletter and I can't wait to connect 7 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 1: with you there There Are No Girls on the Internet 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: as a production of My Heart Radio and Unbossed Creative. 9 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: I'm Bridget Todd and this is There Are No Girls 10 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:39,480 Speaker 1: on the Internet. So I'm not gonna lie. It's been 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: a pretty rough few weeks and usually to show up 12 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,599 Speaker 1: and grapple with whatever is going on on the podcast, 13 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: you know, bring it to the pod, but honestly, I 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: just don't have it in me, and that feeling it 15 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: really reminded me that, you know, sometimes it's okay to 16 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: step back and step away and unplug when things just 17 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: feel like too much. So this is me doing that, 18 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,959 Speaker 1: and I'm doing that by revisiting a joyful episode of 19 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: There Are No Girls on the Internet about one of 20 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: my favorite overlooked tech heroes, Missy Elliott, and I hope 21 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: that wherever you're listening from whatever you're carrying that you're 22 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:17,399 Speaker 1: also making time to engage with things that bring you 23 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: joy and comfort to and I also wanted to thank 24 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: you all for deciding to spend a little bit of 25 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: time listening to the show today. It really means a 26 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: lot knowing that you're listening. Prince David Bowie Les Paul. 27 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: When we think about the intersection of tech, innovation and music, 28 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: it's not difficult to think about men who fit the bill, 29 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 1: But what about all the female digital visionaries in their 30 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: impact time music enter Melissa our Nett Elliott also known 31 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: as See Elliott. Okay, so some of you all might 32 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: be thinking that maybe this whole episode is just an 33 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: excuse for me to take a little break from the 34 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: depressing news cycle and talk about my love of Missy Elliott, 35 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: And you know what, You're not totally wrong, but Corl 36 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: has not always gotten credit for the visionary that she is. 37 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: Her work as a producer changed the landscape of music 38 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 1: in ways that we can still here today, and her 39 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: innovative music videos blend science fiction and afro futurism to 40 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: throw off outdated patriarchal chains of what it means to 41 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: be a black woman. Now. We talk a lot about 42 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: girl squads and feminism and music, but for Missy Elliott, 43 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: that looks like working with other women in the music industry, 44 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: amplifying their voices and acting as a creative collaborator with them. 45 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,399 Speaker 1: No Missy is known for her technical production prowess. Alongside 46 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,919 Speaker 1: her longtime creative collaborator Timbaland, She's written and produced scores 47 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: of songs for other artists, many of whom are women 48 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: whose work she helped find mainstream success. Here's just a 49 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: little taste of them. Music she's helped produced Aaliyah One 50 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: in a Million, Sierra one, two Steps, seven oh two, 51 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: where my Girls at Beyonce signs. A lot of people 52 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: don't know a lot of the records I've written or produced, 53 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: so that's a highlight for me as a woman. Elliott 54 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: told The Associated Press. I always said if a man 55 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: had done half the records that I've done, we would 56 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: know all about it, and Missy is a right. It's 57 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: almost hard for me to overstate the impact Missy Elliot's 58 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: work has had on me personally, and she's actually one 59 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: of the reasons I wanted to start this podcast at all. 60 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: One day I was thinking about all the different ways 61 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: she shaped music and music videos and l sture and 62 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: the way music is made, And I thought, why aren't 63 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: we constantly talking about Missy Elliott all the time? I 64 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: was even Missy Elliott for Halloween when I was younger. 65 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: Check the photo in the show description if you want 66 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: to see evidence. Missy grew up in the South, in 67 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: a small town called Portsmouth, Virginia, and I'm from a 68 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 1: small town Virginia too. We both grew up in the church, 69 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: singing in church choirs. The summer of nine was a 70 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: particularly hot and muggy one in Virginia. My family had 71 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: just moved to a new neighborhood and I didn't really 72 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 1: know anyone. I still remember it so clearly that July, 73 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: the path Finder had just landed on Mars to explore 74 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: whether or not life could really exist on that planet. 75 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: I remember watching it on the news from the fourth 76 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: of July. I spent a lot of that summer up 77 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: in my room thinking about things like aliens and outer 78 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: space and what the future looked like. Well, that and 79 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: my other favorite pastime, which was watching music videos on MTV. 80 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: That was also the same month when Missy Elliott dropped 81 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,479 Speaker 1: her debut album, Super Dupifly, and it sounded like something 82 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: at once from another planet and the future. It debuted 83 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: at the number to be slot on the Billboard two hundred, 84 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 1: the highest charting debut for any female rapper in history. 85 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: Missy was just getting started and she was already charting 86 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: new territory. When I was young, it didn't really seem 87 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: like there were that many ways to be a black woman. 88 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: I loved the community of strong black women who raised 89 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: me on church, candy and gospel music, but it didn't 90 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: really match how I felt inside. No, I didn't know 91 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: it at the time, but looking back, it had a 92 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: lot to do with me coming in terms with being queer. 93 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: I just felt like a weirdo, and I was always 94 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: searching for permission that being a weirdo was okay. So 95 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: whenever I saw a black person doing something different and new, 96 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: I latched onto it immediately. I was obsessed with black 97 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: weirdos like Grace, Drones and Prince. I also liked any 98 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: story that was about aliens having to blend in on Earth, 99 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: and sometimes when I felt out of place, I'd pretend 100 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: I was from another planet too. So the first time 101 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: I saw the video for Missy Elliot's The Rain, my 102 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: mind was blown. I had never seen anything like it, 103 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: and I just remember thinking, is this person from outer space? 104 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: Missy probably understands where I'm coming from. When she goes 105 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: back and looks at her old videos, she thinks, what 106 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: was I on. Here's what she had to say about 107 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,279 Speaker 1: looking back on those videos in an interview. I know 108 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: that was my smoke days, but I was like WHOA. 109 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: At the time. When I was doing those videos, I 110 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 1: didn't think much of it. I thought they were hot, 111 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: but I didn't critique it or go into detail or 112 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: say this is some next level ship. Take the iconic 113 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 1: video for Missy Elliott's The Rain. There's a link to 114 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: the video and the show description if you haven't seen 115 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: it for a while. Her innovative visuals you science fiction 116 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 1: and afro futurism to throw off the outdated, patriarchal chains 117 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: of what it means to be a black woman. And 118 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: even at fourteen, I picked up what Missy was putting down. Now, 119 00:06:57,400 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: as an adult, I wanted to know more about her 120 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,360 Speaker 1: work and how it fit within this context. And it 121 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: turns out I'm not the only one asking the deep 122 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: questions when it comes to Missy Elliott. Hi, I'm Steve 123 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: Shabiro Um the z Roy Professor of English at Wayne 124 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: State University. I'm a scholar and I worked mostly on 125 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: science fiction and music videos. Dr shaviro says Missy's music 126 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: just sounds like the future, and you can hear her 127 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 1: influence in all different kinds of music. Today. The Chemical 128 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: Brothers just came up with a new album and it's 129 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: a videos for Interesting and but it sounds like if 130 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: this music could have made nineteen eighties. I mean, it's 131 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: great music, but it could have been easily been made 132 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: in nineteen because it's that kind of sound with Mrs Elliott. 133 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: Even though she's doing her own sound, which recognizably on 134 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,679 Speaker 1: temper nineties and early two thousand's, it seems in temporary 135 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: at the same time, and that's partly because lots of 136 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: other people are so influenced by her. I think that 137 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: is something I love about Missy Elliot's music is that 138 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: when you listen to it, it sounds like it could 139 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: be written in nineteen eighty nine nine, and also it 140 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: sounds like music that could come out today, And also 141 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: it sounds like music from the future. You know, she's 142 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: been quoted as talking about her how her style and 143 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: her music is so futuristic, and I hear that so 144 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: much in her music. You know, it's timeless and futuristic 145 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: all at once. She and Timberland twenty years ago. We're 146 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: experiending with you know, very odd, odd rhythms and with 147 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: with things which push the edges of I mean, it's 148 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: still damsable, but it pushes the edges of of what 149 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: a groove is. It's the best way I can say it. 150 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: And I'm not sure that that's I don't feel that 151 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,679 Speaker 1: that's adequate. That's sort of how I think about it. 152 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:39,079 Speaker 1: In his article super Dupifly Black Women as Cyborgs and 153 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: hip hop Videos, Shavera argues that her song The Rain 154 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: is about her using sci fi inspired cyborg visuals to 155 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: subvert the patriarchy and what we think of as traditional 156 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: black femininity. He writes, the videos thus raised the question 157 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: about identity and otherness, and about power and control. They 158 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,559 Speaker 1: asked us to think about how we're being transformed as 159 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: a result of our encounters with the new digital and 160 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: virtual technologies. Or better, they raised the question of who 161 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: we are as beings whose very embodiment is tied up 162 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: with technological change as well as the descriptions of gender 163 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: and race. Even the song's main sample and People's classic 164 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: N three hit I Can't Stand the Rain, is a 165 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: kind of subversion. And in the original song and its 166 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,599 Speaker 1: post breakup and heartbroken, plagued by the sound of the 167 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: rain outside of her window, but in Missy's version, it's 168 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 1: raining indoors and she's broken up with some guy before 169 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: he can number. I've been a miss Elliott fan my 170 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: whole life, and this was something that weirdly had never 171 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: occurred to me, that the her use of Anne People's 172 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 1: sample of the rain actually subverts that because that original 173 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: song that she samples is about a woman who you know, 174 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: her man has left her and she's that's down to 175 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 1: the rain is just making her think about it, and 176 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: Missy in that song uses the sample but completely subverts 177 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: it and flips it on. It's on its head. You know, 178 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: she's the one who's breaking up with the guy before 179 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 1: you can dump right and again. And if it's you 180 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: know the way, as I think I said in the 181 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: article the way um the way the video works, it's 182 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:27,200 Speaker 1: only raining on the sound stage inside, while on the 183 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: scenes outside it's like this hyper real colors, you know, green, blue, 184 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: blue sky, green grass, and and it's two thousands one 185 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: monols in the background. So the fact that they have 186 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: the rain indoors instead of outdoors, I think it's it's 187 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: it's signifies in her in a real way. Let's take 188 00:10:46,960 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 1: a quick break and her back. You probably already that 189 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: Missy Elliott is synonymous with iconic music videos. I probably 190 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: spent hours in my room watching her trippy visuals when 191 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 1: I was growing up. An iconic music video could make 192 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:14,559 Speaker 1: an artist. But these days, artists can get big without 193 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,320 Speaker 1: having video at all, So labels don't really spend the 194 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: money to produce them what they used to, and it's 195 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: kind of a shame you don't even get to see 196 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 1: them as an expression of an artist's vision anymore. Missy's 197 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: visuals were all about being subversive. You know how she 198 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: rocks that iconic black inflatable suit and helmet in the 199 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,959 Speaker 1: rain video. Shaveriro says it's a futuristic response to her 200 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: being shut out of the music industry for daring to 201 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: be a black woman who wasn't a size For this 202 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:44,199 Speaker 1: whole emphasis on women's standards of women beauty for a 203 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,320 Speaker 1: bit for the male gaze being you know, you know, 204 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 1: slender and things like that, and she she's violating this. 205 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: But it's like that that plastic thing is both it's 206 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 1: it's doing it's both emphasizing and concealing her body at 207 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 1: the same time, which is like, I mean, other people 208 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: have noted how um some women musicians deliberately try to 209 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: resist being you know, hyper sexualized by like wearing loose 210 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:13,800 Speaker 1: or baggy clothes and stuff like that. And there's a 211 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:15,199 Speaker 1: whole list. I mean, you can think about the nine 212 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: early um TLC videos where they wore these baggy pants 213 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,679 Speaker 1: with like condoms on its decorations and stuff like that, 214 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: which was smart and funny, I mean, but today's seen 215 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:27,719 Speaker 1: something like Billie Eilish, she just said to do the 216 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: reason she were as its oversighted clothes because she doesn't 217 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: want people to be completely objectifying her body. So miss 218 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: Elogy it is, I mean, her career for whatever is 219 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: that she wanted to you know, she was doing production 220 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:43,000 Speaker 1: work for for Leah and many other artists and writing 221 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:44,959 Speaker 1: songs and stuff like that. She wanted to perform herself, 222 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:47,160 Speaker 1: but was told by people in the industry that she 223 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 1: wasn't attractive enough to be a star, and so she's 224 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: always faced faced that kind of thing, and and the 225 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: way she's so it's a way of affirming herself. And 226 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: it's sort of doing two things at once, because on 227 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:02,320 Speaker 1: the one hand, it is it's kind of loose or 228 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:04,440 Speaker 1: and literally it's baggage and seems he made out of 229 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 1: plastic bags. So it's rather saying no, you can't just 230 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: look at my curves and say and you objectify them. 231 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:13,199 Speaker 1: At the same time, it's emphasizing her physicality and her 232 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: presence there. It makes her bigger, so it makes her 233 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: fill up the screen board, so it makes it force you. 234 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: So it's sort of like doing these both things at 235 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: the same time. I think, does that make sense? That 236 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 1: makes so much sense. Here's all Missy described it on 237 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: a v H one's Behind the Music. We came up 238 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:32,080 Speaker 1: with this idea of being in a big plastic garbage bag. Basically, 239 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: I said, almost, show them I'm gonna make a record 240 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,200 Speaker 1: and it's gonna be big, and I'm gonna be big too, 241 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: and I mean literally, i'lmost stay my size and have 242 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:45,079 Speaker 1: a big record. And that's that. Now, this actually makes 243 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 1: a lot of sense. Missy was shut out of making 244 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: a public facing music video because of her looks. In 245 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,200 Speaker 1: Raven Simone, then the Adorable child star of the Cosby 246 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: Show debut or hit single, That's what Little Girls Are 247 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,720 Speaker 1: Made Of. It was written, produced by Missy, and Missy 248 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 1: also performs a rap on it, but in the music video, 249 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,800 Speaker 1: a thinner and lighter skinned actress lip syncs Missy's part. 250 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:11,719 Speaker 1: Missy recalls that she was intentionally left out of the 251 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: video shoot because she didn't fit the image they were 252 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: looking for. Nobody even told me they shot the video. 253 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 1: I heard late it was like, you didn't quite fit 254 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: the image that we were looking forward. I was like, 255 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 1: what they trying to say? Unfat immediately like oh they 256 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: they known the big girls. I said every curse words. 257 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: I was distrayed and l magazine in She said the 258 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: rejection was so painful she almost gave up on being 259 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: a star, but now she's embraced having her own brand 260 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: of black femininity, telling the New York Daily News what 261 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: a blessing it is to be known for being different. 262 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: Missy really sets herself apart by playing with our understanding 263 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: of race and gender. It's a kind of hyper stylization, 264 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: but which doesn't fit in with, you know, traditional stereotypical, 265 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: sexist beauty norms. So it's very much a form of 266 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: individualist self assertion against being stereotyped in traditional gender ways. 267 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: There's a real power when women claim our expertise and impact. 268 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: Missy Elliott openly talks about the massive impact she's had 269 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: on the music industry, an industry that hasn't always been 270 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: quick to recognize her. She calls herself an innovator. She 271 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: doesn't wait for the industry to define her own success. 272 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: She defines it herself. And why should we wait around 273 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: for someone to tell us our value and our worth. 274 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: There is such a power in saying, yes, the workout 275 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: produces changing the game, and I'm going to own it. 276 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: And that's exactly what Missy does. Do you think of 277 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 1: Missy Elliott personally? Do you think of Missy Elliott as 278 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: a digital innovator? Yeah, I mean definitely because she I mean, 279 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: she's always been doing new things. And it's partly again 280 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 1: being a woman and presenting herself in a way that 281 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: you know, only men were privileged to her. They're refusing 282 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: the roles that women were religated to. But also I 283 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: can I agree it does seem again, it's very hard 284 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: to quantify this or it's very hard for me, especially 285 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,480 Speaker 1: to put my finger on how why it is which 286 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: is doing this. But yeah, it always does feels it 287 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 1: feels futuristic, it always feels it has a kind of 288 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: I mean, it's sort of like has an edge. It's 289 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: sort of like. There's a famous statement by Lennon, the 290 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: leader of the Bulsher Revolution, when somebody said, are assured 291 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: not being too radical, and Lennon replied, the only trouble 292 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: is it's really hard to be as we must be 293 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: as radical as reality itself. So that's the kind of 294 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: phrase I would apply him as the Elliott She's always 295 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: he's one of those pe people is trying to be 296 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: as radical as reality itself. I love it. You know, 297 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: I was not accepting a Lenin quote now right, how 298 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: you are going? But I love it. Yeah. Well, I mean, 299 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: you know, if it's a it's a great proach. So 300 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:05,399 Speaker 1: it's worth taking out of context, you know, definitely. I 301 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: mean that's isn't that part of I mean, that's part 302 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 1: of what a lot of art today does, including hip hop, 303 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 1: is taking stuff out of context. And you know, on 304 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: one side, they want you to recognize the original context. 305 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:20,879 Speaker 1: The other side, they're really doing something really different and 306 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: original with it, so it doesn't have the same meaning 307 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: it had originally. So I've always thought of Missy Elliott 308 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: as a tech innovator, as a digital innovator. I also 309 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: think we're so much more comfortable calling male artists and 310 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: male musicians innovators. No one will about an eye if 311 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: you called David Bowie or Prince an innovator, but we're 312 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 1: so much less comfortable applying that label to women. Do 313 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: you think that that's true, that we're less comfortable applying 314 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: the label of innovator or genius to a female creative. 315 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,160 Speaker 1: That's probably true out of general sexism. I actually think 316 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:53,879 Speaker 1: it's really powerful and important for black female creatives, especially 317 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: to be claiming these titles for ourselves and not waiting 318 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 1: for somebody to say, yes, you are a genius, Yes 319 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: you are an innovator, but saying yeah, I know I'm innovative. 320 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,919 Speaker 1: I'm making music that nobody else is making. I'm taking risks, 321 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,880 Speaker 1: I'm taking chances. Yes I am an innovator. My only 322 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: reservation is that I'm not thrilled with the word innovator, 323 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: just because anytime any word gets adopted by business schools 324 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:21,280 Speaker 1: and soti repeated about everything. But you know, in mainstream discourse, 325 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:25,199 Speaker 1: now you know, shave it, you know, I don't know, 326 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,439 Speaker 1: taking away the you know, the headphone porch and replacing 327 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:31,920 Speaker 1: it with something else you need an adapter is described 328 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,200 Speaker 1: as innovation. You know on the phone should like that. So, 329 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,119 Speaker 1: you know, it's always just depressing when words which have 330 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,439 Speaker 1: positive metis to get so you know, turned into business 331 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,880 Speaker 1: speak that you wonder whether it's use them anymore. I'm 332 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: right there with you more. There are no girls on 333 00:18:48,880 --> 00:19:00,680 Speaker 1: the internet after this quick right, and we're back. Missy 334 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: stopped making music for a while to deal with her 335 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: health after finding out she had Graves disease, but she 336 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: is solidly back and only recently she getting the kind 337 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: of respect as a digital innovator that she deserves. This 338 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: is Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award means so much to me. 339 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 1: I have worked diligently for over two decades. Last year 340 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: she won MTVS Vanguard Award, given to commemorate outstanding contributions 341 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: and profound impact on music, videos and popular culture, and 342 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,160 Speaker 1: some are even campaigning to have the award once named 343 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 1: after Michael Jackson to be renamed in Missy's honor. She 344 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: also earned an honorary degree from the prestigious Berkeley School 345 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:48,640 Speaker 1: of Music. In Katie Perry headlined the Super Bowl halftime show. 346 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,360 Speaker 1: She brought out Missy Elliott as a special guest. Despite 347 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,959 Speaker 1: not having made any new music for years, Missy's performance 348 00:19:56,040 --> 00:20:00,400 Speaker 1: was a massive hit. All three songs she performed entered 349 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: the top ten lists on iTunes, even though they were 350 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 1: all several years old. Google released their top Google searches 351 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: during the performance, and they were all from youngsters googling 352 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: who is Missy Elliott. Missy took an instride, tweeting, the 353 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:16,359 Speaker 1: kids think I'm a new artist and I'm about to 354 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:20,159 Speaker 1: blow up like Paul mccarthney Laura have Mercy, and I 355 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: think it's cool that new kids think I'm a new artist. 356 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:23,919 Speaker 1: That just goes to show you that I'm still on 357 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,720 Speaker 1: fire and we'll rip downstages. Twenty years later, Missy Elliott 358 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: just now is sort of getting a lot more recognition 359 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: than I feel she's gotten in the past. Like she's 360 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 1: spoken about how the fact that you know she's been 361 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,680 Speaker 1: she's been behind so many important songwriters and musicians, but 362 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:40,879 Speaker 1: doesn't really get the credit, and she's been been clear 363 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:42,919 Speaker 1: that if she was a man, she feels like she would. 364 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:47,160 Speaker 1: Of course that's obviously true. Why do you think right now, 365 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,160 Speaker 1: in this moment we're in culturally, Missy Elliott is sort 366 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 1: of getting getting those props you know she was she 367 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: just became the first rapper to get an honorary degree 368 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 1: from the Berkeley s College of Music. She's getting them, 369 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: a Vanguard Awards, all of this, it's hard to say. 370 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 1: I mean, part of the problem, I think is that 371 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,919 Speaker 1: she's been ill for you know, for much of the 372 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,640 Speaker 1: last decade, so she couldn't mean her last full length 373 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: album was I think in two thousand five, and since 374 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: then she's released a few singles, and you know, maybe so, 375 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:17,680 Speaker 1: I mean, it may be partly just that she's now 376 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: in better health and more able to do stuff. I mean, 377 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 1: I don't know, it's like four or five year I mean, 378 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 1: she's she's made partial comebacks that people forget about you 379 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,400 Speaker 1: if you don't have a new album out. But I mean, 380 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,639 Speaker 1: I was, we were, this is like she was. She 381 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: shed performed in the Super Bowl mid you know, halftime show, 382 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 1: like four or five years ago. I can't remember the 383 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: exact year and my kids, who are well they're now seven. 384 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: My two daughters they're seventeen and fourteen now, so this 385 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:46,640 Speaker 1: is like they were a few years younger. They were 386 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 1: like tweens that weren't quite teenagers yet we were watching 387 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:52,439 Speaker 1: the you know, midtime. I forgot who the main headline 388 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,399 Speaker 1: there was, but missy Ella came out of it, and 389 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,919 Speaker 1: my kids were just like, who says she's amazing? Like 390 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:59,440 Speaker 1: she they never heard of her, of course, because they 391 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,680 Speaker 1: were her babies when her last album come out. We're 392 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 1: in this very kind of polaroisued time we're on. At 393 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:08,520 Speaker 1: the same time we have like rising fascism in our 394 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:10,639 Speaker 1: government and in lots of governments around the world, and 395 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 1: yet at the same time we have a much bigger 396 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:16,439 Speaker 1: explosion of multicultural and multi gender I mean, you know, 397 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 1: gain less and people trans people, people of different races 398 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,160 Speaker 1: and ethnicities, you know, So you have this contradiction. One hand, 399 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: is much more emphasis on the multiplicity at the same 400 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: time that we have this kind of fascist backlash which 401 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: often seems to rule both the United States and other countries. 402 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: So it's a very kind of weirdly for a time, 403 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 1: and I don't know how to interpret that, but it 404 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:37,880 Speaker 1: seems to me that we're pushing these two directions at 405 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,360 Speaker 1: the same time. Oh, that's kind of a hopeful way 406 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,240 Speaker 1: to put it, okay, when well, I hope tell I mean, 407 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: I'm not very I mean, you know, I'm more optimistic 408 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: about what some pop culture can throw up than I 409 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 1: am about what will happen on the political scene. But 410 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:55,440 Speaker 1: who knows. I mean, nobody can predict. I mean, and 411 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 1: you know, I mean, even pop culture, we have more homogenization, 412 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: like a higher percentage of Bocasta goes to Marvel movies 413 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: and everything else combined. But on the other hand, we 414 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,400 Speaker 1: have in all kinds of areas, especially when they're lower 415 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,160 Speaker 1: can be lower bridget we have much more wide varieties 416 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: of expression. I was talking the other day to a 417 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:17,159 Speaker 1: museum director and they're doing a museum show on apro futurism, 418 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 1: and they said, basically they could get the money for 419 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: it because the Black Panther, the hook is will conduct. 420 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,440 Speaker 1: But of course apro futurism has existed for a long 421 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: time before Black Panther, which was I mean, it was 422 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:30,959 Speaker 1: obviously by far the best Marvel movie. But you know, 423 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,199 Speaker 1: there's lots of other stuff going on, but sometimes you 424 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: don't get the publicity, so I don't know. I mean 425 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 1: again and see we seem it seems particularly schizophrenic between 426 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:41,720 Speaker 1: the kind of horrible things going on politically and the 427 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,119 Speaker 1: kind of cultural renaissance which seems to be going on 428 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: despite that politics. It's so interesting to talk about apro futurism. Um, 429 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,880 Speaker 1: this is a personal aside, but um, that was such 430 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:59,480 Speaker 1: a Those were such my foundational through roads into so 431 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: many auto conversations about black identity, tech, digital, digital thinking, 432 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: you know, science fiction. When I was a kid, my 433 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,119 Speaker 1: dad had this one specific Earth Wind and Fire album 434 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:13,479 Speaker 1: and it had this really cool like cover at Hamburg. 435 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: I was a kid, I would stare at it for 436 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:17,640 Speaker 1: hours and run my fingers over and trying to figure 437 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:19,680 Speaker 1: out what does it mean? What does it mean? Come 438 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: to find out to get older, it's like, oh, well, 439 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:23,200 Speaker 1: doesn't really mean anything. It's just like looks really cool. 440 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: I was thinking there was some sort of like secret 441 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 1: mystical you know, And I think like like artists who 442 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: play with blackness and identity and and science fiction in 443 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:35,360 Speaker 1: the future, you know. I think for a long time 444 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:37,879 Speaker 1: it probably felt like when you when you as a 445 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,199 Speaker 1: as a black person, or I think any person of 446 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: color or marginalized community. Sometimes it can be fraught to 447 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: imagine our futures. And I think creatives who can help 448 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:52,159 Speaker 1: us imagine in our wildest dreams what those futures look like, 449 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:54,640 Speaker 1: and that they include us. I think it's so important 450 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,639 Speaker 1: and powerful. There's a show. I live in Detroit and 451 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,760 Speaker 1: there's a show it an art gallery downtown of the 452 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:04,119 Speaker 1: apro futurist art and one of the items in the 453 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:05,880 Speaker 1: show is that it's not actually in the gallery, it's 454 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 1: on a billboard outside. It says there are Black people 455 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:11,880 Speaker 1: in the future. Oh. That's the installation from artist Alicia Wormsley. 456 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 1: She puts up billboards reminding everyone that there are black 457 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:16,640 Speaker 1: people in the future. And I just saw on Instagram 458 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 1: this morning. I thought it was so wild, because, of course, 459 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 1: you know, on one hand, it shouldn't be a controversial 460 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,800 Speaker 1: statement to remind folks that, yes, there are black people 461 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,199 Speaker 1: in the future. But then also how arresting is that, 462 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:32,119 Speaker 1: How powerful is that we exist in the future. It's 463 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,240 Speaker 1: kind of a bold reminder there are black people in 464 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: the future. And Missy Elliott helped me contextualize myself in 465 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,159 Speaker 1: that future and embrace all the wonderful weirdness that it 466 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: could entail. We need to lift up our black visionaries 467 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: and innovators, the weirdos who do things their own way 468 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 1: and inspire others that they too can march to or 469 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:56,119 Speaker 1: even produce their own beats. So Missy Elliott is the 470 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 1: visionary who inspired me, But we want to hear from you. 471 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: What icon than visionaries are inspiring you. Let us know 472 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,160 Speaker 1: at Hello at tangodi dot com. You can also find 473 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,400 Speaker 1: transcripts for today's episode at tegnody dot com. If you're 474 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,520 Speaker 1: looking for ways to support the show, check out our 475 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:13,719 Speaker 1: mark store at tangodi dot com flash Store. There Are 476 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:15,920 Speaker 1: No Girls on the Internet was created by me Bridget Todd. 477 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: It's a production of iHeart Radio and Unboss Creative, edited 478 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:23,160 Speaker 1: by Joey Pat Jonathan Strictland as our executive producer. Terry 479 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: Harrison is our producer and sound engineer. Michael Motto is 480 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Todd. If you 481 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: want to help us grow, rate and review us on 482 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,639 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, check out 483 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:36,880 Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get 484 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 1: your podcasts.