Missy Elliott "Under Construction" (2002)
Missy continued her collaboration with Timbaland, bringing a lot of
classic hip-hop sounds into the mix and reminiscing on the 'good old
days' a bit with "Back in the Day" featuring Jay Z.
The album has a few guests and collaborators, but Missy easily rules the roost. Ludacris guests on "Gossip Folks" but Missy again is the centre of attention, completely changing her vocal style for the track and still busting some great rhymes.
Single "Work it"
has a fairly simple arrangement of skeletal beat and synthline with a
synthy hook that swings in now and then. Most its appeal then comes
again from Missy's vocals. She manages to make a dirty-as song where
half of it dances around its subject, but you know exactly
what she's talking about. Sound effects and clever use of reverse
sounds complete the picture.
Beyonce shows up on "Nothing Out There for Me" one of the albums more melodic moments.
The spoken word parts at the start and end of the album could easily
have come across as a bit cheesy, but again Missy manages to make them
work. The opening speech reflects the World Trade Centre attacks and
show that (thinking back a few entries to Bruce Springsteen) this was a
hurt being felt by artists across a range of genres.
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