Behind all of Missy Elliott‘s success, there’s all the time been an important supply of motivation: her mom. The rapper revealed in a Sunday (April 23) tweet that her want to assist her mother safely escape an abusive relationship was one of many foremost causes she was so pushed to make it large within the music business, again when she first began out within the early ’90s.
Elliott’s revelation was prompted by a query from a fan, who tweeted that they wished a documentary on the “Work It” artist to be made. “I wanna know like what impressed her and what was her drive to stay persistent in a male dominated business on the time,” the fan wrote.
However as a substitute of a documentary, the fan bought their reply straight from the supply herself. “I seen many sturdy ladies within the business be4 me that made it via,” Elliott replied. “my mother was in [an] abusive relationship so I informed her I might make it so I may get her out of that scenario & I might be certain that she’d by no means should work once more that’s what actually saved me going🙌🏾💜”
The “Get Ur Freak On” musician, in fact, went on to grow to be probably the most influential hip-hop artists of her era. After getting her begin within the R&B lady group Sista, she labored with longtime collaborator Timbaland to forge a bestselling solo profession that spawned 9 high 10 hits the Billboard Sizzling 100, 5 high 10 albums on the Billboard 200 and 4 Grammy wins. Final week, she was introduced as one in all this yr’s Black Music Honors honorees.
Elliott has lengthy been open about rising up with a bodily violent father. In a 2003 interview with The Guardian, she stated her dad used to hit her mother virtually each day and as soon as pulled a gun on each of them. “My father was very abusive, and it was arduous for my mom at first to depart as a result of we had relied on him for therefore lengthy,” she informed the publication. “Generally you type of get adjusted to getting that beating.”
When she was 14, Elliott’s mom was lastly persuaded by members of the family to depart her father. “After we left, my mom realized how sturdy she was on her personal, and it made me sturdy,” she stated.
“It took her leaving to understand.”
See Missy Elliott’s tweet beneath:
When you or anybody is experiencing home violence, please name the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233.
