Listening back to Missy Elliot's classic 'Triumph 98' freestyle

When pulling together a list of our favourite female rappers it is difficult to stop Missy Elliot from consistently being at the top of the pile. It’s not her classic songs that necessarily confirm her spot, but her ability to spit lyrics like a buzzsaw machine gun on overdrive.

Is it really any surprise that Missy Elliott makes the top of the list as the best female rapper of all time? She’s bound to be near the top of every list for the best rappers of all time regardless of gender, and why wouldn’t she be? She’s the woman behind some of the most popular songs in the last few decades. ‘Work It’ and ‘Get Ur Freak On’ speak for themselves.

Not only has she produced some amazing songs and amazing beats, but everything from her lyrics to her creative sound mixing have made her the rap legend she is today. Everyone from Lil Wayne to Princess Nokia finds inspiration in her, making her one of the best, inarguably. But when you listen to her iconic ‘Triumph 98’ freestyle you get another reminder of just how brilliant she is.

The track was originally featured on DJ Funkmaster Flex’s third compilation release, titled The Mix Tape, Vol. 3: 60 Minutes of Funk and sees Missy drop some bars over the beats from the Wu-Tang Clan song ‘Triumph’, which was released the previous year. The freestyle was released before Elliot’s star truly began to rise but there’s enough stardust here to see just how incredible she was about to be.

Having previously been a part of Sista, a duo formed around R’N’B principles, Elliot began to find her feet with the mic in her hand. Working alongside Timbaland as one of Aaliyah’s main contributors, Elliot helped to produce some of her biggest hits. However, Elliot wanted the spotlight and she went out and grabbed it by the scruff of the neck.

Below, we get a taste of that star quality as she delivers a high-quality freestyle back in 1998.