Rapper, singer, producer, songwriter, Grammy winner, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Songwriters Hall of Fame member. Missy Elliott has racked up so many accolades since she burst once the scene in 1997 with her classic debut Supa Dupa Fly that it’s a bit of a shock when you hear that her current concert tour is her first headlining trek, ever. She’s opened tours before (even one for Michael Jackson) and co-headlined treks (alongside Beyoncé and Alicia Keys, no less), but Out of This World: The Missy Elliott Experience is her first headlining solo tour.
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Not that she’s alone. The tour boasts performances from Timbaland, Ciara and Busta Rhymes, with the latter two artists delivering substantial 45-minute-ish sets that feel like events unto themselves. And on Monday (Aug. 12) night, when the tour rolled into Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, some surprise guests — including Lil’ Kim and LL COOL J — popped by to help NYC pop off.
But make no mistake: This is a Missy Elliott production. From the fashion-forward fits to the UFO imagery to the brilliantly off-kilter choreography, this feels like the spotlight tour Missy Elliott has been waiting decades to deliver. Thanks to a 25-plus-song setlist stacked with Hot 100 hits, Missy soars, whether floating above the crowd during “Gossip Folks,” spitting “She’s a Bitch” while an impossibly large cape flutters behind her or rapping “Get Ur Freak On” as her dancers climb around a rope fence. A rope fence… why? Why not! Missy’s aesthetic, both sonically and visually, has always been to get weirder (and more wonderful) than her competitors, and her iconoclastic freak flag is flying high and mighty on this tour.
Unlike some game-changing MCs, Missy has never been afraid to share the limelight, and her tour gives ample shine to her openers and guests. Lil’ Kim had the arena shrieking when she emerged from beneath the stage to rap her 2003 hit “The Jump Off”; Timbaland joined Missy to bump “Up Jumps Da Boogie”; Busta joined her to trade verses on “Touch It”; and Ciara was front and center for the show-closing “Lose Control” (at which point most of the audience did just that). Speaking of Ciara, the energized R&B diva brought out some special guests of her own: Lady London and Lola Brooke joined her for “Da Girls,” while WNBA mascot Ellie the Elephant of the New York Liberty came out to throw down for a moment, proving that a Brooklyn dancer in an animal outfit can out-breakdance some breakers at the Olympic level.
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Busta Rhymes – whose rapid-fire, dexterous flow remains unmatched — shared his spotlight, too, welcoming to the stage (at various points) his children, Flipmode Squad’s Rah Digga and his childhood hero LL COOL J to rap Craig Mack’s “Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)” live for the first time ever. “History was made tonight!” Busta crowed.
The Flatbush MC also took a moment to speak on the importance of nurturing and encouraging the next generation of hip-hop as opposed to trying to keep others down to stay on top. That’s a philosophy which has seemingly helped guide Missy Elliott over the course of her three-decade career. And as this stacked tour proves, one blazing star doesn’t diminish another’s shine — it simply makes for a more breathtaking constellation.
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