Global superstar and Hip Hop/R&B pioneer Missy Elliott blasted Los Angeles, CA, into orbit with back-to-back shows on July 11 and July 12 at Crypto.com Arena. For her history-making debut headline tour, OUT OF THIS WORLD — The Missy Elliott Experience, she commanded the stage with her timeless hits and bombastic stage presence, blending ultimate nostalgia with a futuristic celebration of her legendary 30-year music career. Fans were treated to a dynamic setlist of four acts that featured classic smash hits like “Work It” and “Get Ur Freak On,” alongside newer tracks “Cool Off” and “DripDemeanor,” keeping the crowd on their feet as they sang and danced along.
Supporting Missy Elliott on this tour were Hip Hop legend Busta Rhymes, Multi-Platinum selling superstar Ciara, and mega-producer Timbaland. The Los Angeles Times praised the show, stating, “Together, all four of them made an unimpeachable argument that they saw the future back then, and finally put it all on stages today.” The OUT OF THIS WORLD — The Missy Elliott Experience is produced by Live Nation in association with Mona Scott-Young, Elliott’s longtime manager and CEO of Monami Entertainment, and represented by Seth Shomes through Day After Day Productions (DADP).
The star-studded audience at Elliott’s electrifying concerts included celebrity guests Angela Bassett, John Boyega, Tyler, The Creator, Jennifer Hudson, Lizzo, Victoria Monét, Kelly Rowland, and many more. With such a powerful lineup and a stellar audience, Missy Elliott’s tour is truly living up to its name, offering fans an unforgettable experience.
Missy Elliott is the first rapper to have a song played in space. On Instagram, she revealed she teamed with NASA to become the first rapper to have a song played in space through the Deep Space Network. She now joins The Beatles as the only artist to do so.
YOOO this is crazy! We just went #OutOfThisWorld with @nasa and sent the FIRST hip hop song into space through the Deep Space Network. My song “The Rain” has officially been transmitted all the way to Venus, the planet that symbolizes strength, beauty and empowerment. The sky is not the limit, it’s just the beginning
Earlier this month, Missy Elliott, global Hip Hop/R&B icon, kicked off her groundbreaking debut headline tour, OUT OF THIS WORLD — The Missy Elliott Experience, to a sold-out crowd at Rogers Arena. The electrifying launch set a high bar for the remaining 29 dates of the tour.
Before Elliott took the stage, DJ Navarris energized the packed arena, followed by back-to-back dynamic performances from mega producer Timbaland, Multi-Platinum superstar Ciara, and Hip Hop legend Busta Rhymes.
Known as this summer’s must-see event, Elliott’s visionary production featured a troupe of 25 dancers, including ballerinas and a tap dancer, enhancing each performance with intergalactic set designs, cutting-edge visuals, and state-of-the-art lighting.
Elliott, whose influential catalog spans three decades, ignited the audience with hits like “Throw It Back,” “Sock It 2 Me,” “Get Ur Freak On,” and “Hot Boyz.” Her set culminated in an explosive finale with “Ching-A-Ling,” “Bring the Pain,” and “Work It.” Throughout the show, Elliott dazzled in custom outfits by celebrity stylist June Ambrose, ranging from a bedazzled astronaut suit to sleek latex ensembles and graffiti-inspired designs.
OUT OF THIS WORLD — The Missy Elliott Experience is produced by Live Nation in collaboration with Mona Scott-Young, Elliott’s manager and CEO of Monami Entertainment, and represented by Seth Shomes of Day After Day Productions (DADP). Fans across North America eagerly anticipate the tour’s next stops, eager to witness Elliott’s unmatched talent and innovative stage presence.
OUT OF THIS WORLD — THE MISSY ELLIOTT EXPERIENCE TOUR 2024 UPCOMING DATES:
Thursday, July 4 — Vancouver, BC — Rogers Arena SOLD OUT!
Saturday, July 6 — Seattle, WA — Climate Pledge Arena
Tuesday, July 9 — Oakland, CA — Oakland Arena
Thursday, July 11 — Los Angeles, CA — Crypto.com Arena
Friday, July 12 — Los Angeles, CA — Crypto.com Arena
Saturday, July 13 — Las Vegas, NV — T-Mobile Arena
Tuesday, July 16 — Denver, CO — Ball Arena
Thursday, July 18 — Austin, TX — Moody Center
Saturday, July 20 — Houston, TX — Toyota Center
Sunday, July 21 — Fort Worth, TX — Dickies Arena
Wednesday, July 24 — Tampa, FL — Amalie Arena
Thursday, July 25 — Sunrise, FL — Amerant Bank Arena
Saturday, July 27 — Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
Sunday, July 28 — Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
Tuesday, July 30 — Orlando, FL — Kia Center
Thursday, August 1 — Baltimore, MD — CFG Bank Arena
Friday, August 2 — Hampton, VA — Hampton Coliseum
Saturday, August 3 — Belmont Park, NY — UBS Arena
Monday, August 5 — Philadelphia, PA — Wells Fargo Center
Thursday, August 8 — Washington, DC — Capital One Arena
Friday, August 9 — Newark, NJ — Prudential Center
Saturday, August 10 — Boston, MA — TD Garden
Monday, August 12 — Brooklyn, NY — Barclays Center
Wednesday, August 14 — Cleveland, OH — Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Thursday, August 15 — Detroit, MI — Little Caesars Arena
Saturday, August 17 — Montreal, QC — Bell Centre
Monday, August 19 — Toronto, ON — Scotiabank Arena
Tuesday, August 20 — Toronto, ON — Scotiabank Arena
Thursday, August 22 — Rosemont, IL — Allstate Arena
Missy Elliott has broken boundaries her whole career. Her style, her songwriting approach, and her outsized personality made her unmistakable in the 1990s and 2000s. The rapper has been given her flowers repeatedly over the last few years, and rightfully so. That being said, no award or tour turnout can compete with the vacuum of space. Missy Elliott made history on July 12 when she helped beam lyrics from her song “The Rain” into the cosmos. She’s the first, and currently the only, rapper to ever perform this unique feat.
Missy Elliott worked with NASA employees at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California to make this feat a reality. Brittany Brown, the NASA director who came up with the idea, issued a statement as to why the “Get Ur Freak On” rapper was the perfect partner. “Missy [Elliott] has a track record of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos,” the statement read. “So the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.” To further sweeten the pot, “The Rain” was beamed to Venus, which is the rapper’s favorite planet. It’s also, incredibly, 158 million miles away.
Missy Elliott expanded upon her reasoning for the NASA partnership in her own statement. She also gave context as to why Venus is her favorite planet. “I still can’t believe I’m going out of this world with NASA,” she explained. “I chose Venus because it symbolizes strength, beauty, and empowerment and I am so humbled to have the opportunity to share my art and my message with the universe.” The rapper also stated that she was immensely humbled to be able to share her art with the rest of the solar system.
Missy Elliott is in good company. “The Rain” is only the second song in human history to be beamed out into outer space. The other is “Across the Universe” by The Beatles. The lyrical connection of the Beatles song is obvious, but Elliott’s song has a connection of its own. According to CBS News, there is actually rain on Venus. The rain is made out of sulfuric acid, which evaporates “into a never ending toxic cloud.” With this context in mind, it makes perfect sense that NASA would want to call upon Elliott’s breakout 1997 single about wanting to avoid the rain.
NASA — y’know, the ones who are actually good at spaceships — announced on Monday (July 15) that it had transmitted Missy Elliott’s 1997 breakout hit “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” to Venus through its Deep Space Network from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Deep Space Station 13 in California on Friday, July 12. According to NASA, the distance the song traveled is about 158 million miles, taking nearly 14 minutes to reach Venus at the speed of light.
This marks the first-ever time NASA has broadcast a hip-hop song into space — and they sure picked an appropriate one. NASA’s Deep Space Network system has transmitted only one other song into space: The Beatles’ “Across The Universe.” The Digital and Technology Division director of NASA’s Office of Communications, Brittany Brown, explained why Missy was chosen to be just the second musical act and the first hip-hop one transmitted to space.
“Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries,” Brown said. “Missy has a track record of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos, so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.”
On this day in Hip Hop history, rap queen Missy Elliott released her debut LP, Supa Dupa Fly.
Arguably the most influential release by a female rapper in history, this project birthed one of rap’s most important icons, male or female. The Hip Hop/R&B experimental masterpiece not only delivered a fresh sound to a period in between dominant trends, it also set the tone for what would be considered a radio hit at the turn of the millennium.
The sound and success of this project are due in equal part to Missy and fellow Virginian super-producer Timbaland. In the new age, digital R&B style production pioneered a sound that became the standard of any Top 40 crossover hit of the era. His technical ability as a beatmaker personally complimented Missy’s unorthodox, almost broken-up, flow and smooth, soulful vocals. Missy’s ability as an innovative songwriter allowed for the mind-boggling production to not be wasted. The subjects that were touched on came with a new perspective and the way she rode each beat added such emphasis, giving the project a strong theatrical quality.
Commercially, it performed quite well peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album claimed the #1 spot on the R&B/Hip Hop chart and made appearances on music charts in New Zealand and the Netherlands. The album was certified platinum in the United States and silver in the United Kingdom, both in the year of its release. Critics across the board praised both Timbaland and Missy Elliot for their work on this album, calling it “a key prophecy of the dominant 21st-century Black pop” and “everything the Hip Hop doctor ordered; a woman who could flip between aggression and romance, sex and nonsense, materialism and imagination, without batting one outrageously spidery eyelash.”
A hill I will die on (but more likely successfully defend indefinitely until the entire world sees it my way): Missy Elliott is the single best thing to come out of the 1990s. Everything else turned out to have diminishing returns or was actively destructive. It was a time that was singularly focused on a future that seemed not that far away. Remember the hope we had for the internet, that it would be an information superhighway? Well, your Google searches are now burning down a city block’s worth of rainforest to spit out an algorithm-written answer telling you eating rocks is good for digestion.
But Missy Elliott? Missy’s timeless. The one truly pioneering artist in hip-hop who hasn’t yet shared at least one problematic opinion on social media. A performer whose live show only continues to expand, 25 years after her initial, world-shaking breakout with the “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” and its eye-popping music video. Someone who names her tour Out Of This World and delivers on that promise. I go to a lot of shows, and every time I see something mind-bogglingly futuristic, or fantastical, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer‘s influence jumps off the stage. As it turns out, during her concert, so does Missy.
Thursday night (June 11), the Virginia producer-rapper-singer-songwriter transformed the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles into her own personal spaceship, transporting concertgoers into her space-age imagination. From flying saucers to allusions to The Wiz, Missy crams so much into her set that it’s almost physically overwhelming. At 53, she’s at least as spry as some of the artists she’s inspired, like Doja Cat and Lil Nas X, and as innovative as anyone we routinely praise as genius for their creative direction — think Tyler The Creator or Childish Gambino.
Missy’s music, production, and performance has held up so well for so long because she still sounds like the future. Hip-hop, for as much credit as it gets for blasting culture forward by epochal increments over the past 50 years, has very much also been kind of a game of “Follow The Leader” ever since the first MCs picked up mics at the park jams. Whenever someone comes along who shifts the paradigm — let’s say Rakim, or Tupac, or Kanye, or Young Thug — there are nearly always a slew of imitators, duplicating what they did to the best of their abilities, at best advancing the craft and pushing the boundaries, but mostly just riding the wave to capitalize on a proven formula (just imagine how many trap beats there are on the radio RIGHT NOW).
Then there’s Missy, who arrived in 1997 crafting sounds and styles that hadn’t been invented yet, that no one has been able to imitate in the nearly 30 years since. Sure, she cracked open the door for rappers to play around visually in ways they hadn’t yet, so beholden were they to the “keep it real” ghetto tough-guy aesthetic. Her wild collaborations with video director Hype Williams were the precursor to even more outlandish excursions from the likes of Ludacris, Eminem, Travis Scott, Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B and even Hollywood itself. And her deconstructed rhyme patterns were clear influences on future lyrical Dadaists like the aforementioned Thug, Kanye, and more — even if nobody has quite mastered the free-form thinking behind her best raps.
But for all her influence, nobody in the world sounds LIKE Missy. Not one artist who is capable of selling out arenas is equally capable of teleporting through so many different aesthetics and thematic concepts on stage — as illustrated by massive, cartoonish avatars representing her looks from different iconic music videos. Everyone else is still playing catch-up to where Missy WAS 20 years ago when she dropped “Gossip Folks,” “Pass That Dutch,” “Sock It 2 Me,” and “Work It.” Missy did what so few artists — hip-hop or otherwise — are capable of: breaking new ground, then breaking the mold. Her Out Of This World tour isn’t just a futuristic flight of fancy — it’s an overview of a one-of-a-kind career, one that couldn’t happen before she showed up and hasn’t happened since.
If you were looking for Cardi B’s album this summer, stop looking. Cardi announced her 2024 plans and new music is not part of them.
Interacting with fans online, Cardi revealed she agreed with a fan who stated she should pull back from social media platforms due to feeling “unappreciated” for online interactions.
Then she dropped the reveal: “Anyway NO album this year I don’t care I’m relaxing this year .. Dropping these features I already committed to and traveling and enjoying my summer.”
Just as a note, Invasion of Privacy dropped in 2018. You can see Cardi’s messages below courtesy of Hip-HopDX.
Missy Elliott, global Hip Hop/R&B icon, kicked off her groundbreaking debut headline tour, OUT OF THIS WORLD — The Missy Elliott Experience, to a sold-out crowd at Rogers Arena. The electrifying launch set a high bar for the remaining 29 dates of the tour.
Before Elliott took the stage, DJ Navarris energized the packed arena, followed by back-to-back dynamic performances from mega producer Timbaland, Multi-Platinum superstar Ciara, and Hip Hop legend Busta Rhymes.
Known as this summer’s must-see event, Elliott’s visionary production featured a troupe of 25 dancers, including ballerinas and a tap dancer, enhancing each performance with intergalactic set designs, cutting-edge visuals, and state-of-the-art lighting.
Elliott, whose influential catalog spans three decades, ignited the audience with hits like “Throw It Back,” “Sock It 2 Me,” “Get Ur Freak On,” and “Hot Boyz.” Her set culminated in an explosive finale with “Ching-A-Ling,” “Bring the Pain,” and “Work It.” Throughout the show, Elliott dazzled in custom outfits by celebrity stylist June Ambrose, ranging from a bedazzled astronaut suit to sleek latex ensembles and graffiti-inspired designs.
OUT OF THIS WORLD — The Missy Elliott Experience is produced by Live Nation in collaboration with Mona Scott-Young, Elliott’s manager and CEO of Monami Entertainment, and represented by Seth Shomes of Day After Day Productions (DADP). Fans across North America eagerly anticipate the tour’s next stops, eager to witness Elliott’s unmatched talent and innovative stage presence.
OUT OF THIS WORLD — THE MISSY ELLIOTT EXPERIENCE TOUR 2024 UPCOMING DATES:
Thursday, July 4 — Vancouver, BC — Rogers Arena SOLD OUT!
Saturday, July 6 — Seattle, WA — Climate Pledge Arena
Tuesday, July 9 — Oakland, CA — Oakland Arena
Thursday, July 11 — Los Angeles, CA — Crypto.com Arena
Friday, July 12 — Los Angeles, CA — Crypto.com Arena
Saturday, July 13 — Las Vegas, NV — T-Mobile Arena
Tuesday, July 16 — Denver, CO — Ball Arena
Thursday, July 18 — Austin, TX — Moody Center
Saturday, July 20 — Houston, TX — Toyota Center
Sunday, July 21 — Fort Worth, TX — Dickies Arena
Wednesday, July 24 — Tampa, FL — Amalie Arena
Thursday, July 25 — Sunrise, FL — Amerant Bank Arena
Saturday, July 27 — Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
Sunday, July 28 — Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
Tuesday, July 30 — Orlando, FL — Kia Center
Thursday, August 1 — Baltimore, MD — CFG Bank Arena
Friday, August 2 — Hampton, VA — Hampton Coliseum
Saturday, August 3 — Belmont Park, NY — UBS Arena
Monday, August 5 — Philadelphia, PA — Wells Fargo Center
Thursday, August 8 — Washington, DC — Capital One Arena
Friday, August 9 — Newark, NJ — Prudential Center
Saturday, August 10 — Boston, MA — TD Garden
Monday, August 12 — Brooklyn, NY — Barclays Center
Wednesday, August 14 — Cleveland, OH — Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Thursday, August 15 — Detroit, MI — Little Caesars Arena
Saturday, August 17 — Montreal, QC — Bell Centre
Monday, August 19 — Toronto, ON — Scotiabank Arena
Tuesday, August 20 — Toronto, ON — Scotiabank Arena
Thursday, August 22 — Rosemont, IL — Allstate Arena
Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Missy Elliott kicked off her Out Of This World Tour on Independence Day in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (shout-out to Nardwuar), and now that the ball is rolling, we have her setlist, courtesy, as always, of Setlist.fm.
Consisting of more than 30 tracks from across Missy’s career as a rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer, the setlist touches on just about every Missy Elliott era — from her “Misdemeanor” days with the inflatable vinyl suit to more recent standouts from her late 2010s EP, Iconology. There’s also a section where she shows off her pen game, performing covers of hits from Aaliyah, 702, Keyshia Cole, Monica, and Jazmine Sullivan. She’s joined onstage, naturally, by longtime producer Timbaland for a cover of the Timbaland & Magoo song “Up Jumps Da Boogie” in homage to the late VA rapper, then by longtime collaborator and fellow rap video paradigm shifter Busta Rhymes. She closes with an appearance from Ciara, with whom she hits on the 2005 single, “Lose Control.”You can see the full list below.
01. “Throw It Back”
02. “Cool Off”
03. “We Run This”
04. “4 My People”
05. “Sock It 2 Me”
06. “I’m Really Hot”
07. “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”
08. “I’m Better”
09. “She’s a Bitch”
10. “Gossip Folks”
11. “All n My Grill”
12. “Get Ur Freak On”
13. “Lick Shots”
14. “One Minute Man”
15. “Hot Boyz”
16. “Beep Me 911”
17. “DripDemeanor”
18. “Toyz”
19. “Pussycat”
20. “Bad Man”
21. “If Your Girl Only Knew” (Aaliyah song)
22. “Where My Girls At” (702 song)
23. “Let It Go” (Keyshia Cole song)
24. “So Gone” (Monica song)
25. “Holding You Down” (Jazmine Sullivan song)
26. “Ching-A-Ling”
27. “WTF (Where They From)”
28. “Work It”
29. “Pass That Dutch”
30. “Up Jumps Da Boogie” (Timbaland & Magoo cover) (with Timbaland)
31. “Touch It” (Busta Rhymes cover) (with Busta Rhymes)
32. “Lose Control” (with Ciara)
Rapper/producer/songwriter Missy Elliott is a legend in the game due to her left of center ideas. She’s never been deterred by people saying her musical inclination as are too weird for the general public. Missy has made long lasting career on taking risks and those gambles have paid off in unimaginable ways.
So for Missy’s 53rd birthday, which is July 1st, check out four ways she changed the game.
1. Music Videos There isn’t an artist in any genre whose debut music video had as much impact as Missy’s “The Rain.” As addicting as the song was, everybody always talked about the heavyset woman with finger waves dancing in a trash bag. The Virginia native was never afraid to throw a million and one out of the box ideas at you in one video. Over the course of her career, Elliott has gone bald, spit in a man’s mouth, hang from a chandelier and eaten a Lamborghini all in the name of music video artistry.
One of her most conceptual visuals, “Get Your Freak On”
2. Lyrics Before Missy came to prominence, female rappers were either demanding respect or trying their damnedest to focus male attention on their sexuality. The rapper/producer shunned those notions and became a star simply by making a noise on the Gina Thompson “The Things You Do” remix. Her lyrics prove she’s as skilled as, if not better than, any man to touch a mic because as she’s said before, she keeps it realer than the titties on her chest. That’s definitely a rarity in today’s music.
Check out the lyrics to one of her most recent “single to remix” smash hits, “Work It”
3. Image The Grammy Award winner has kept her individuality in tact by remaining true to self. Instead of trying make herself seem skinnier than she was, Missy used her size as a foundation to build a larger than life character in Hip Hop. You wouldn’t catch her in heels and a dress, but you always knew Missy was probably the most confident when she walked into a room.
4. Production With Timbaland The work produced by Missy and Timbaland was groundbreaking because it made us think about and listen to music differently. They incorporated obscure sounds into their songwriting to create a spaced out Hip Hop/R&B sound that still sounds like it came from the future. What would our 90s playlists be without “One In A Million”, “All In My Grill” or the star studded “Hot Boyz (Remix)”? Somewhere hoping an artist like Missy Elliott exists.
