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Rapper Missy Elliot has made a name for herself as one of the best-selling female rappers today. With her trademark freaky style and old school flow, everyone knows Missy. Born in Virginia, young Melissa Elliot grew up with Timothy Mosley, later better known as the platinum-funky producer Timbaland. Mosley helped produce tracks for Missy's band Sista, and they caught the attention of the industry. Sista and Timbaland all moved to New York, where they were frequent collaborators with R&B man Jodeci. Along with a cast of future stars, Missy and Timbo formed a hip hop bohemian collective they dubbed Swing Mob. Swing Mob all lived together in a two-story house and bounced ideas off each other. Swing Mob was fun but it didn't last, and Missy and Timbo took a shot selling themselves as a production duo. They met Aaliyah in the studio, and Missy also found herself behind the mic doing more and more guest raps. In 1997 she decided to see what she could do, and dropped the blockbuster Supa Dupa Fly loaded with hits like "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," "Beep Me 911." "Sock It 2 Me" and "Hit Em wit da Hee." The tracks were hot enough on their own, but Missy was also adopted as muse by inspired music video director Hype Williams and his attention-grabbing videos for "The Rain" and "Sock It 2 Me" dressed Missy up in bizarre inflatable body suits and dropped her into video game inspired worlds, a refreshing change from hip hop's booty videos. The images were hard and edgy and they helped Missy stand out from the crowd. Missy Elliot's huge follow-up Miss E? So Addictive used futuristic beats to score massive hits with "Get Ur Freak On," "4 My People" and the raunchy Ludacris collaboration "One Minute Man."

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