(Ciara, Missy Elliott, and Busta Rhymes)
By Jerome Langston
“I feel like she is the ultimate trendsetter, but she’s also timeless,” says Nakia Madry-Smith, during a recent chat about the Hampton Roads born and reared popular music icon, Missy Elliott, who is currently headlining her first arena tour across North America. Nakia is also a successful, eclectic singer/songwriter who calls Hampton Roads home. Currently she is prepping new music and visuals for a fall release, from two of the popular Virginia-based bands that she fronts — The Fuzz Band and D*Nik. And Nik’s excellent covers band, Rocky 7, regularly performs two of Missy’s classics, “Work It” and “Get Ur Freak On,” at gigs throughout the 757.
Early on in our chat I ask Nakia, who is a younger but veteran artist, how Missy has inspired her over the years. “Just the uniqueness of her approach to music. The risks that she takes with fashion,” says Nakia, who is also a member of Voices of Fire, the Pharrell Williams produced gospel choir that is also from VA. “I love that it doesn’t seem as if she takes herself so seriously that she can’t have fun,” adds Nakia.
“I respect so much that she is kind of a trailblazer for women producers. So like women who do everything — the production, the vocal arrangements, singing the reference vocals… writing the lyrics,” Nik continues. “She is definitely one who showed us all, that you could do it all. And that there really were no boundaries when it came to creativity and creative expression.”
Missy brings her debut headlining tour, Out of this World: The Missy Elliott Experience, which features R&B/pop star Ciara, hip-hop icon Busta Rhymes, and VA’s own super producer Timbaland, to Hampton Coliseum early next month. Regarding the concert, Nakia has high hopes for it, considering how intricate and eye-popping Missy’s short televised performances have been over the years. And she does hope to attend the Hampton date. “We will leave inspired. We will leave intimidated. We will leave full. And just excited all at the same time,” Nakia says, from the perspective of a fellow artist attending a Missy show.
Born and largely raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, is arguably the most successful female hip-hop artist of all time. She is the first female hip-hop artist inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And she’s also the first female rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She’s won 4 Grammy Awards, and received a ton of other industry honors; including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The singer/songwriter/producer has sold tens of millions of records, and has earned a bunch of platinum and multi-platinum selling albums, including 2002’s Under Construction and 1999’s Da Real World. Those two albums and others have launched huge, critically acclaimed hits like “She’s a Bitch,” “One Minute Man,” “Gossip Folks,” and my personal fave, “I’m Really Hot.”
Way more significant than her mighty chart feats and accolades, is Missy’s cultural impact, as well as her vast influence upon a wide array of music acts who regularly cite her as an influence; such as legendary rapper Lil Wayne, and the young pop superstar, Doja Cat. Missy is considered one of the most creative music video artists of all time, and even won MTV’s Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, for her career achievement in making pioneering music videos. And of course, as both a respected songwriter and producer, she’s collaborated with some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B. For much of Missy’s own catalogue as an artist though, superstar producer Timbaland has been her constant collaborator.
Back in 2021, Missy talked to Variety about being from the 757, and how special it is to have so many important, popular music acts from Hampton Roads. “It’s amazing to see, because in meeting Tim and then knowing that Pharrell and Tim were in a group with Pusha’s brother, it’s just funny how we all came full circle — and even though we all come from there, we all have different sounds; it’s not like there’s a ‘Virginia sound.’ There’s so much talent there,” Missy said.
For Gabe Niles, a highly successful DJ and producer in his own right, who grew up in Hampton Roads, Missy Elliott, along with 757 national acts like The Neptunes, influenced his early development as a music producer. “Without Missy, it’s a lot of shit that wouldn’t exist,” he says, a day after my chat with Nakia. “The magnitude of that alone, already set a standard for what I deem as a successful career as a producer.” Having produced national acts like DRAM, and being one half of the musically adventurous Sunny & Gabe, the Virginia Beach native has used the impact of massively successful artists like Missy, as a high artistic standard to always reach for. “I gotta come out here and make an imprint that’s unique,” says Gabe, regarding his thought process when he first got in the game. “That was my standard. That’s just how it was done. Come out and be yourself. And kill it.”
Currently, Gabe serves as the music director for festivals and shows throughout Hampton Roads. And he’s responsible for a pre-Something in the Water show scheduled for August 30 at the Virginia Beach campus of TCC. And even though he admits that they take their time in releasing new music, Gabe assures me that Sunny & Gabe are still together making music. “We still good,” he says. Towards the end of our chat, I ask Gabe if he is excited about Missy’s upcoming concert here in Hampton. “The lineup is perfect,” he says. “It’s gonna be a great show.”
WANT TO GO?
Missy Elliott – Out of This World: The Experience
Featuring Ciara & Busta Rhymes
with Special Guest Timbaland
August 2
Hampton Coliseum
hamptoncoliseum.org
