She's a Bitch

Last updated
"She's a Bitch"
Shesabitch.jpg
Single by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott
from the album Da Real World
ReleasedApril 20, 1999 (1999-04-20)
Studio Master Sound Studios
(Virginia Beach, Virginia)
Length3:59
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Timbaland
Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott singles chronology
"I Like Control"
(1999)
"She's a Bitch"
(1999)
"All n My Grill"
(1999)
Music video
"She's a Bitch" on YouTube

"She's a Bitch" is a song recorded by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. It was written by Elliott and Timbaland for her second album, Da Real World (1999), while production was helmed by the latter. The song was released by The Goldmind Inc. and Elektra Records as the album's lead single in April 1999.

Contents

Despite an expensive music video directed by video director Hype Williams, the song peaked only at number 90 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, with Da Real World's other singles "All n My Grill" and "Hot Boyz" going on to greater chart success. Elliott performed the song live on a number of occasions, including the 2017 VH1 Hip Hop Honors: The '90s Game Changers .

Lyrics and production

Speaking to Interview in 1999, Missy Elliott explained how she wished to highlight the double standard of using "bitch" to pejoratively denigrate certain behaviors in women, but not in men, arguing that "you don’t hear people call males bitches":

Music is a male-dominated field. Women are not always taken as seriously as we should be, so sometimes we have to put our foot down. To other people that may come across as being a bitch, but it's just knowing what we want and being confident. If I'm paying people and they're not handling my business right, I have to check them. 'Cause sometimes you're nice and people don't jump on what they're supposed to do, but if you go in there screaming at everybody—"Look, why aren't my posters up?" or "Why wasn't my single out on this day?"—then they jump right on it.

Missy Elliott, describing the message behind "She's a Bitch" to Interview in 1999 [1]

Keith Farley of AllMusic wrote that Missy Elliott "reappropriates the insult to refer to strong females", considering it "the best example" of her "satirical nods to other clichéd notions of hip-hop" present throughout Da Real World. [2] Timbaland's production contains influences of electro, with Charles Aaron of Spin characterising it as "firing short bursts of sound around Missy's short bursts of bitchery" as an "808 drum machine implodes in your face" during the breakdown. [3]

Critical reception

Writing for Rolling Stone , music journalist Touré praised "She's a Bitch" as "a furiously celebratory, slyly feminist anthem that reclaims an oppressive word, shattering its power to offend while burning down the clubs with a blazing beat and her roaring flow". [4] By contrast, in an otherwise positive review of Da Real World, David Browne of Entertainment Weekly dismissed "She's a Bitch" as "one of the album’s most unremarkable and most cluttered tracks", criticising its selection as the lead single. [5]

Stereogum and Paste ranked the song number ten and number nine, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Missy Elliott Songs. [6] [7]

Music video

The "She's a Bitch" video was directed by Hype Williams on May 1, 1999; similar to his other clips for Elliott, Williams makes extensive use of unique effects, costuming, and sets. Highlights of the video include Elliott and her dancers being raised from underwater on a giant hydraulic "M", and also a complete set made from electroluminescent lighting.

Sampling

Track listings

All tracks written by Melissa Elliott and Timothy Mosley; produced by Timbaland and co-produced by Elliott. [8]

US/UK 12-inch promo [9] [10]
No.TitleLength
1."She's a Bitch" (clean version)3:27
2."She's a Bitch" (radio edit)3:27
3."She's a Bitch" (ínstrumental)4:00
4."She's a Bitch" (acapella)3:48
Maxi/CD single [11] [12]
No.TitleLength
1."She's a Bitch" (clean version)3:27
2."She's a Bitch" (radio edit)3:27
3."She's a Bitch" (ínstrumental)4:00

Credits and personnel

Credits lifted from the liner notes of Da Real World. [8]

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "She's a Bitch"
Chart (1999)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [13] 70
Germany (GfK) [14] 84
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade) [15] 6
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [16] 53
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [17] 26
US Billboard Hot 100 [18] 90
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [19] 30

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot Boyz (song)</span> 1999 single by Missy Elliott

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sock It 2 Me</span> 1997 single by Missy "Misdeameanor" Elliott featuring Da Brat

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hit Em wit da Hee</span> 1998 single by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott featuring Lil Kim and Mocha

"Hit 'Em wit da Hee" is a single by singer/rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. The track is found on her debut album, 1997's Supa Dupa Fly. The single was not eligible to chart in the U.S., and it was a success overseas, reaching No. 25 in the UK, her fourth consecutive top 40 hit. The music video edit of the song contains sampled strings from the Björk song "Jóga". In The U.S. the album version was released to radio and it received minor mainstream urban radio airplay and peaked at No. 61 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Released from Supa Dupa Fly, it was the final single from the album during summer 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Take Away (song)</span> 2001 single by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott featuring Ginuwine and Tweet

"Take Away" is a song by American rapper Missy Elliott. It was written by Elliott and Timbaland for her third studio album, Miss E... So Addictive (2001), while production was helmed by the latter, with Elliott and Craig Brockman served as co-producers. The downtempo track features guest vocals from R&B singer Ginuwine. While the album version of "Take Away" credits background vocals by 702 member, Kameelah Williams, the single version replaces Williams's vocals with then-newcomer, Elliott's former protégée Tweet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Take That (Torrey Carter song)</span> 2000 single by Torrey Carter featuring Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott

"Take That" is the debut single by American R&B singer, Torrey Carter. It features guest vocals by Carter's former mentor Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and was released as the lead single from Carter's unreleased debut album, The Life I Live (2000).

"Lick Shots" is a buzz single by American recording artist Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott from her third album, Miss E... So Addictive (2001). The song was written and produced by both Elliott and frequent collaborator Timbaland.

References

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  2. Farley, Keith. "Da Real World – Missy Elliott". AllMusic . Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  3. Aaron, Charles (August 1999). "Singles". Spin . Vol. 15, no. 8. pp. 155–158. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  4. Touré (July 8, 1999). "Missy Elliott: Da Real World". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on March 16, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  5. Browne, David (June 25, 1999). "Da Real World". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  6. Patrin, Nate (March 3, 2015). "The 10 Best Missy Elliott Songs". Stereogum . Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  7. O'Brien, Jon (July 18, 2017). "The 10 Best Missy Elliott Songs". Paste . Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Da Real World (booklet). Missy Elliott. Elektra Records. 1999.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. Missy Misdemeanor Elliott* – She's A Bitch
  10. Missy Elliott – She's A Bitch
  11. "Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott – She's A Bitch, CD, Maxi-Single" . Retrieved October 1, 2024 via Discogs.
  12. "Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott – She's A Bitch, CD, Single" . Retrieved October 1, 2024 via Discogs.
  13. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
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