Over the weekend, the Songwriters Hall of Fame announced the list of 2019 inductees, honoring songwriters who have made an enormous impact on music. This year, the six-songwriter cohort included one of the most significant rappers, producers, and songwriters of all time: Missy Elliott
The five-time Grammy winner and best-selling female rapper of all time will be the first female hip hop artist to be inducted and the third rapper overall (Jay Z was inducted in 2017 and Jermaine Dupri in 2018). The Songwriters Hall of Fame deemed Missy, “one of the most significant female artists in contemporary music history” and a “groundbreaking solo superstar, pioneering songwriter-producer, and across-the-board cultural icon.”
Missy Elliott has given us hit after hit from “Sock It 2 Me” to the game-changing “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” to “Work It” to “Lose Control” to “WTF (Where They From).” Her work spans three decades and counting and her tracks have been our party soundtracks and our anthems. But she has also been very generous with her songwriting talents, writing hits for artists like Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Aaliyah, and others. So we’ve compiled our favorite songs that you probably didn’t know were penned by Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, a certified songwriting icon.
We can’t talk about Missy Elliott’s songwriting without mentioning Aaliyah. The two were consistent collaborators, and Missy penned some of Aaliyah’s biggest tracks like “One in a Million,” “If Your Girl Only Knew,” “Hot Like Fire,” and “4 Page Letter” among others.
