Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), known as Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her career with the R&B girl group Sista in the early to mid-1990s and later joined the Swing Mob collective with collaborator Timbaland. After working on projects for acts like Aaliyah, 702, Total, and SWV, she launched her solo career on July 15, 1997, with the album Supa Dupa Fly, which included the top 20 single "Sock It 2 Me" and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, the highest chart debut for a female rapper at the time.
Elliott released several albums including Da Real World (1999), Miss E... So Addictive (2001), Under Construction (2002), and This Is Not a Test (2003), producing hits such as "Hot Boyz", "Get Ur Freak On", and "Work It", the latter earning her a Grammy for Best Female Rap Solo Performance. She has won four Grammy Awards, sold over 30 million records in the U.S., and is the best-selling female rapper in Nielsen Music history as of 2017. In 2019, Elliott released the EP Iconology, became the first female rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and received the MTV Video Music Awards Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. In 2020, Billboard ranked her fifth on the 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time list.
United States
