Missy Elliott becomes first female rapper to be entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Missy Elliott has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame making her the first female rap artist to do so.

The honour was awarded to the artist after a speech from fellow female rapper, Queen Latifah.

Latifah said in her speech: “You feel free? You want to try some wild shit? Thank Missy”.

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A short video was also created in honour of the artist’s career which included other faces from female rap such as Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place on Friday with other inductees including, Sheryl Crow, Rage Against the Machine, Willie Nelson, The Spinners, Kate Bush and George Michael.

Missy Elliott is best known for her tracks, ‘Get Ur Freak On’, ‘Work It’, ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’, ‘Pass That Dutch’ and ‘Lost Control’.

In 2019, Elliott was the first ever female hip hop artist to make the Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2021 was honoured on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame with a star.

“First of all, I’m not even gonna start without thanking God,” Elliott began her acceptance speech saying. “I’ve been through so many ups and downs and I know where my gifts come from. God has brought me all the way here. He has allowed me to meet some incredible people along the way.”

She continued: “All of these people have impacted people around the world through their music. Sometimes I be like, do people really realize, like through music, what music do with people? That’s the one thing I think we can all say that comes together is music.”

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“I didn’t wanna call out any names, but I have to say Pepa who is here from Salt-N-Pepa? Her and Queen Latifah, [MC] Lyte, Roxanne Shanté, so many. Monie [Love], all those ones before me gave me their shoulders to stand on.

"So I just wanna take the time. My people say, ‘Hey, go up there, and you know, people wanna hear from you, how you feel.’ But these are the people who inspired me. And if it wasn’t for them and their music, I probably wouldn’t be standing here.”

Missy Elliott concluded: “I just wanna say I love y’all and just try to spread love ’cause we so needed in this world. And I thank y’all, all the inductees. Y’all are so amazing. And congratulations to y’all. I’m honoured to be even just in the room with you all. And I thank y’all. Thank you so much.”

Watch her full speech below.

Elliott has also shared some images from the evening. See below.

Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Multimedia Editor, follow her on Twitter