Decades before Missy Elliott considered herself “the definition of Avant Garde” on Twitter, her innovative “Miss E… So Addictive” set precedent for the title.
“People not gon’ really know what to categorize this album,” Elliott said of “So Addictive” in an interview with E! News when it released. “It’s an album for everybody.”
In my case, it’s the common-ground album that my parents and I can agree to listen to on family road trips. Its eclectic sounds, syncopated rhythms and interrupting adlibs (“Is that your chick?”) provide a safe middle ground for miles of multigenerational listening, the perfect bridge between one audience who likes Megan Thee Stallion and Billie Eilish and another who prefers 1970s George Clinton and Parliament funk.
The palate-pleasing qualities of Elliott’s music goes beyond a family car. It is displayed with the undefinable experimentation of her third studio album “Miss E… So Addictive.” The 2001 project crafted by Elliott and producer Timbaland includes funky bass, sitar plucks, and orchestral horns that push the genre-blending envelope with each song.
The eclectic tracklist hopscotches from chart-topping hits like “Get Ur Freak On” and “One Minute Man feat. Ludacris” to inspired collaborations with rappers Method Man and Redman (“Dog in Heat”) and gospel singer Yolanda Adams (“Higher Ground”).
Longtime entertainment journalist Michael Musto interviewed Elliott in 1999 after the release of her sophomore project “Da Real World”…
