If anybody calls me a female Quincy Jones, that's way, way complimentary. That's something I'll cherish for life.
— Missy Elliott
I've learnt to be happy by myself.
Rule number one in negotiating anything with Missy is never try and run me over. Never push me, because I am a very strong woman. I'm nice, but I'm very strong. When it gets down gritty, I can get grittier. Never, ever underestimate me.
'Soul Train' means so much to me.
I always said if a man would have done half the records that I've done, we would know about it. But we don't know all the records I've done for other artists.
A lot of people don't do this. You can count on a couple of hands probably how many artists also produce and write, both for themselves and for others, and are able to be successful at both things.
When you think of Missy, you can't say, 'Missy reminded me of someone else.' There was no Missy comparison before.
I've only ever had two vacations in my whole career, and I've been in the industry over twenty-something years!
I guess my friends probably think I'm one of the lamest when it comes to doing stuff.
There's that saying: 'God gave you talent, and if you don't use it He'll take it away from you.' And I always said, 'I don't want God to come down and take my talents away.' So, by using all these talents and being successful in all of them, I've always got something to fall back on.
I don't want to be oh-so-brag-about-it, but 'The Rain' is hot.
When I'm in the studio, I like to be in there by myself because if I'm in the mike room, and I look out and see people talking, or they're not nodding their head or rocking to the music, it makes me feel like it don't sound good, or I'll be scared to really open up vocally because I might mess up, and they might be in there laughing.
If you got talent, you just have to do you.
I'd stand on the side of the road when I was just a little girl singing on trash cans. People would roll down their windows saying, 'Isn't she cute'. I had a vivid imagination. I always pretended it was some big stage.
I don't want to get caught up and be an artist always on the go. Because once you do that, it's hard to get into the studio and do what I do.
We're told that to be fly, you gotta have a fly car, the rims on your wheels, the fly jewels, and that to work a regular job and make legal money is uncool.
I love to see women just have on their own, and you watch the guys do it all the time. They go out on the road with each other - probably don't even like each other, but they going to get that money.
If I'm paying people, and they're not handling my business right, I have to check them. 'Cause sometimes you're nice, and people don't jump on what they're supposed to do, but if you go in there screaming at everybody - 'Look, why aren't my posters up?' or 'Why wasn't my single out on this day?' - then they jump right on it.
I still don't want no broke dude! I'm open to offers, but he's got to be stable. I see a lot of friends who feel they have to be with a man, but they always pick the wrong one. Are there any right ones?
Don Cornelius was a genius. He created a show where he was breaking artists' songs. If you were on his show, he made the consumer want to go out and purchase your music. He will be greatly missed. If they ever try to recreate what he did, it has to been done right, authentic and real with soul! That's what Don displayed.
Left Eye is a a rare gem.
A lot of people don't know a lot of records that I've written or produced, so that's a highlight for me as a woman.
I never stopped recording, but I went through a period where... The one thing that a lot of people don't know is that for as long as I've been as artist, I've been a writer and a producer.
Before Missy, there was no comparison to what Missy was doing.
The reason I stay home more is because I realise that my blood pressure started going up.
Breaking news: there is only one Missy.
I feel like, O.K., if I can make it as a singer, then let me try rapping. If I can make it as a rapper, then let me try writing. All right? If I make it as a rap singer and writer, then why not try to produce? I don't feel limited in any way.
Me personally, I don't ask too much, but I do ask Him to continue to bless me successfully, financially, and just to keep me humble.
I always have been an entertainer, whether it's been joking or performing for people. And I always thought I had a talent, because I could rap and I could sing, and I did write. And all the other kids were going to college, but I just felt like I had to do this first, and if it didn't work, then I would go to college.
I think Aaliyah has influenced artists like a Ciara.
I still represent for overweight adults and kids, but I am also now painfully and personally aware of the health issues.
I can't complain. I think when you get to a certain point, you shouldn't complain because there's so many people who would kill to get to this point.
Before, you only had one Public Enemy and one Rakim and one Salt 'N' Pepa. Now, people have got the formula, and some of them are just doing it for the cheque. It's kind of watered down.
Lil' Kim is my sister, known her for years, and I'll never turn my back on her, but there is enough room for everybody. I want to see everybody get it.
Music is a male-dominated field. Women are not always taken as seriously as we should be, so sometimes we have to put our foot down.
My imagination is so far out there already. People couldn't imagine what goes on in my brain.
I still go on YouTube and watch the old performances and the 'Soul Train' lines. I'm still amazed by how much soul and funk the music and dancers had.
I want to dip my foot in some acting. And most definitely want to mentor upcoming artists and give them the wisdom that was given to me.
My blood pressure was always up from just overworking.
When something is so hot, I don't want to just jump on it right away. I want to take it home and make sure I give it my best shot.
I hear a lot of influence from me and Timbaland's whole sound in a lot of records of today. But if you have classics like that, then I'm sure you gotta expect that it's gonna influence some people. So, I'm fine with that.
I'll stay in my house and watch 'Lockup,' the prison show.
I don't think Puffy knows what he did for hip-hop. Because he intertwined hip-hop and R&B so that people weren't intimidated.
I didn't want to just be an artist and let someone else have all that control over me. I knew I would have to produce.
If you believe a black cat is bad luck, people think you're crazy, but plenty of times, if I see a black cat down my street, I turn around and go the other way. Even if I'm late. I'll be late for the airport and be in a limo, and if I see a black cat, I'll be like, 'Sir, you have to turn around and go down the next street.'
I felt like, 'How do I fit in'? I'm battling. But then I never fit in!'... I thank God for somebody like Pharrell who stayed in my ear. For him, at that time, 'Happy' was everywhere; he didn't have to share anything with me.
I think it's hard for Aaliyah to be duplicated, because she had her own lane.
I was very disturbed to find that a few people were angry at my weight loss.
No, I'm a flirtatious person; I'll flirt all day long, but it really is hard to get into that when I'm so into the music, and I'm in the studio all day long and all night sometimes. That's not an exaggeration.
I couldn't write because my nervous system was so bad - I couldn't even use a pen.
