Timbaland, who produced Missy Elliott‘s No. 1 hit “Work It,” made her rewrite her verse four times.
During an October 2019 interview for Amazon Music’s Rap Rotation series, Missy revealed how “Work It” came about.
“I was so happy about my first verse, and he was like, ‘That’s wack,’” she recalled. “I went in a second time, he like, ‘I mean, it’s all right.’ So by the fifth time is the verse that y’all hear, and he was like, ‘That’s what I’m talking about.’”
Missy Elliot and Timbaland were always challenging each other during all their years collaborating together.
“When I play something, he’ll most definitely be like, ‘No, you should do it like this’ and that’s always been us,” she said. “And he’ll play something, and he’ll go through sounds, and I’ll be like, ‘Oh that’s crazy’ or I’ll be like, ‘That’s super wack.’ And vice versa. And you know, I think we trust each other because we’ve been knowing each other since high school.”
Work It peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100. and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.
Under Construction debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 259,000 copies sold in its first week and was certified Platinum in December 2002. The album earned two Grammy nominations for Best Rap Album and Album of the Year.
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