In case you somehow missed it, Missy Elliott dropped her first single in 10 years last week, and we all cried tears of joy.
Now, everyone’s favorite M.C. is opening up to i-D Magazine, where she praised both Pharrell Williams and Katy Perry for thrusting her back into the spotlight, and explained what took her so long to make a comeback.
“When me and Katy got on the phone [about the Super Bowl], she said she was a fan of my work and that she wanted me to perform, but to perform three of my records,” Missy said. “First of all, I can’t thank her enough. A thousand thank you’s wouldn’t be enough…I’ve performed for some of the biggest crowds, but the Super Bowl has to be the scariest moment.”
Missy Elliott is Back With a Bang in New Video for ‘WTF (Where They From)’
However, after that iconic halftime performance, Missy said that she went back to leading a relatively normal civilian life—that is until Pharrell called her one day out of the blue and asked her to record a single with him. To which she said: “Who turns down Pharrell?”
“All that time, I was doing Missy and also making sure I was giving all of these other artists a different sound, too [by writing and producing],” she said. “I needed a break. But in that break, I felt like I lost time. Then I ended up getting sick [with Graves Disease], but then it was a time where I felt like, ‘Do I still have it?’…So I battled that, and I thank God for somebody like Pharrell who stayed in my ear.'”
We’re so happy to have you back, Missy (and to answer your question, yes, you definitely still have it).
