The Top 5 Reasons Why Missy Elliott Should NOT be Included in Best Ever Lists

Lil’ Wayne has remarked that Missy Elliott is his number artist in his best ever list. Though she may have spaced out lyrics and funky, spontaneous flows, Missy Elliott will forever be known for her boundary-pushing videos. Even with the words she puts down, they add up to very little in the way of true lyricism. Her talent lies in shock value and grabbing attention. That’s about it.

Those aforementioned lyrics and flows often contain complete nonsense and gobbledygook. If it weren’t for Timbaland’s infectious, jumpy beats Elliott would have been relegated to the ash heap of below average wordsmiths. Here are The Top Five Reasons Why Missy Elliott Should NOT be Included in Best Ever Lists.

5. Missy Elliott’s Inability to Engage in Art with Substance Downgrades Her

Think about all the lines that Missy has spit. Now think of all the times you had to rewind the track to listen to her words again. Are you failing to come up with a solid case for her lyrical dexterity? What about a song that spoke of the issues of the day? That’s because her depth is difficult to detect.

The “Work It” rapstress is an example of someone who has been able to ride on the wave of mediocrity and still make a fortune. While she deserves every cent she has made for her efforts to her audience, she is in search of true meaning behind her words.

4. Missy Elliott Falters When She has To Sing

Not only does rap but Misdemeanor sings and was even in an R&B group called Sista. Her theatrics become stripped down and only pass as an okay ability to flex her vocal chords beyond just rapping.

When she takes the time to sing a song, her rapper sensibility takes over and she mishandles either effort. If she had an ounce of talent, she would have been able to differentiate between either discipline and offer the world something of true value. Instead, she never fully developed as a rapper or a singer and has left a legacy of intermittent pushes towards an artistic career.

3. Other Artists have had to Prop Up Missy

Ludacris, Nas, Eve, Jay-Z and a host of others have had to spit hot bars on Timbaland tracks. They did so almost as a charity to Missy’s subpar performances.

These artists laid down tracks to bolster their own careers but also to selfishly help out a genuine person like Missy. This charitable action has paid off in dividends. What is sad is that Missy never studied enough to match the endless couplets and cadences of her superior peers.

What she fails to realize is that she is just a few artists who have been afforded a platform and a microphone to showcase her lukewarm abilities.

2. Missy has not One Hot Bar to Speak Of

Through her whole catalogue, there is not one instance of an impactful line that makes you say that she had a powerful punch. This dearth of creativity is what has always been saved by a Timbaland beat.

Missy Elliott has never been taken seriously as a lyricist along the lines of Queen Latifah or MC Lyte. She has been unable to treat her words as something beyond just snarls and grunts on the track masquerading as actual verbiage.

Nothing in Misdemeanor’s whole placement as a singer/rapper points in the direction of viable, visible talent.

1. Missy Elliot Can Only Point to her Videos as Something that Makes Her Interesting

The videos that she has collaborated on with Hype Williams and Dave Meyers have catapulted her into the stratosphere. She rose to fame on MTV and BET (when they still played videos). Her willingness to challenge the parameters of a common music video should be credited to Missy Elliott’s vision. It’s a shame she hasn’t dedicated her music abilities in the direction of writing fire lines instead of just a bunch of nonsense.