Missy Elliott shared some behind-the-scenes footage of her iconic music “She’s A B##ch” over two decades after.
Real fans of Hip-Hop would agree that Missy Elliott redefined the visual appeal of the genre with her innovative videos in the late 90s. Her genius also seeped into the early 2000s, and her ambitions were helped by some of the best directors in the game, like Hype Williams.
Who could forget her mind-bending video for “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” or futuristic approach for the video for “Get Ur Freak On.” Fans definitely got excited when they knew that Missy was about to drop something new.
Yesterday, August 17, she treated her fans to a special and somewhat hidden aspect of her life when she opened up about some of the behind-the-scenes for another one of her classics, the “She’s a B##ch” video.
The video was made for the track off of her 1999 album Da Real World. She used Instagram to give fans a true glimpse into the hard work and preparation that went into making one of her quality videos by showing some footage on Instagram.
The clips take fans into the arduous process she had to endure to get ready for the shoot. They show how she went into makeup, prosthetics, and even some lighting technology used in the video. Some of the short clips also feature interviews with Missy Elliott and other people who contributed to the magic of the video.
She also used the caption to explain more details about how the video came together, like the strobe lights used on set and for her costume had to be flown in from Germany. To complicate matters, at that time, the lights had to be merged with never-before-used technology.
“I was in the year 3000 in 1999. This video changed things visually in HipHop videos FOREVER. This is BTS footage of ‘She’s A B##ch.’ This is called Fearless! The lights on the 3rd slide they were flown in from Germany a technology never used before. The coming out the water we were really under the water,” she shared.
The video was directed by Hype Williams, and to this day is still one of the most expensive hip hop music videos of all time. It’s no wonder since it took about $2 million to pull it off. Even though she hasn’t featured much in recent times, she is still considered a pioneer in the area of original video concepts.
She’s been showered with praises by those in the game who have nothing but respect for her efforts. MTV deservedly awarded her the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2019. She also created history that year, becoming the first female rapper ever to cop the award. Adding to that, she is the fourth Hip Hop act to ever win it.
Missy is never to be outdone and pops up from time to time to remind her fans that she’s still living in the future. Last Monday, August 16, she posted her new outlandish purple hairdo, which was her way of honoring another musical genius, Prince.
She captioned that post, “Saaaang Prince Purple always been my favorite color,” as Prince’s 1987 track “Adore” played in the background.
The Grammy-Award-winning singer, rapper, songwriter, and producer is considered to be one of the major influences in the genre that paved the way for other women to become Hip Hop moguls. She’s fully deserving of all the praises and continues to be an innovator.
You can take a look at the hard work that she put in in the making of “She’s A B##ch” below.
