Missy Elliott and Eminem 2003 MTV Video Music Awards
Missy Elliott says “Da Real World” was her toughest album to create. When Missy Elliott was working on Da Real World in the late 1990s, she felt she needed Eminem on the album.
“He hadn’t even came out with ‘My Name Is’ yet,” Missy says of her 1999 Eminem collaboration “Busa Rhyme” in an interview with Billboard. “I heard something of his and instantly told Tim[baland], ‘I need this guy on my album.’ Immediately when I heard him rap, I thought, ‘He’s special.’ I had the label reach out to [Dr.] Dre. He did (his verse). I heard it and thought, ‘Oh, he’s going to blow up!'”
Missy Elliott Calls Da Real World The “Toughest Album To Make”
The Eminem collaboration’s placement on Da Real World, a project Missy calls her “toughest album to make.
“It was my hardest album because by that time the expectations were a lot higher. Once you get over that sophomore album, you feel like you’re staying. It was the toughest album to make. I thought, ‘What do people expect of me next?’ There weren’t any expectations for the first album. The second album was like, ‘This first album has got all these great reviews so where I do go from here?’ I was over-thinking everything. I didn’t think twice about videos, but yes for music. ‘Ah, I don’t like that.’ I drove Tim crazy.'”
Eminem, Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Aaliyah.
Missy says she has not given herself a deadline for her new album. “I don’t work well under pressure,” she says. “I decided this time I’m going to work at my own pace. When I drop whatever I drop, it’s going to be worth every year people have waited.”
In February, Missy discussed her hiatus from music.
“When I create something, it’s gotta be special and it can’t just be to throw something out there because I feel like I’m Missy,” she said at the time. “I gotta feel like what I’m giving the fans is 100 percent and that it’s game-changing. I don’t just throw out microwave records…When you are creating to the magnitude that I try to create, your brain is like a computer sometimes,” Missy added. “It needs to refresh…Your brain needs time to refresh.”
