LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a 24,000-square-foot studio near downtown Los Angeles, Missy ElliottBusta Rhymes and Ciara are preparing to film a tour video announcement that no one saw coming.
This summer, the trio — along with the legendary producer Timbaland — will hit the road for Elliott’s first headlining arena tour, aptly titled “Out of This World — The Missy Elliott Experience.”
“Listen, I didn’t realize I’d never done my own tour,” smiled Elliott, holding his little Yorkie, named Fendi, dressed in Gucci. “The last real tour I went on — like, consecutive days — was with Beyonce and Alicia (Keys).”
This was in 2004.
Call it long overdue, but the timing is ideal. Over the past few years, Elliott – a forward-thinking artist – has been recognized for his talents as a musician, producer, and producer. Songwriter and beyond.
In 2019, she became the first female rapper to be inducted. Songwriters Hall of Fame and received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards. In 2021, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2022, his hometown of Portsmouth, Virginia, Named a boulevard Then last year, he became First female hip-hop artist Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Getting these accolades, I feel like I’ve finally made it,” says Elliott. “It feels amazing. I feel so lucky.”
“What we’re seeing now is like the rest of the world,” says Mona Scott-Young, Elliott’s longtime manager and co-producer of the tour. “She’s always been forward.”
In his green room, Busta rhymes Tells the AP that during his decades of friendship and collaboration with Elliott, there was never a visit in the conversation. (That’s the intro and outro vocals on it. Canonical debut album, 1997’s “Sopa Dopa Fly.” They have long been inseparable.)
“She doesn’t really tour and she doesn’t perform very often. I just kind of understand my sister — the unspoken thing,” he says. “You knew if she decided to do that, go to a place where she was really ready to tour, s— was going to be crazy because the one thing Missy had never done was her Had to play with the production. And you saw that in everything from his shows to his videos.
He continued: “Missy will turn down $10 million to do a show. … She’s in control of her own destiny in that way, and without compromise, that’s what makes her so incredibly great.” You can’t help but love him. He’s a true artist in the purest form of the word.”
And make no mistake, this is no nostalgia trip.
“We’re at the best points in our lives, individually and collectively, we’re at the most experienced points in our lives,” says Rhymes. “We’re no longer Daniel-san. We’re all Mr. Miyagi conscious now. You know what I’m saying? We’re all at our level of perfection in what we’ve been doing and as a collective family for 30 years. But building together.
Elliott echoed the sentiment.
“The lineup feels special,” says Elliott. “It’s family. It’s not put together.”
On set, the trio is styled by longtime collaborator Jon Ambrose — looking all black, as if the Avengers were impeccably dressed and comprised of R&B and hip-hop legends. They take photos as a group and individually.
After her solo photo shoot, Ciara begins to explode.
“When I was a little girl, a little artist would come in, and you’d ask me, ‘Who inspires you?’ I would inspire a bunch of people: Michael Jackson and Prince and I’d say Missy Elliott. She’s one of the best actresses ever,” he said.
“She means so much to me as an artist but also as a person, as a sister. She’s always someone I can call for the truth, and she has to keep it real with me. Someone I can call and cry to if I need to.
But ask her if there will be an onstage collaboration — Elliott wrote and was featured on Ciara’s smash hit “1, 2 Step.” On Ciara’s Elliott’s “Lose Control” — she laughs. “Missy is very special. I don’t want to spoil any surprises,” she says. “I think from start to finish, people will be on their feet. We all have a lot of moving records.
“Someone’s going to die!” Poems jokes.
“And come back to life,” Ciara said.
“Let’s keep it positive,” Rhimes says with a laugh. “Someone is going to die and come back to life.”
Later, Elliott offers a hint of what fans can expect from the show. “It’s an experience, it’s not just you watching the artist on stage,” she says. “I want people to travel to these moments, Those (music) videos, I want you to relive it on stage. It’s definitely great, cool stuff. Expensive stuff!”
“Out of This World – The Missy Elite Experience” will begin in Vancouver, British Columbia on July 4 at Rogers Arena and conclude on August 22 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
It will hit Seattle. Oakland, California; Los Angeles; Las Vegas; Denver Austin, Texas; Houston; Fort Worth, Texas; Tampa, Florida; Sunrise, Florida; Atlanta; Baltimore; Hampton, Virginia; Philadelphia; Washington DC; Newark, New Jersey; Boston; Brooklyn, New York; Detroit; Montreal and Toronto.
The tour is produced by Young’s Monami Entertainment and Live Nation. Pre-sale It starts tomorrowand tickets will be available to the general public on Friday.
Credit : apnews.com