Missy Glam Queen and Transformations Like Madonna

Ask any kid who watches BET, MTV or just TV, and you’ll hear that Missy Elliott is at the top of her game. Over the past 10 years, the producer turned rapper has established herself as queen of the freshest beats around and commanded artistic respect in a world of T&A video. She’s the hip-hop Madonna,except Elliott, 32, writes and produces all her own hits (in addition to singles for Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce), and she’s built her credibility on floor-shaking beats, not taboo-busting controversy.

But ask Elektra Records or Elliott’s management, and they’ll tell you Missy isn’t quite there yet. True, her new album “This Is Not a Test!” is another winner, with her bizarre but catchy staccato rhythms, her cockeyed wordplay and guest spots by Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. Good music, though, isn’t good enough anymore. Elliott’s handlers hope to turn their lucrative artist (nearly 7 million albums sold) into a celebrity brand name, like Madonna, P. Diddy even Britney. Elliott laughs at the idea of All Missy All the Time. “That’s not me”, she says. “That’s more of the label wanting me to do that. I wouldn?t want a clothing line, then a major part in a movie and an album out at the same time. I understand that get it while you can thing, but you could put so much out that people have nothing to look forward to.”

Sylvia Rhone, chairman and chief executive of Elektra, acknowledges that Elliott’s sales have kept building even in today’s tough business environment. But Rhone and Mona Scott, Elliott’s manager, are still looking for bigger ways to market their product. “It’s about survival in a highly competitive marketplace”, says Scott. “It’s inevitable that labels and managers are going to try to leverage their clients into other mediums.” So even the camera-shy Elliott has undergone a glam makeover, done the bump and grind with Madonna in a Gap ad and landed a cameo in the film “Honey”. “I was cool with that,” she says. “I wouldn’t have dared take on a major role, though. When I do that, I want people to say, “She deserves that role or maybe even that award”.

Elliott’s evolution from rap artist to mainstream product has been gradual compared with that of Eve or DMX. But following her 1999 CD “Da Real World”, Elliott’s management team began to recognize her brandability. In 2001 they scored a one-year deal with Reebok. Now, Elliott says, she’s in the final stages of a deal with Adidas and hopes to put out a Missy sneaker in early 2004. At this year’s MTV Asia awards, they paid for an elaborate set that featured oversize Missy puppets sporting Adidas clothes. “These brands, all they want to do is buy into your fan base”, says Scott. Not that she’s complaining. Elliott’s endorsement deals could move into the million-dollar zone. Now, Scott says, she’s encouraging her client to develop a movie project and yes a reality-TV show.

But Elliott has more than a business model: her friend, adviser and role model, Queen Latifah. “I love the way she planned out her whole career,” says Elliott. “She was an artist, then a management company, then a sitcom and movie star. She was nominated for Oscars! Ten years ago I’m quite sure she never imagined she would have lasted this long”.
Ten years from now, we may be saying the same thing about Elliott.

Source: Newsweek
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