Missy Elliott Just Set a New Record

The rapper, known for hits like “Work It,” “Get Ur Freak On,” and “Lose Control,” officially has six platinum albums, the most of any female rapper in the game. Twitter account ChartData, which keeps a running record of how music is performing in the charts, shared on Jan. 29 that Elliott's records had all been certified RIAA platinum (or higher), after her 2005 album The Cookbook hit its million milestone in January.

Elliott caught the good news and shared it on Twitter, along with her gratitude for all of it, as well as a message to her fellow artists. She wrote, “This is a HUGE MILESTONE!🎉No matter how long it took to get here I am here & I AM HUMBLYGRATEFUL💜🙏🏾To all my SISTERS in HIPHOP yall keep doing yall thang & SHINING🙌🏾”

Elliott's first album, Supa Dupa Fly, was released in 1997 and quickly went platinum. It also earned the rapper her first Grammy nomination. Da Real World came in 1999 and Miss E... So Addictive in 2001. Her 2002 album, Under Construction, is her highest-selling album so far and the only one that’s been certified double platinum. It’s also the home of her mega smash hit “Work It.” This Is Not a Test! in 2003 and The Cookbook in 2005 round out her current discography of studio albums.

She may not have put out a full-length studio album of her own since 2005, but Elliott's been no less influential on the rap and hip-hop scene since then (and long before). She was the first female rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019 and earned the MTV Video Vanguard Award that same year, also as the first female rapper to do so.

Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott is an icon in music and deserves every one of these honors and awards thrown her way. With her massive amounts of talent, she’s smashed through the male-dominated industry to leave her mark. The late ‘90s/ early 2000s rap scene wouldn’t have been nearly as exciting without her music and we just simply don’t know what life would be like if she hadn’t taught us how to put that thing down, flip it and reverse it.

Photo via Mick Hutson/ Redferns