Missy Elliott is a hip hop legend and has always been honoured for her immense contributions to the genre. From the rapper’s visual impact on the hip hop genre through her outlandish videos to her six Grammy awards, the rapper has undeniably received her flowers.
However, most recently, aside from being named as Lil Wayne’s favourite rapper, her hometown of Portsmouth, Virginia, has decided to rename a portion of a street ‘Missy Elliott Boulevard’ after a unanimous vote by the City Council.
Elliot grew up in the Portsmouth area as an only child born to her mother, Patricia Elliott, a power-company dispatcher, and her father, Ronnie, a former U.S. Marine. Elliott and her mother lived in the Hodges Ferry neighbourhood of Portsmouth, an extremely poverty-ridden area of the small town. Portsmouth is a suburb of the larger Virginia city Norfolk, home to super-producer Timbaland and only an hour away from Virginia Beach, home to hip hop duo The Neptunes. So Elliott grew up surrounded by a lot of local talent.
When made aware of the news, Elliot took to her Twitter to thank Portsmouth City Council for the gesture, tweeting, “I am forever grateful”. Earlier this year, Elliot gave advice to young artists who may be struggling to get over the hurdle of making a second album. The rapper tweeted, “sophomore albums are a very PIVOTAL time for [artists],” she followed up by encouraging artists to diversify, tweeting, “your sophomore album be stressful, but it’s the BEST ALBUM to EXPERIMENT on! Don’t be AFRAID! Becuz if u play safe you will be BOXED in, and it’s hard to get out because your fans get used to that one sound.”
Elliott is one of the most successful people from her town and is the only person from Portsmouth with a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. She was inducted last year by her manager of 25 years, Mona Scott-Young, along with good friend Ciara and artist Lizzo.
You can read Elliot’s social media response to the news below.