Missy Elliott’s ‘The Rain’ first rap track beamed into space
Missy Elliott’s debut single, ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),’ has become the first hip-hop track to be beamed into space. On July 12th, NASA transmitted the 1997 anthem to Venus from its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
With help from the agency’s Deep Space Network, ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ travelled 158 million miles from Earth to Venus faster than the speed of light and took only 14 minutes to arrive on the surface of Venus.
Several tracks have been transmitted into space before. However, Elliott’s is the first hip-hop song to make the journey. Following the news that her track had been selected for this historic moment, Elliott took to social media to share her excitement.
Elliott jumped on X (formerly Twitter) to write, “YOOO this is crazy! We just went #OutOfThisWorld with NASA and sent the FIRST hip-hop song into space through the Deep Space Network.”
She continued, “My song ‘The Rain’ has officially been transmitted all the way to Venus, the planet that symbolizes strength, beauty, and empowerment. The sky is not the limit. It’s just the beginning [two alien emojis].”
Although this isn’t the first time a song has travelled across space, this cosmic milestone is the first transmission since NASA beamed The Beatles ‘Across the Universe in 2008. A historic moment which occurred over 15 years ago.
The director of NASA’s Digital and Technology Division, Brittany Brown, explained that Missy’s work has always been futuristic and space-like. Therefore, it was the perfect choice of song. Speaking on Elliott’s music, Brown stated, “Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries.”
She continued, “Missy has a track record of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos, so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.”
Released as the lead single for her debut album of the same name, ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ sampled the 1973 hit ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’ by Ann Peebles. Produced by Timbaland, the song went straight to the top of the charts,
It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and sold 129,000 copies its in the first week. The futuristic video, directed by Hype Williams, is instantly recognisable and is considered a hip-hop classic. It features cameos from the likes of Diddy, Lil Kim, TLC, YoYo, 702 and others.